Issue 4 - June2006 - Ramallah Friends Schools

Children Without Borders 

A Joint Magazine/Majjalah Published by the Students of Park Day School 

in Oakland, California and The Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine 

Issue 4 June 2006 

Note to Our Readers: 

Park Day School, Oakland, California 

in this, our fourth issue of Children Without Borders, we continue our collaborative dialogue 

between the children of Park Day School and the Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine. Now, five 

years after 9/11/01, and in the face of further discrimination, hostility, and hate crimes toward the 

Arab and Muslim communities, we renew our commitment to one of Park Day's central values holding 

knowledge at the heart of relations among people: knowing 

people, ideas, cultures, religions and histories. 

Created in response to post 9/11 hostilities when our 

students came up with the idea to publish a magazine featuring 

their writings and those of the children from the 

Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine, Children Without 

Borders embodies the values cherished by both schools: 

open-mindedness, tolerance and pluralism. Park Day 

School and the Friends School in Ramallah both see our 

magazine project as an exercise in international 

understanding, and part of our joint commitment to a 

peace curriculum. 

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the Park 

Day children involved in the magazine project over the 

course of this last school year. We hope that this experience reminds them of the importance of dialogue; 

to think to build bridges when others are tearing things apart. 

We thank the Park Day staff, Dickie Magidoff, and Green Copy for their support and contributions. 

Special thanks to Frieda Dahdah Khayat, Deputy Principal at the Friends School, and the children of 

the Friends School for their commitment to the magazine project. This was our first year working with 

Frieda and we truly appreciate her openness, support and commitment to the goals of this project. 

Thank you to the children for sharing their stories. 

Denise Abrams, Mona Halaby, Suzie McLean, Cathy Shields 

Suzie, Mona, & Cathy 

Park Day School, Oakland, California 

One of Park Day’s central values holds knowledge at the heart of relations among people: knowing 

people, ideas, cultures, religions, and histories. The goal of this exchange is to humanize the other, hear 

each other’s voices, and learn more about each other’s lives. We are interested in sharing experiences 

and feelings between the two groups of children without endorsing any specific political positions.

Note to Our Readers 

Friends School, Ramallah, Palestine 

since it is my first time writing an editorial letter for this issue of Children Without Borders, I would 

like to share with you a little about my start at the Friends School. August 2005 marked the 

beginning of a new chapter in my life. I was overwhelmed when I was informed of being assigned as 

the new Deputy Principal but I accepted the post without hesitation. My confidence in my ability, 

acquired skills and knowledge, in addition to my desire to serve my school and community left no 

space for me to have a second thought regarding the new job. Furthermore, the Quaker values of 

truth, simplicity, peace, equality, tolerance, service, creativity, discipline and justice that I acquired at 

the Friends School as a student equipped me with confidence and readiness to give and serve. 

My job entails working with Park Day School and coordinating for the Children Without Borders 

magazine. At the beginning, I had many butterflies in my stomach, as everything was new but my 

determination turned into enthusiasm and effort. Realizing that both schools aim at fostering a peaceful 

environment based on respect for the individual was the trigger. I saw this magazine as a new window 

through which our students will have the chance for exchanging experiences internationally. It will 

enable them to freely express their opinions and feelings to their peers or equals. In addition, it is a 

great opportunity to learn about "the other" and tolerate the differences. It teaches the students that 

in spite of the differences amongst people, they all remain human beings worthy of respect. Every 

human lives in his community and abides by its rules in addition to the international rules that all 

humans must follow. Students are exposed to a new community and are really encouraged to make 

new relations and friendships. 

Not only, does the magazine encourage the students to read and write but it also allows for a new 

network to be built. Therefore, I would like to extend my gratitude for allowing our students to participate 

in such an enriching experience; engaging them in a process of free 

expression and building their confidence. Thus, triggering them to start 

viewing the world from a wider and more comprehensive peaceful perspective. 

I would like to end with a few lines quoted from the book Time 

to Listen to Children: 

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight. 

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive. 

If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient. 

If children live with encouragement, they learn to be confident. 

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love. 

Frieda Dahdah Khayat 

Deputy Principal 

Friends School 

Frieda 

The Friends School, 

Ramallah, Palestine 

Children Without Borders 2

Friends School of Ramallah, Palestine 

Park Day School of Oakland, California

Possible 

Poem by Emma Davis 

A dove flies over the silent world 

Spreading and seeping peace 

From its broad, white wings. 

Down below here is a child with an innocent mind. 

Yet hidden from the child is an earth 

Where troubles abound 

And peace is 

Very far 

Away. 

The dove knows the secrets of every place 

in the wide, wet planet 

And knows 

The strength of the power of love 

And the only other person 

Who knows 

Is the child. 

So the child is wiser than everyone 

Because the child knows that peace 

And love 

Can exist 

On our 

Earth 

If we love forever and forget 

Why we ever hated each other. 

If only the child could tell the world 

That dreams, 

Happy dreams, 

Can come true. 


Interviews

Agheeba Ahmed interviews 

Ameer Nasr 

Agheeba 

Ameer 

hello, my name is Agheeba and I am a girl. I 

am 11 years old. My mom was born in Yemen 

and my dad was born in California. I was born in 

California, too. I am going to interview you just 

to know more about you. Do you have any sisters 

or brothers? If so, what are their names 

and how old are they? I have 2 brothers and 

their names are Amin and Noah. Amin is 10 

years old and Noah is 5 years old. 

Yes, My name is Ameer and I am a boy and 

my name means prince. I have 2 sisters; Dalia 

(7 years old), and Taima (1 year old). 

Do you like to read? If so, what kind of books 

do you like to read? If not why? I like to read. I 

like to read biographies, fiction and adventure 

stories. 

I like to read about history. 

Do you like math? Why or why not? I don’t really 

like math. The only thing I like is long division. I 

don’t like math because it’s hard and I get confused 

a lot. 

I do not like math because it is very difficult 

and hard to understand. 

Do you like to write stories? Why or why not? 

I love to write because it’s fun to use your own 

imagination. 

I do not like to write stories because I do not 

have much of an imagination. 

What is your teacher’s name? My teacher’s 

name is Julie. She is one of our two 5th grade 

teachers. 

My English teacher’s name is Frieda and she 

is the deputy principal as well. 

What is your favorite kind of food? My favorite 

kind of food is sushi and for dessert I like ice 

cream. Sushi is a kind of Japanese food with 

seaweed, rice and fish. 

My favorite kind of food is chicken stuffed 

with rice. I like chocolate for dessert. 

Do you have a class name? If so, what is it and 

if not, why? Our class name is JC. Our class 

name was about to be the unidentified flying 

students, but there were a lot of votes for JC. 

Every day, we make up names that start with 

JC, for example: Jumping Cars or Jelly Cactuses. 

Our class’s name is 5c only. 

Do you play sports? If so, what kind? I love to 

play soccer! I play it almost every recess in my 

school. 

I like sports and I love playing soccer. 

Do you like nature? Why or why not? I love 

nature, because everything smells good. My 

dad has a natural food store called Nature’s 

Best Foods. 

I love nature because of the fresh air. 

What kinds of clothes do you like to wear? I 

wear a scarf over my head called a hujab. It is 

used to cover women and girls’ hair. When I go 

to Arabic school, I wear a long dress. We have 

many people who wear hujab. 

I like wearing summer clothes, like shorts. 

I loved interviewing you and I hope I get 

answers back! 

Your friend, Agheeba 

Amin Ahmed interviews Dima Sharif 

Amin 

Dima 

hi my name is Amin. I am 10 years old. I am a 

boy. I was born in Oakland in the year 1995. My 


family is from Yemen. What is your name? How 

old are you and where were you born? 

My name is Dima. I’m 10 years old and I was 

born August 14th, 96 in Ramallah. 

If you could travel anywhere in the world, what 

country would you like to visit? I would like to 

go to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. My 

dad is going there and I wish I could go there, 

too. 

I went to Dubai two times and I wish I would 

go to the USA. 

What is your favorite animal, and why? Mine is a 

wolverine, because they have sharp teeth. 

I like the lion because it is my sign. 

How much homework do you have? How many 

pages of homework do you usually get each 

day? I get three or four pages each day, and I 

need to read for a half an hour each day. 

I have four to five pages each day and I need 

to read the story in our book. 

What do you like to read? I like to read encyclopedia 

books, and my favorite is called How 

Things Work. 

I like reading my books. 

What is your favorite restaurant and dish? I like 

to eat at Afghanistan Cuisine. They have a spicy 

chicken and sauce together with rice, which is 

my favorite dish. 

My favorite dish is spaghetti. 

What are your three favorite sports? Mine are 

football, swimming and Badminton. 

Mine are swimming, football and hitting. 

What are your favorite subjects at school, and 

why? Mine are sports and spelling. At sports my 

favorite activity is Capture the Flag. It’s a big 

game where kids are divided into 2 teams and 

each team has a flag that the other team tries 

to steal. If you get caught by the opposite 

team, you get put into their jail. Someone from 

your own team has to come and save you so 

you can get out of jail. 

P.E. because I run and because my friends 

are always in my team. 

How many brothers and sisters do you have 

and what are their names and ages? I have one 

younger brother, named Noah who is 5, and an 

older sister, Agheeba, who is 11. 

My big sister’s name is Hind and she is 11 

and my younger brother’s is Yousef and he is 4 

years old. 

What is your favorite bird and why? Mine is the 

eagle, because they are strong. 

I like them because they ate the snakes. 

Thank you, Amin 

Aziza Yaropa interviews Yousef 

Aziza 

My name Aziza. What is yours? 

My name is Yousef. 

I’m a girl in 4th grade. Are you a boy or girl? 

And, what grade are you in? 

I am a boy and I am in 4th grade like you. 

I am 9 years old and my birthday is August 1st. 

My aunt’s birthday is August 2nd and my 

cousin’s is August 3rd. When is your birthday? 

Does anyone else in your family have a birthday 

that is near the day of yours? 

I am 9 years old. My birthday is December 

2nd and my sister’s birthday is December 19th. 

I have a sister, she is 7 and in first grade. Her 

name is Maya. Do you have any sisters or 

brothers? If you do, how old are they, and what 

are their names? What grades are they in.? 

I have one sister, Dina and she is in 11th 

grade and she is 16 years old. I have one 

brother, Walid, who is 17 years old and in 12th 

grade. 


What is your favorite food? Mine is pizza. I am a 

vegetarian, which means that I do not eat meat. 

It is a good thing that I like Indian vegetables. 

My favorite food is meat and I like all kinds of 

food. 

Do you have any animals? What are they? I 

have a cat named Riley, which is 3 years old. 

My cat is black. 

I don’t have any animals. 

What kind of sports do you like? I play soccer. I 

play all the positions but I like defense and forward 

best. The name of my team is The Power 

Cheetahs. 

I like to play handball, basketball, and baseball. 

What are your hobbies? My favorites are drawing, 

dancing and singing. I take a class called 

Indian dance here at my school. I like to sing at 

home when I am listening to music. 

Driving beach buggies. 

Where do you like to go on vacation? I like to 

go to my grandma’s house, because she lives 

by a lake in Wisconsin. 

I like to go to our farm in Jordan Valley 

because I love our farm. 

What holiday do you like best? I like Christmas 

because I love hanging little lights all over my 

house. 

I like summer holidays, because I can travel 

to many places. 

Emma Davis interviews Izz Abu Dakka 

Emma 

Izz 

hi! My name is Emma. I am a ten-year-old girl. 

What’s your name and how old are you? Are 

you a boy or girl? 

My name is Izz. I am a ten-year-old boy. 

I love to read and write. I also like to draw. I love 

to make sculptures out of clay or with a glue 

gun too. What do you like to like to do? 

I like working on my land. 

Do you have any pets and what are they like? I 

had two dogs. But now I only have one. One is 

named Pepper and he was my grandma’s dog 

for 16 years. He was an Irish wolfhound mix and 

he was 17 years old. But his back legs were 

hurting and he couldn’t sleep because he was 

so uncomfortable. So we had to put him to 

sleep. The other dog that I have now is named 

Cherie. I had her before Pepper. She is a black 

poodle and she is five years old. 

I have 2 dogs and one cat. They are small 

and beautiful. 

I really like dogs. My favorite breeds are cockatoos, 

which are a mix of a cocker spaniel and a 

poodle, and poodles. I also think Basilisks are 

very cool. They are lizards that can run across 

water. What animals do you like? 

Dogs and cats and several kinds of animals. 

Who do you live with? I have no brothers or sisters. 

I live with my parents and my two dogs. 

I live with my two brothers and parents and 

my two dogs and cat. 

What are your favorite foods? My favorite foods 

are hamburgers, chicken nuggets and curly 

fries. I really like Dim Sum (Chinese food) as 

well. 

I like hamburgers and chicken wings. 

I like to go to Rivoli’s and Barney’s, which both 

serve very yummy food. What restaurants do 

you like? 

I like to go to a restaurant called Angelos in 

my city. 

What colors do you like? I like the colors green, 

red, pink and yellow. 

I like baby pink and blue. 

I like math, (a little bit) reading and writing. 

Right now in my class we are writing stories 

with illustrations for our second grade reading 


uddies. Reading buddies are kids who we read 

to every week. What are you doing in school 

and what subjects do you like? 

Right now we are reading and I like math and 

science. 

I like to go to Austin, Texas because my 

grandma lives there. I also like to go to Carmel 

Valley. My family has a house there and when 

we stay there I like going to the beach. Where 

do you like to go? 

I like to go to Jericho and Jerusalem. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my letter. I look 

forward to hearing all about you. Please write 

soon! 

Sincerely, Emma Davis 

Isabella Jensen interviews 

Salem Rabah 

Isabella 

my name is Isabella Jensen. What is yours? 

My name is Salem Rabah. 

Do you know what your name means? My name 

means pretty. 

My name means peace. 

I just plain HATE HOME WORK! What do you just 

plain hate, and why? 

I just plain HATE HOME WORK because it is 

boring. 

Do you have a pet or a favorite animal? Why do 

you like them? I have two dogs; they are both 

pugs. I think they are really cute and I like their 

squished noses. 

My favorite animal is the dog because he is 

soft. 

I’m nine years old. How old are you? 

I’m nine years old. 

I’m in fourth grade. What grade are you in? 

I’m in fourth grade. 

My favorite colors are green, yellow, orange , 

silver and purple!! What are your favorite colors, 

and why? 

My favorite colors are blue, red, silver, and 

yellow. 

I’m Christian. Are you Christian or are you 

Muslim? 

I’m Christian. 

Are you looking forward to anything, and why? 

I’m looking forward to when my baby brother is 

going to be born. He is due February 6th. 

I’m looking forward to visiting the States next 

summer. 

My favorite imaginary mixed animal is a tiger 

mixed with an eagle. What is your favorite 

mixed animal, and why? 

My favorite imaginary mixed animal is a 

dinosaur mixed with a whale, because they are 

the strongest and biggest animals in the world. 

What is your absolute favorite thing to do in 

your spare time, and why? I really like playing 

video games, but I’m limited to half an hour a 

day by my parents. 

I love reading books in my spare time 

because they are entertaining. 

Who is your favorite character from a book, and 

why? My favorite characters are from a book 

series called Asterix and they are the Romans. 

I like Harry Potter because it has powers like 

magic and so. 


Izzy Baker Lubin interviews Rami Jarrar 

Izzy 

marhaba, my name is Izzy (short for Isabelle). 

What is your name? 

My name is Rami. 

I am a sixth grade girl. Are you a boy or a girl? 

And what grade are you in? 

I am a sixth grade boy. 

How old are you? I am 12 years old? 

I am 11 years old. 

My birthday is January 19.When is your birthday? 

Mine is January 9. 

I have three brothers and two sisters. How 

many siblings do you have? My three brothers 

are from Palestine. Their names are Ahmed, 

Jehad and Rashed. My sisters’ names are 

Keyan and Tess. If you do, how many siblings 

do you have? What are their names? 

I have a brother “Omar” and a sister “Zainah.” 

What are your favorite foods? Mine is chicken 

curry. 

My favorite food is pizza. 

What hobbies do you like? I like to listen to 

music like alternative rock, one band in specific. 

They are called Fall Out Boy. Have you heard of 

Amr Diab? I love him! Who is your favorite 

singer? 

I love to hear music too and I love Eminem. 

And I know Amr Diad. 

My favorite animal is a penguin! What is your 

favorite animal!!! 

My favorite animal is the monkey. 

Have you ever been to Dheisheh Refugee 

Camp? No, I haven’t, but will probably go this 

summer. My brothers, Rashed, Ahmed, Jehad 

and Keyan are from Dheisheh. 

No, but I know some people from there. 

Where were you born? I was born in Oakland. 

It’s about half an hour from San Francisco. 

I was born in Ramallah. 

Bye bye! 

Jordan Miller-Surratt interviews 

Sahd Hamed 

Molly 

Ali 

hello, my name is Jordan Miller-Surratt. What is 

yours? 

Hello, my name is Sahd Hamed. 

I am a girl in sixth grade and my birthday is 

February seventh. What gender are you? What 

grade are in and when is your birthday? 

I am a girl in sixth grade and my birthday is 

February 13th. 

I have two younger brothers, a younger sister, 

and an older sister. My younger sister’s name is 

Tallulah and she is 2 years old. My older sister’s 

name is Darian and she is 12 years old. My two 

younger brother’s names are Mitsos and Laszlo, 

Mitsos is 2 and Laszlo is a few months old. Do 

you have any siblings? If so, how many, what 

are their names, and how old are they? 

I have two older brothers, one is 18 years 

old, his name is Yousef, and the other is 17 

years old and his name is Zaid. 

What types of music do you like? I like classic 

rock, heavy metal, pop, and alternative. rock. 

I like rock and pop types of music. 

What musical artists do you like and why? I like 

Green Day and the Black Eyed Peas because 

they are not afraid to express their feelings on 


what is happening in the world politically. I also 

like artists like U2 and Green Day because they 

talk about things that are happening or have 

happened in their personal lives. 

I like Britney Spears because Britney has a 

beautiful voice, and Usher because he has a 

beautiful voice too. 

What are some of your hobbies? As you can 

probably tell, I really like to listen to music, I 

also love to read, and play sports like soccer 

and American football and baseball. 

Some of my hobbies are: swimming, playing 

on the computer, and reading. 

Speaking of sports what sports do you like to 

play, if any, and are you on any sort of sports 

team? I am on a soccer team called the Spirit 

Wolves. 

I like swimming. I go to swim every day in 

the club. 

What types of books do like and why? I like 

realistic fiction, the kind about teenage girls 

because I can sometimes relate. I also like 

horror/fantasy because it gives me time to 

leave my house without leaving it. 

I like fiction stories because they are sometimes 

fun, and I also like autobiographies 

because they tell true stories. 

What books do you like? I like the Harry Potter 

series, the Clique series and the Tale of the 

Otori series. 

I like the Harry Potter series books too. 

Last but not least who inspires you and why? 

The person that inspires me the most is my 

mother because even as a single mother she 

was able to get a PhD and a job as a psychologist. 

The person that inspires me is my teacher, 

Adel. 

Lila Bell interviews Dina 

Lila 

hi, my name is Lila Bell and I am a girl. I am 

looking forward to writing to you and learning 

about another kid living somewhere else. I am 

10 years old and I will be eleven on January 1. I 

am going to ask you a few questions about you 

and your favorite things to do. What’s your 

name? How old are you? 

My name is Dina. I will be 10 March 5th. 

Are you a boy or a girl? I am a girl. 

I am a girl, too. 

Do you like to play a sport? I love to play 

soccer. And I am on a team called Bay Oaks. 

You have to try out for it. 

I like to play hitting and I am in the team of 

4B. 

Do you have any pets? I have a cat named 

Katie. 

I have a cat named Jessy. 

What’s your favorite kind of food and dessert? 

My favorite kind of food is Japanese food. My 

favorite dessert is cookie dough ice cream 

Italian is my favorite and my best dessert is 

vanilla ice cream. 

What’s your favorite thing to do in your spare 

time? I like to play soccer, or play with my 

friends and write stories. 

I like playing with my friends and on the computer. 

What’s your favorite subject in school? I like 

writing, having recess and math. 

Music and P.E. 

What are your favorite colors? Mine are light blue 

(sky blue), light green and violet (light purple). 

Blue and ivory. 


What’s your favorite holiday and why? My 

favorite holiday is New Year’s Day because it’s 

my birthday! 

A. Christmas is my favorite because it is a 

very long holiday. 

What’s your favorite book? Mine is All of a Kind 

Family, which is about a family with a lot of girls 

and one little boy. It tells about their life and the 

main events that happen. 

Aunt Jinkie’s Miracle Seeds is my favorite 

story because it is about a strange family who 

had lots of adventures. 

What is your favorite number? I like number 1 

because I was born the first month of the year 

and the first day. 

My favorite number is 35. 

What is your favorite animal? My favorite animals 

are cats, dogs, frogs and birds. 

Cats and ducks. 

Do you have any sisters or brothers? I don’t. 

Yes, I have one sister and one brother. 

Lizzy Chipman interviews 

Nada Hashweh 

Lizzy 

Nada 

my name is Lizzy and I’m a girl. What is your 

name? Are you a boy or a girl? 

Hi, my name is Nada and I’m a girl. 

How old are you? I’m 12 years old and I’m in 

the 6th grade. 

I am 11 years old studying in the 6th grade. 

Were you looking forward to having a pen pal? I 

was looking forward to it. 

I was looking forward to having a pen pal, too. 

What is your school like and do you like it there 

and why? I sure do like my school, because it’s 

really fun and the teachers make learning fun. 

My school is big and planted with lots of 

trees and flowers. I have lots of friends both 

boys and girls. I really have fun with them. 

Do you have homework, if you do, how much? 

At my school we sometimes have a lot of it. 

Sometimes we have short math homework, but 

it’s really hard. It might take me 30 minutes to 

complete a double-sided sheet. 

I have lots of homework, quizzes, and exams 

every day. 

What do you like to do in your spare time? I like 

to do lots of things like draw (painting), dance 

(hip-hop), listen to music, sports (softball, 

baseball and other games) and I love to cook. 

Well, in my spare time I like to sing, dance, 

act, play piano, soccer, ballet, gymnastics, and 

listen to music. 

What kind of music do you like? I like hip-hop, 

rock and roll and sometimes country music. 

I like pop music and hip hop. 

What is your home like? Describe your house or 

apartment? I live in a two-story house with lots 

of plants around it. The inside is really cozy and 

warm. The rooms are not too big, but they’re a 

good size. 

I live in an apartment on the 4th floor. It is 

very big, and overlooks a nice view. 

Who lives with you in your home and what are 

their names? I live with my mom, Sharon, dad, 

John, and my little brother, Joey who is 10 

years old. 

I live with my mom, Norma, my dad, Mazen, 

and my two older sisters, Hinal and Leila. 

Do you have any pets? I used to have a dog, 

named Rosie, but she has new owners in 

Chicago. I used to have a pet goldfish, but he 

died. 

A very cute dog named Domino, and I used 

to have a cat called Lucy, but she died. 


Where were you born and where is your family 

from? I was born in a town called San Leandro, 

which is a big town near Oakland. I now live in a 

town called Oakland. 

I was born in Jerusalem, Palestine. My family 

is also from Jerusalem, but now we live in 

Ramallah. 

What is your biggest celebration? Mine is Christmas. 

We put up a Christmas tree and decorate 

it with ornaments, and we also decorate the 

house. And we exchange presents with family 

and friends. 

My biggest celebration is also Christmas. We 

put up the Christmas tree and decorate it, and 

the house, too. We also exchange presents with 

family and friends. 

Lizzy, I really hope that we will be able to 

meet each other in person in the near coming 

future! Your friend, Nada 

Nada, I know that we come from very different 

places and have different cultures, but we are 

all people with feelings. I am so happy that you 

are my pen pal. Your friend, Lizzy 

Maddy Eggers interviews 

Zaina Barghouti 

Maddy 

Zaina 

my name is Maddy and I’m a girl. Are you a 

boy or a girl? What is your name? My name 

means “tower”. I have absolutely no idea how 

and why I got that name. 

I’m a girl. My name is Zaina. My name means 

the beautiful. 

I’m 9 years old and I am in the 4th grade. How 

old are you and what grade are you in? 

I’m ten years old. I’m in the 4th grade. 

I don’t have any brothers or sisters. Do you? 

Yes, I have two brothers, no sisters. 

My favorite food is crepes (small pancakes). 

What is your favorite food? 

My favorite food is lasagna. 

My favorite animal is a snow leopard. What is 

your favorite animal? 

My favorite animal is a rabbit. 

What do you do at home? I draw, listen to 

music, play video games, do sports, and read. 

I play computer and watch TV and read 

books. 

What are your favorite colors? Mine are green, 

blue, purple, and silver. 

My favorites are green, pink, purple, and 

blue. 

Do you have any pets? If you have one, what is 

its name? I have a rabbit and his name is Babbit. 

(He’s a bunny crossed with a rabbit, which 

is really the same thing.) 

I don’t have a pet. 

Were you looking forward to having a pen pal? 

Why? I was, because when I was in 2nd grade, I 

had a pen pal and it was fun. 

Yes, I was looking forward to having a pen pal 

like you, Maddy! 

What is your favorite character from a book, 

movie, or game? My favorite characters are 

Fireheart from the Warrior Series by Erin Hunter, 

and Spheal from Pokemon XD. 

My favorite characters are Mr. Bean and 

Barbie. 

What is your favorite restaurant? Mine is Pasta 

Pomodoro. They serve Italian food and it’s really 

yummy. My favorite dish is penne pasta with 

cream sauce. 

My favorite is Darna restaurant and my 

favorite dish is hamburgers. I’m really excited 

about having a pen pal! 


Melody Dehghan interviews 

Charlie Khayyat 

Melody 

Charlie 

hello! My name is Melody and I am 10 years 

old. I live in California and I have an older 

brother, Dariush, a mom and a dad. Both of my 

parents were born in Iran. That’s in Asia. I like to 

play soccer, basketball and rock climb. I also 

like to draw and ice skate. I love to eat chicken, 

rice chocolate and more. Well, that’s a little 

about me! Now about you. Please write back! 

Are you a boy or girl and how old are you? 

I’m a boy and I’m ten years old. My name is 

Charlie Khayyat. 

What is your favorite thing to do? I like to play 

outdoors. 

I like to play soccer. 

Do you have any siblings in your family, if so 

how many and how old are they? I have one 

brother, named Dariush, who is 14. 

Yes, I have two brothers. Michael and Cris, 

Michael is 12 years old, and Cris is 3 years old. 

What do you like to eat? Do you have a favorite 

dish? My favorite dish is chicken kebab. 

My favorite thing to eat is hamburger. 

What grade are you in? What is your favorite 

subject? I am in 5th grade and my favorite 

subject is math. 

I am in 5th grade, and my favorite subject is 

English. 

Do you prefer math and science or reading and 

writing? I prefer math and science. How about 

you? 

I prefer math and science like you. 

What is your teacher’s name? Mine is Julie, and 

she is really kind. 

My teacher’s name is Vera. She is kind and 

funny. 

What is your favorite wish? I wish that I could 

grant anybody’s wish, like a pixie or fairy! 

I wish to come to the States to see you. 

What is your fear? Are you afraid of spiders, the 

dark, or the police? 

I’m only afraid of scary dreams. 

What is your personality like? I am energetic 

and usually happy. 

I’m very energetic, quick, athletic, and a 

leader. 

What is your favorite animal? Mine is a gecko! 

Snakes are my favorite animals because they 

are big. 

What is your favorite movie? Mine is Spirit and 

The Pacifier. 

My favorite movie is Full House. 

Do you have any pets? I used to have three 

hermit crabs. Later I used to have five fish. Now 

I have one leopard gecko. 

No, I don’t have pets, because it is not 

allowed in our house. 

Well, thanks for reading my letter. I hope you 

liked my letter. Please write back. 

Naomi Asimow interviews Dania Khalili 

Naomi 

Dania 

my name is Naomi and I am a girl. What’s your 

name and what is your gender? 

My name is Dania and my gender is girl. 

I am nine years old. How old are you? 

I am like you. I am nine years old. 

Do you have any brothers or sisters or pets? I 

have two brothers, Eli, age six, and Jake, age 

three. I also have three goats named Rocket, 


Fiona, and Mimi, and a hamster named Blue 

Snow Flake. 

Yes, I have three brothers Mohannad, 

Mohammad, and Abdallah and I have four 

sisters Leen, Linda, Lana, and Daleen. 

What is your favorite animal and why do you like 

it? Mine is a monkey because I like to swing!!! 

My favorite animal is the dog because I like 

to play with him. 

What is your favorite food for breakfast, lunch, 

dinner, dessert, and a snack? I like pie for 

breakfast, noodles for lunch, salmon for dinner, 

lefsa for dessert (it’s rolled sugar) and candy for 

a snack. 

And I like pie for breakfast, and I like pizza for 

lunch and I like hamburger for dinner. I like cake 

for dessert and I like fruits for snack. 

What is your favorite subject in school? Mine is 

art. 

My favorite subject in school is music. 

Do you live in a house or something else? I live 

in a house that has a lot of windows! 

I live in a house that is big and small. 

Do you like to read? Why? I love it because 

books tell a story. 

And I also love it because books make me 

remember and think. 

What do you like to do when you are bored? I 

like to write stories and read. 

And I like to read stories and play with my 

brother and sister. 

Nia Jacobs interviews Ibrahim Rabah 

Nia 

Ibrahim 

my name is Nia. My name means purpose. It is 

the fifth principle of Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is celebrated 

by many African Americans. It starts the 

day after Christmas and ends on New Year’s 

Day. Each day we celebrate and think about a 

different principle. I’m in fourth grade and I’m 

nine years old. What is your name, how old are 

you, and what grade are you in? Do you know 

what your name means? 

My name is Ibrahim. I am 10 years old. I am 

in the 5th grade. My name is mentioned in the 

Bible, Quran and is the Father of the prophets. 

I have two brothers; one is named Mikai and the 

other is Aaron. Mikai is eight, and Aaron is sixteen. 

Do you have any siblings, and if so, what 

are their names and ages? 

I have one brother. His name is Shadi and he 

is six years old. 

My favorite color is blue because it reminds me 

of the ocean. What is your favorite color and 

why? 

I like black and white and I do not know why. 

I don’t have any pets, but my brother Mikai has 

a fish named Killer. Do you have any pets, and 

if you do, what are their names? 

I have a dog and its name is Spike. 

My favorite food is pasta. My favorite candy is 

chocolate. What is your favorite food and 

candy? 

I do not have a favorite food but I like candy 

a lot. 

My favorite animal is a horse, because I like 

riding on them. It makes me feel really good to 

be up riding on the horses’ back. What is your 

favorite animal? 

I like dogs because you know what they say: 

“dogs are man’s best friend”. 

After school I like to read, draw, and play on the 

computer. What do you like to do after school, 

and why? 

I like to race and play on the play station. 

My favorite books are the Junie B. Jones series, 

and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by 

C.S. Lewis. I like the Junie B. Jones books, 

because they are very funny, and I like The 


Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, because it has a 

lot of adventure. What are your favorite books, 

and why? 

I like Harry Potter because they are mysterious 

stories. 

I like to play soccer, baseball, and futsal. Futsal 

is like indoor soccer, except the game goes 

faster and there are kick-ins instead of throwins. 

What are your favorite sports? 

I like to play soccer and fighting. 

I live in Oakland. I like it because there are 

some parts that are like a city, and other parts 

that are like being in the country. Do you like 

Ramallah, and why? I would love to know what 

it’s like there. Can you tell me a bit about your 

town? 

I like Ramallah because the weather is moderate 

and beautiful. 

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. 

Your friend, Nia 

Olivia Hoffman interviews Leen Najjab 

Olivia 

Leen 

my name is Olivia. What is yours? 

My name is Leen Najjab. 

I am a girl in 4th grade. What grade are you in? 

I am in 4th grade as well. 

I am nine years old. My birthday is on June 

14th. How old are you? 

I am nine years old. My birthday is on March 

15th. 

My cat is one year old. Do you have a pet? 

Yes, I have four fish at my grandparents’ 

house in Jordan and I’m gonna get two dogs in 

Ramallah where I live. 

My favorite thing at school is recess. What is 

your favorite thing to do at school? 

Mine’s gym and recess. 

I have a big brother named Ethan; he is 14 

years old. Do you have a sibling? Who do you 

live with? I live with my mom, dad, brother and 

cat. 

Yes I have 18 siblings and I live with my 

mum, dad, and sister. 

My favorite food is candy. My favorite kind of 

candy is Reese’s candy. It is chocolate with 

peanut butter inside. What is your favorite kind 

of food and candy? 

My favorite food is mansaf; it’s an Arabic 

food, and spaghetti bolognaise slurp. My 

favorite candy is Skittles. 

I am Jewish. My favorite Jewish holiday is 

Passover. The reason I like Passover is I get to 

be with my family and we have a very big dinner 

together. I get to have a special kind of wine. I 

get to read from the Passover book that tells 

about the story of Passover. What religion are 

you? What is your favorite holiday? 

My religion’s Muslim. My favorite Muslim holiday’s 

Adha and Feter because we have a big 

family dinner and get loads of money. 

My favorite color is red because I think it looks 

really pretty and it feels like a warm color. What 

is your favorite color, and why? 

Mine’s baby blue and baby pink because I 

remember my baby cousin Akram and its pretty. 


Rachel Wilson interviews Aline Massad 

Rachel 

Aline 

hi, my name is Rachel. I am 10 years old and I 

am in fourth grade. I have one brother and he is 

seven. His name is Max. What is your name and 

are you a boy or a girl? I am a girl. 

My name is Aline and I am a girl. 

Do you have any brothers or sisters? 

Yes, I have a brother and a sister. 

When is your birthday? My birthday is December 

21st. 

My birthday is on May 8th. 

What are some of your hobbies? I play soccer 

on the weekends with a team. Our team’s name 

is the Power Cheetahs. I like to read fairy tales 

and adventures. I like to knit. I am knitting a 

scarf for my friend. 

Some of my hobbies are to play on the piano 

and I like to play gameboy. 

What are some of your favorite school 

subjects? I like math because I like to add and 

subtract and multiply. I like reading because I 

feel I am traveling to all the places that are in 

my books. 

My favorite school subjects are math and PE 

and Christian Religion. 

Do you have any pets? I have a dog; his name 

is Jack. He’s a golden retriever. He’s a year and 

two months/ 

I have a guinea pig and his name is Piggy and 

I have a canary and fish too. 

Do you play any sports? I play soccer. I also like 

football and basketball. 

I play soccer and gymnastics and volleyball. 

What is your favorite holiday? Mine is a holiday 

called Christmas. I like Christmas because our 

family is all together and my cousins come to 

stay with us from Los Angeles. 

My favorite holiday is Christmas because at 

night we go to a restaurant and celebrate 

together. 

What is your favorite food? My favorite food is 

pepperoni pizza. I usually buy it ready made. 

My favorite food is cheeseburger. I like with it 

lots of ketchup and salad. 

I live in Oakland, California. Where do you live? 

I live in Ramallah, Palestine. 

My mom’s name is Barbara Leslie and my dad’s 

name is Mike Wilson. What are the names of 

your parents? 

My mom’s name is Najla Khoury and my 

dad’s name is Nabil Massad. 

At your school do you get homework and if so, 

how much? I get at least four pages of homework 

each night. We usually get one page of 

math, one page of reading, and spelling and 

writing. 

We get homework every day sometimes the 

teacher gives us a lot of homework, sometimes 

the teacher tells us to look for information on 

the Internet. 

Rori Fararo-Brooks interviews 

Laila Abu-Khater 

Rori 

Laila 

i’m a girl and my name is Rori. Are you a girl or 

a boy? 

I am a girl . 

I’m ten years old and in fourth grade. How old 

are you and what’s your name and grade? 

My name is Laila. I’m nine years old and I am 

in 4th grade. 


Where do you live? Where were you born? I live 

in Berkeley, California. I was born in Korea. 

I was born in Jerusalem and I live in Ramallah 

in Palestine. 

I have a dog and three fish. My mom wanted a 

dog but my dad thought it would be too much 

work but I got one anyway. My dog is a golden 

retriever and his name is Cedric. Do you have 

any pets and what are their names? 

Only two small fish and no other pets. 

What is your favorite color? I don’t have a 

favorite color. 

My favorite color is yellow. 

In my spare time I like drawing, playing sports 

and having play dates and sleepovers. What do 

you like to do in your spare time? 

I like to play with my friends. 

What is your favorite subject in school? My 

favorite subject varies. Sometimes writers’ 

workshop, which is when you write stories and 

our teacher publishes them. I also like Gold 

Rush game, which is a game about history. 

My favorite subject is P.E. 

If you had a chance to go anywhere, where 

would it be? I would go to the Santa Cruz beach 

boardwalk, which is an amusement park on the 

beach. 

I like going to the beach to swim. 

Do you have any friends and who are they? My 

really good friends are Rachel, Sophie, Sydney, 

and Abby. 

I have many friends; Dima, Ali, Dena, Ninaru, 

Majed, and Zeina. 

Laila Abu-Khater responds to Rori 

I am happy for you because you are going to 

Korea and Japan in the summer and I wish to go 

there one day to know what it is like. I am sure 

you will have fun and I am sure it will be so nice. 

I do not have any plans for the summer holiday 

yet. I may go somewhere close, like Jordan. 

But so far I have no real plans. 

I went to Canada and America one summer 

few years ago and it was fun. I went to Disney 

World and many other places. We were there for 

two months. We took many pictures. I really 

enjoyed that trip a lot and I wish we can make it 

again. But, I also like to see other places and I 

hear Japan and Korea are very nice places. So I 

wish you a fun trip there this summer. 

I like to travel. I visited Turkey and I spent a 

very nice time there. I like to go places like that. 

I have many friends in school and outside 

school. I like doing things with them. We play 

basketball and football sometimes. I also take 

dabka, which is Palestinian dancing. I like music 

and I am learning to play the flute and piano. 

I have below a picture for me so that you will 

have an idea about how I look like. I hope you 

can send me a picture for you too. 

Ruby Moore-Bloom interviews 

Rami Barhgouti 

Ruby 

Rami 

my name is Ruby and I’m a girl. I am ten and I 

will be 11 in October 2006. I am in fifth grade. I 

have a younger brother named Arlo who is 

seven years old. What is your name? Are you a 

girl or a boy? 

My name is Rami and I am a boy. 

Do you have any brothers or sisters? If so, what 

are their names and how old are they? 

I have one sister. Her name is Hala. 

What are your favorite hobbies? I like to read, 

draw, write and play. 

My hobbies are reading, drawing and sports. 

What is your favorite subject in school? I like 

math, reading, and writing. 

My favorite subject is math. 


What is your favorite color? Why do you like it? 

My favorite color is lavender. I like it because it 

sort of looks soft. 

My favorite color is blue because it is an 

action color. 

Were you looking forward to writing to me? I 

was. Also I was looking forward to learning 

about your life in Ramallah. 

Yes, because I like meeting new people. 

What is your favorite animal? If you have one, 

then why? I like cute little piggies! 

I like monkeys because they are tiny and 

similar to humans. 

Do you have a favorite holiday? Why do you like 

it? I like Halloween because I like to dress up in 

different costumes. 

Yes, my favorite holiday is Halloween 

because I like to scare people with devil costumes. 

Do you have a favorite sport? I like soccer. 

I like soccer and hocky. 

What kinds of books do you like? Do you have a 

favorite? I like fiction books. I like the Harry Potter 

series, The Golden Compass, The Series of 

Unfortunate Events, The Sisterhood of the Traveling 

Pants, My Side of the Mountain, Caddie 

Woodlawn, The Great Gilly Hopkins and The 

Thief Lord. 

I like fiction and scary books. My favorite is 

Harry Potter. 

Do you have any pets? I had two rats, but one 

died. Now I have one rat named Sally, she is so 

cute! 

Yes, I have a cat named “Boss” and he is a 

strange one. 

Do you have any favorite movies? I like Spirited 

Away, Castle in the sky, Harry Potter, Kiki’s 

Delivery Service, and Home Alone 3. 

Yes, I like Harry Potter, Pirates of the 

Caribbean, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 

CKY High, Chicken Little. 

Thanks for answering my questions. I hope to 

hear from you soon. 

Sincerely, Ruby 

Sophie MacCracken interviews 

Fawzi Zughayyer 

Sophie 

Fawzi 

my name is Sophie. I have some questions to 

ask you. What’s your name? 

My name is Fawzi Zaghayer. 

Are you a girl or a boy? I’m a girl. 

I’m a boy. 

How old are you and what grade are you in? I’m 

nine and I’m in fourth grade. 

I’m nine and I’m in 4th grade. 

I have a younger sister named Addie (six years 

old) and an older brother named Devin (11 

years old). Do you have any siblings? What are 

their names and their ages? 

I have a younger sister named Tala. (seven 

years old) 

My favorite colors are green and orange 

because green is the color of a lot of things and 

orange because it is bright. What are your 

favorite colors and why? 

My favorite color is blue because blue is the 

color of sky. 

My birthday is April 17th. When’s your birthday? 

My birthday is May 13th. 

My favorite hobbies are reading, writing, soccer 

and skiing. What are your favorite hobbies? 

My favorite play is soccer. 

I used to have a gecko but we gave him away. 

Do you have any pets? 

No. 


I was born in a place called San Francisco. 

Where were you born? 

I was born in a place called Jerusalem. 

My favorite animal is a dog because dogs are 

fun to play with and I like hamsters. What’s your 

favorite animal, and why? 

My favorite animal is horse because I play 

with him. 

My favorite number is three because it’s a lucky 

number. What’s your favorite number and why? 

I have one favorite number; it is 2. 

My favorite food is fruit because it’s juicy. I 

especially like papaya and raspberries. What’s 

your favorite food and why? 

My favorite food is apple because I love apple 

juice. 

Stella Kent interviews Jena Dajani 

Stella 

Jena 

my name is Stella. What’s your name? 

My name is Jena Dajani. 

My name means “Star,” what does your name 

mean? 

Mine means picking fruits at the end of the 

season. 

I’m nine years old and my birthday is April 7th. 

How old are you and when is your birthday? 

I’m 10 and my birthday is on July 26th. 

I’m a girl; are you a boy or girl? 

I am a girl. 

I have a mom, a dad and one dog. I do not have 

any sisters or brothers though. Who’s in your 

family? 

I have a mom, a dad, a cat, a dog, three 

more sisters and no brothers. 

After school on Fridays I have an art class. We 

are making birdhouses. What do you do after 

school? 

Sometimes I go to Jericho and play with my 

neighbors. And sometimes I go to the art class. 

At school, my favorite subjects are math, science, 

music and sports. What are your favorite 

subjects? 

Mine are English, Math, Arabic, Art, Music, 

and Sports (physical education). 

My family has an interesting background. All of 

my dad’s family lives in England. He has a 

brother and two sisters. His mom is Nancy and 

his dad is Bruce. His uncle was related to the 

King of England, so I’m somewhat related to 

him too!!! My mom has two brothers and one 

sister. Her mom is Lucy and her dad is Steven. 

Sadly Steven died three years ago. What is your 

family’s background? 

My dad’s parents live with us in Ramallah. My 

dad’s sister lives in Abu Dhabi and I have two 

uncles; one in Jordan and the other in Germany. 

His aunt lives in America. My mom has two 

brothers; one lives in Holland and one lives in 

Jerusalem. 

My dad and mom are both musicians. I like 

music too. When my mom made a CD, I sang a 

song on it with my best friend, Lucy. It was fun. 

Do you have an interesting story to share? 

My mom does not work although we are not 

a rich family but from a middle class one. My 

dad works in an NGO with American people. 

Do you have a favorite color? My favorite colors 

are red and green. I don’t why they are my 

favorite colors. I have just always liked them. 

Maybe I like red because my hair is red. Maybe I 

like green because I like nature. 

Mine are blue, blond, and brown. I like blue 

because the sky is blue. Blond because of my 

hair’s color and brown is my eye’s color. 


Sydney Jacobs interviews Adel Khrashi 

Sydney 

Adel 

my name is Sydney. I come from Oakland and 

I’m a 9-year-old girl. I have an older sister, 

Samantha, who is 16 years old. Now I have 

some questions to ask you, if that’s OK with 

you. What is your name? Are you a boy or girl? 

My name is Adel Khrashi, and I am a boy. 

How old are you? I am nine. 

Nine. 

What grade are you in? I’m in fourth grade. 

Fourth. 

When is your birthday? My birthday is June 22. 

December 10. 

What are your hobbies? My hobbies are sports, 

like soccer, basketball, kickball, and volleyball. 

I play video games and soccer. 

What is yore favorite food? I like all kinds of 

foods. 

Chocolate 

Do you like sports? I like soccer, basketball, and 

volleyball. I play on a soccer team called the 

Power Cheetahs. We’re an unbeatable team. 

I only like soccer. 

Do you have any pets and if you do, what are 

they and what are their names? I don’t have any 

pets because my mom’s allergic. I used to have 

fish, but they died. 

No 

What is your favorite subject in school and why? 

Mine is math because I like adding 

English because I know more English than 

Arabic, 

Do you like to plant gardens? I like to plant both 

vegetables and flowers. We have pots of flowers 

in our garden. Some of the flowers are purple. 

At school we planted a vegetable garden. 

No. 

How many best friends do you have? I have 

about 25. Sometimes I make friends with my 

older sister’s friends. I also am good friends 

with a little girl who is four and her brother who 

is two but most of my friends are nine or ten 

years old. 

I have 55. 

If you could make a wish and it could come 

true, what would you wish for? I would wish for 

world peace, because I don’t really support war 

and the killing of innocent people. 

I would wish peace and to go to New York to 

see 50 Cent. 

Tavi Carpenter interviews 

Areem Bahour 

Tavi 

Areem 

i am Tavi Carpenter. What is your name? 

My name is Areem Bahour. 

I am a girl. Are you a girl or a boy? 

I am a girl. 

I am eleven years old and I’m in sixth grade. 

What is your age and what grade are you in? 

I am eleven too and I’m also in sixth grade. 

My favorite colors are yellow, blue, and purple. I 

like those colors because they make me happy. 

What’s your favorite color(s) and why? 

I like all the colors but purple is my favorite. 

My favorite food is oranges. What’s your favorite 

food? 

I like strawberries the best. 


I like to play soccer and paint because I think 

that soccer is fun and painting is relaxing. What 

do you like to do? And why do you like it? 

I like playing piano because it makes me 

happy and relaxed. 

My favorite subject in school is social studies. 

What’s your favorite’s subject in school? 

I like science and English and sometimes 

math. 

I have one dog, two cats and eight canaries. My 

dog is a golden retriever/shelty; she is very nice 

even when she doesn’t know you. One of my 

cats is a small kitten. We call him Smudge 

because he looks like some one smudged 

black paint on him. The other is an old Tabby 

named Skate. My mom named her that 

because she had a dream about Skate 

skateboarding in Berkeley. The canaries don’t 

have names; we just call them the birds. 

They’re mostly orange and yellow, but some are 

grayish. Do you have any pets? If you do, what 

are their names and what do they look like? 

No, I don’t have any pets but I used to have 

five fish and two birds. Then I got two chicks but 

now all of them are dead. 

My favorite books are The Harry Potter series 

and The Tamara Pierce series. What’s your 

favorite book(s)? 

I like the Harry Potter series too and I like a 

story called Around the World in Eighty Days. 

My favorite thing to do in the summer is to go 

swimming, and in the winter I like to do puzzles. 

What do you like to do? 

In the summer I like to go swimming a lot 

but in winter I like to stay on the computer. 

My school starts at 8:45. When does your 

school start? 

My school starts at 7:45 until 2:50. 

If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go 

to Ireland because my mom’s family is from 

there. Where would you like to go in the world? 

I would like to go to Italy and not for any 

reason. 

Thank you for taking time to answer these 

questions; they mean a lot to me. 


Families and Ourselves

At My School 

Rachel Wilson 

Grade 4 — PDS 

in this letter I am going 

to tell you about my 

school and what topics we 

study in each grade and 

about the teachers. 

Well, in Kindergarten I had a teacher named 

Shakira (we don’t have to say Ms. or Mr. at our 

school). We were just starting to learn how to 

write letters and numbers. She was new that 

year. She left at the end of the year, as she 

wanted to travel more. 

In first grade I had a teacher named Susan 

she was one of the best teacher I have ever 

had. She would dress up as a lady named Mrs. 

Twinkle who had a really terrible voice and 

always wore a big purple dress. 

In second grade we also had a new teacher. 

Her name was Naila. She was also really nice, 

but she had trouble controlling the group. She 

was really a learning specialist teacher, but she 

wanted to teach at our school so she took the 

job. 

In third I had a great teacher named Suzie. 

We studied birds and Indians. 

And now we come to the year I am in, fourth 

grade. My teacher’s name is Kris Lee and we 

have studied the Gold Rush in history and we 

are learning about Japan. After reading this I 

hope you learned about my school and you will 

tell me about yours. 

The Day We Found an Abandoned Dog 

Maddy Eggers and Bella Jensen 


for about a year I really, really, really, really, 

really, REALLY wanted a dog. I wasn’t sure 

what breed I wanted, but my three first choices 

were: pugs, corgis and huskies. 

One night my dad and I were going to pick 

my mom up from the BART (the subway) 

station when she came over to us looking concerned 

and said, “Would you like to adopt a 

stray dog?” and I yelled, “YES” as loud as I could. 

We got out of the car and the first thing we 

saw was a sad looking Rotweiler curled up on 

the sidewalk. He was tied up with a leash so 

short that we assumed it for a Chihuahua. He 

had a chain collar that didn’t look comfortable. 

He looked so sad and lonely as he looked up at 

the escalator at the station barking loudly. My 

mom said that she had seen him at the station 

early in the morning running around the street 

almost getting hit by buses. 

We went over to a restaurant across the 

street called Cactus Taqueria and got him a 

to-go box full of water, and he drank it up as if 

he were a dehydrated camel in the Sahara 

desert. We felt better once we did something for 

him. A lady came up to us and said, 

“I don’t know what we should do about him, 

because his owner might come back, but if we 

leave him here, he will get picked up by the 

animal control.” 

So after an hour or so, we finally took him 

home. He fell asleep in the car. When we got 

home, his favorite place to be was the deck. He 

ate two cans of dog food/mush and what looked 

like two pounds of dry dog food. 

The next day my friend Kara came over for a 

sleepover. At night the dog ripped off our fence 

and ran away. We figured he wanted to find his 

owner. 

About a week 

later my dad told 

me a lady had 

found James. Yay! 

So we took him 

back. At dinnertime 

he would 

stare at the ground 

in an attack pose 

all through dinner. 


My dad wanted to give James some salmon so 

he pushed it off the table and so jokingly he 

said, “Oops! I dropped something!” 

In the meantime we had put signs 

everywhere saying that we had found a stray 

dog. A few days later, we got a call on the phone 

from someone who seemed to be James’ 

owner. I was really, really sad. The next day, we 

drove James over to Brentwood and he was 

really happy to see his owner. 

Two things that we learned- one, that James 

real name was AC green, and two, that the 

owner’s real name was James. 

So that is the story of James/AC. 

(Now we’re his new dog-sitters!) 

What Are Friends? 

Ibrahim Rabah 

Grade 5 — RFS 

friends are those who help you when you 

need them. When you are sad, they try to 

make you happy. 

My friends’ names are Rami, Aziz, Izz and 

Ameer. I play with them everyday and we enjoy 

that. We help each other in every problem. 

Friends are those who care about each other. 

Friends are those who you can tell your secrets 

to and they will not tell anybody. Friends are like 

brothers. Friends are very important to have in 

life. 

About Myself 

Christine Khoury 


my name is Christen Johny Raji Khoury. I 

was born in Jordan in 1995. I live in Birzeit 

town, which is near Ramallah. I am a student 

at the Friends Girls School in fourth grade. 

My favorite hobby is drawing pictures. I have two 

brothers, Firas and Ramzi and I live with my 

brothers and parents. My father is a doctor. I 

love my family very much. 

A Memoir 

Sydney Jacobs 


when I was seven months old I was just a 

little girl and my birth mom said that she 

had to put me up for adoption because she 

could not take care of me. Then I finally got a 

family- two moms and a big sister, Samantha, 

who was seven. 

Then one day my moms did not tell my 

sister that they adopted me, so when she came 

home from school, she screamed, “Brianna’s 

here, Brianna’s here!” because she thought I was 

her cousin, Brianna. 

Then they told her that I was her new little 

sister ad she held me for the first time and 

that’s how I got to be with the family I’m with 

today. 

All About My Life 

Rinad Al-Ouri 


do you want to know all about my life? Well, 

I will tell you. I like the color pink. I like to 

speak in English a lot. And most of all I like to 

visit America. 

Do you want to know about the country I 

love? Well, I will tell you about it. The country I 

love is the U.S. It is nice there. I love it because 

my family is there. Do you know how many people 

from my family are in the U.S.? Well, I will 

tell you. My grandmother is there and all my 

aunts and uncles. 

Our Friendship 

Melody Dehghan, Emma Davis and 

Agheeba Ahmed 


hi, my name is Melody, and these are my 

friends Agheeba and Emma. We are going 

to tell you about our friendship. Agheeba and I 


met in fifth grade when I started going to this 

school. When we met each other, we had a lot 

in common. As time grew, our friendship grew. 

For a while Agheeba and I played together and 

then Emma came. Emma played with Agheeba 

and me for a while. Then we found out that we 

were meant to be best friends. Ever since, 

we’ve shared secrets, played sports and talked 

with each other. Now we are best friends and 

that is why. 

We hope you liked our article about friendship! 

About Myself 

Anton Mardirossian 


my favorite place is 

the old city of 

Jerusalem because it has all 

the sacred and holy places. 

My favorite sport is soccer. 

My best friend’s name is 

Adel. We have been friends since we were 3 

years old. I like to read funny stories and books 

and play on my play station. 

Hard Work Brings Its Own Reward 

Sana’ Ghosheh 


most of us work hard so we can achieve 

the best of what we can get. We always 

hear stories whose moral lessons revolve 

around the importance of hard work. Are you 

interested to hear one? 

Ok, here comes my turn. I’m going to tell 

you one of Aesop’s fables. But before that I have 

to tell you that Aesop was a slave who got his 

freedom because he was a good story-teller, 

and here is one of his fables. It is called The 

Farmer and His Three Sons. 

Once upon a time there was a farmer who 

worked hard in his yard. The only problem he 

had, was that he had three lazy sons who never 

worked. One day this farmer got sick. As he was 

dying he told his three sons that there was a 

treasure buried in his yard. In order to find it the 

three sons had to dig up the earth after their 

father’s death so they could get the treasure. 

When they finished they discovered that the 

real treasure was not buried. It was fruits that 

the three sons produced when they dug up the 

earth and planted the seeds. 

The moral lesson we get from this story is 

that hard work brings its own reward. 

A Baby Story 

Sophie MacCracken 


i 

’m writing once again, but this time I’m going 

to tell about when I was little and I climbed 

into the toilet. My mom and grandma were making 

dinner and all of a sudden they noticed that I 

was missing. They searched everywhere for me. 

Finally, my mom went into the bathroom and 

she screamed. I was in the toilet. She said, 

“Stay there, Sophie, I’m going to get the camera”. 

And now people have pictures of me in the 

toilet bowl!!! 


About Myself 

Rami Barghouti 


hi, my name is Rami Bargouti. I am from 

Palestine. I live in a very nice Palestinian 

city called Ramallah. I go to the Friends School 

and I’m in the fifth grade now. I have one sister, 

her name is Hala and she’s six years old. This 

year I started taking guitar classes. I love guitar, 

it is my favorite and I like Hip Hop music so 

much. Soccer is one of my hobbies, too; I play 

it with my friends at school and with my neighbors 

sometimes. My favorite Xbox games is 

Soccer Ones. 

I love Ramallah, and everything is nice here 

except for one thing, the occupation. Our 

country is occupied and this is why we can’t live 

like other kids in other countries. I hope that 

one day Palestine will live in peace like other 

countries. 

My Family 

Agheeba Ahmed 


my name is Agheeba and I am 11 years 

old. I live in California and am going 

back to live in Yemen, my country, this summer. 

I’m going to miss all of my friends and Park Day 

School. I’m going to come back to the U.S. for 

college. It’s going to be a long time!!! I hope I 

like it there! 

My family is very big. I have my grandparents 

coming back with us to Yemen. My grandpa has 

a swollen foot and he is 66 years old. He likes to 

watch the news a lot!!! My grandma is very generous. 

She has one golden tooth (not real gold). 

She is 66 years old also. She likes to sleep a lot. 

I have twin cousins. Their names are, Ali and 

Mohammed. They like to fight a lot. They have 

lots of issues. They have a sister named Shariffa. 

I play with her a lot. We have the same personality. 

Sometimes we are opposites. For example, 

when I’m hyper active, she is calm and when I’m 

calm, she is hyper active. Yes, it’s a little 

strange. 

My auntie’s name is Bilqis. She’s really nice. 

Sometimes, she gives us gifts for being good. 

She’s always worried about kids being hyper 

active. My uncle’s name is Mohammed. He likes 

to mess around with my little brother, Noah. He 

has a store called Chapala Market. I love both of 

them! 

I have 2 brothers; their names are Amin and 

Noah. Amin is 10 years old and he is in fourth 

grade. He is going to be 11 on May 31. Noah is 

5 and he is in kindergarten. He is going to be 6 

on March 16. Sometimes they can be annoying, 

but they are still family. 

My mom’s name is Bilquis. She was born in 

Yemen. She got married when she was 15! My 

dad’s name is Abraham. He loves being healthy. 

Ever since he realized that eating junk food is 

bad, he said that it is better to eat and be 

healthy. That’s why he opened up his new store. 

He sells all natural things. I am sooooo happy for 

my dad! I love my parents! 

I’m in 5th grade. I’m going to be 12 on April 

13. I was born in California. So were my brothers. 

I like to play soccer. I love to write and and I 

think I’m going to be a writer! Hopefully, I’ll write 

good stories and it will be a good job. I think my 

family is special. I hope you now know a lot 

about my family. I love my family!!! 

“I Don’t Know How It’s Done” 

Layan Suleiman 


“ 

i don’t know how it’s 

done” is an excuse that I 

often use to escape my 

duties and chores. My 

mother says, “Make your bed,” I reply, “I don’t 

know how.” Sometimes she says, “Wash the 

dishes or fold your clothes. I always answer with 

“I don’t know how.” 


I’m sure that a lot of you have used this 

excuse more than once, because with this 

excuse you don’t have to argue or explain and 

the conversation is over. But why do we use 

these excuses? I confess I say that only 

because I hate making the bed and of course 

saying, “I don’t know how to do it” is much 

easier than doing the chores. 

About Myself 

Jamal Abdul Fatah 


my name is Jamal 

Abdul Fatah. I am 

nine years old. I have blue 

eyes and blond hair. I am tall. 

I am very sociable, brave, cooperative, and 

friendly. But I get upset and nervous very 

quickly. 

My nationality is Palestinian. I live in the city 

of Ramallah near Jerusalem. I study at the 

Friends Girls School. I am in fourth grade. I like 

Math, science, and history. My best friends are 

Muhamad, Hanna, and Fares. My favorite sports 

are baseball, horse riding and cycling. In the 

future, I would like to become a scientist. 

Baby Stories 

Lizzy Chipman 


do you like to hear stories from your 

parents about you when you were a baby? 

I do and find them really funny. 

Once when I was three, I woke up really early 

and thought that I would make waffles for my 

family, Waffles are square of dough that are 

crispy that we eat for breakfast. So I climbed up 

the shelf that had the waffle mix and the waffle 

iron. Then when I plugged in the waffle iron, it 

burned my hand and I screamed at the top of 

my lungs. My mom came running down thee 

stairs and shouted, “What happened?” Then I 

said, “Nothing,” in a real quiet voice. 

This other time when I was 4, I was gathering 

stuff all around my house and then put it all on 

this table on the front porch of my house. Then I 

shouted, “Stuff for sale! Stuff for sale! Everything 

just a billion dollars!” 

My brother was watching and was trying to 

get my mom’s attention, but she was on the 

phone. Then finally she asked, “What is it, 

Joey?” He said, “Lizzy is selling all of our stuff.” 

They went outside and then my brother said, 

“Give me back my blanket, you big Meanie.” 

“Sure, you can have it back. Nobody is coming 

and I’m only selling this stuff for a billion dollars.” 

What silly stuff did you do when you were 

young? 

About Myself 

Ameer Nassr 


hello. My name is Ameer. I am 10 years old. 

I am in 5th grade at the Friends School. I 

love my school very much because it is so special 

to me. I have two sisters (Dalia is seven and 

Tayma is one). I love to play with Tayma very 

much. 

I love sports like football, basketball, and 

swimming. I am a member in Kobdo club. I love 

nature but we do not have any forests. We cannot 

get to the sea because we are under siege. 

My parents work hard to keep our life going. I 

have nine uncles who live indifferent areas. We 

cannot visit them because there are many 

checkpoints on the way all the time. 


Interests and Passions

Ligers 

Alex Rez 


ligers are a species of big 

cat. Ligers are wild animals 

and live in Africa. Ligers are 

tannish brown with darker 

brown stripes like a tiger. Ligers look like female 

lions. Ligers are the size of a lion and tiger combined. 

How they get to be so big so quickly is 

that they are missing a gene that helps them 

grow faster so when they are full grown they can 

weigh as much as one thousand pounds! I 

hoped you learned a lot about ligers. 

Basketball and Football 



really enjoyed reading about the poison 

game. It is the first time I hear of basketball 

played like this. I love basketball but we play it 

by the known rules (regular basketball). I play 

basketball at our school during the P.E. classes 

and at the club once a week with my brother. 

Also I love playing football more than basketball. 

I play it at school in P.E classes and our class 

can practice playing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays 

and Thursdays. I forgot to tell you that we have 

girls, our classmates, playing with us both basketball 

and football. 

Music 

Jordan Miller-Surratt 


in this article I will talk about bands that I like 

and why in alphabetical order. 

A is for Aqua: I like them because they do 

pop/rock tunes and I find them pretty easy to 

dance to. 

B is for Bread: They are a pop/rock group 

from the 70’s and are very much forgotten. I 

started to like them because my mom loved 

them when she was younger and a few months 

ago she bought Bread’s greatest hits. So naturally 

she listened to it, and she listened to it 

excessively, and I naturally took to the music. 

C is for The Clash: I like them because they 

show what real rock’n’roll is. I also like them 

because unlike most rock’n’roll of that time, 

they sort of showed a soft side to rock’n’roll. 

D is for The Donnas: I like them because not 

a lot people know of them. I also like them 

because they bring a fun spin to rock/pop. 

E is for Evanescence: I like them because 

even though they usually sing depressing 

music, it is sort of fun to mope around. 

F is for Fall Out Boy: I like them because they 

play rock’n’roll music that is incredibly easy to 

dance to and not a lot of rock bands do that. 

G is for The Gorrilaz: I like them because they 

are one of the few rock’n’roll groups who feature 

rappers in their songs. 

H is for The Hives: I like them because they 

are very vintage rock sounding, and I particularly 

like the sound of that type of rock. 

I (Can’t think of a band that starts with I.) 

J is for Jimmy Eat World: I like them because 

they sing tunes that sound like vintage rock. 

K (Can’t think of a band) 

L is Linkin’ Park: I like them because the 

singers have a real melody that fits with the 

music I am into. 

M is for My Chemical Romance: I like them 

because they sing depressing music and it is 

fun to mope around sometimes. 

N is for Nirvana: I like them because they 

sing very 90’s rock. They are also fun to sing 

along with because you can either scream or 

use a very soft voice. 

O (Can’t think of a band.) 

P is for The Pussycat Dolls: I like the Pussycat 

Dolls because they have a hip hop and 

dance type flavor. 


Q is for Queen: I like that group because they 

have a weird sound that makes you want to sing 

even if you are the worst singer. 

R is for The Red Hot Chili Peppers: I like them 

because they sing great music that can be 

either soft or loud. 

S is for Squeeze: I like that group because 

they give a soul taste to rock’n’roll, and I am 

very interested in 80’s rock right now. 

T is for Tears for Fears: I like them because 

as I said I like 80’s rock’n’roll. I also like the 

messages their music gives. 

U (Can’t think of a band.) 

V is for Velvet Revolver: I like them because 

they sing songs that are easy to sing along to. 

W (Can’t think of a band.) 

X (Can’t think of a band.) 

Y (Can’t think of a band.) 

Z (Can’t think of a band.) 

Why is Reading Important? 

Leen Najjab 


everyone knows that reading is important. 

Reading is important in our lives because 

we learn a lot from it. There are different kinds 

of books such as fiction, non-fiction, romance, 

comedy and news. Reading is at the heart of 

everything we do. We learn about biography, 

autobiography, and history. We learn about what 

happened in the past. For example, how Gousha 

told us about the history and the past of his 

country Kenya in Africa. Reading helps us learn 

new vocabulary and comprehension. 

Sometimes we read for fun and to enjoy a 

book, but we also learn. Some people like reading 

and some find it boring. Those who find it 

boring should learn to read at least a book every 

month. Some books are made into films such 

as Harry Potter. 

When I was little my mom used to read me 

stories. I always enjoyed those stories and 

learned a lot. I learned new words and new 

ideas. Once my mom read me one of Shakespeare’s 

plays named Midsummer Night’s 

Dream. I learned about Shakespeare and his 

imaginary style. Here are some of 

Shakespeare’s plays: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, 

and Macbeth. If you keep reading, you’ll keep 

learning more. 

Ice Skating and Dancing 

Lizzy Chipman 


hi there, friend. It’s me Lizzy. I would like to 

share with you the things I love about my 

home in Oakland. Here in Oakland I love to go to 

the ice-skating rink. If you do not know what an 

ice-skating rink is, I will tell you. Here, it is a 

huge building that is freezing because there is a 

frozen lake inside. That is the ice rink. People 

come and pay to get in and once they are in, 

they rent a special type of shoe that has a blade 

at the end of each shoe. They put them on and 

step onto the ice. They try to keep their balance 

and once they can stand, they try to glide on 


the ice. Once they have the hang of it, they 

could even try to run (glide) on the ice. This has 

even been made into a sport and is also in the 

Olympics. I think it is really fun to do because 

when I’m on the ice and I glide, I feel so free and 

at peace. I also like it at the ice skating rink 

because it always feels like winter. 

The other thing I love about Oakland is my 

dancing classes. There is one type of dancing 

that I love in particular and that is Hip Hop. It is 

also a type of music that is also my favorite. I 

take lessons on this dance and when I leave at 

the end of the class all I want to do is dance to 

the music. It is a dance with rhythm, a great 

beat and it makes me feel energized, awake and 

happy. I think it first originated somewhere in 

California or somewhere near here. It is like a 

mix of African, Jazz and Ballet dance. If you have 

a computer, a library or music store, you could 

probably find something about Hip Hop. I love 

the music and dance of Hip Hop and I bet you 

would like it, too. 

Soccer 

Lila Bell 


hi, remember when I told you I loved soccer? 

Well, I really meant it! I am on a very 

hard team to get on because you have to try 

out for it every year. I love soccer because it’s 

really fun to kick the ball around and score 

goals. But it’s not as easy as it seems! We practice 

twice a week and have at least two games a 

week. You get really tired but to me it’s worth it! 

Right now we are in the mist of to tournaments. 

Every year we you have to try out, even if 

you made the team last year. I have tried out 

twice and have made it on to the “A” team. The 

“A” team is the team that the “stronger” kids get 

onto. Then there is a “B” team, which is for the 

kids that aren’t as good as the others. I am trying 

out for the team again this year. I don’t know 

if I will make the team, but I don’t really care 

because I tried my best! 

Reading is a Treasure 

Aline Massad 


reading is important for education and work. 

In university people read to learn about medicine 

and science and other subjects. People get 

information about everything from reading and 

people read to learn about history. 

Reading stories is fun and useful. There are 

lots of benefits for reading and they are: learning 

and entertaining. 

Nearly everything we learn is from reading. 

I like to read about adventures, far away 

places, famous people, space, special events 

and about animals. 

Basketball 

Melody Dehghan 


hi, this is Melody. One of my favorite sports 

is basketball. Basketball is the sport where 

you shoot shots and try to win. I think it is fun. 

Do you? The only thing is many people think it 

is for boys. I don’t, because many girls have 

won awards for basketball just as many as boys. 

It takes a ton of practice, but I’m getting good at 

it. 

One of my favorite things to do is to play a 

basketball game called Poison with my friends. 

You make three shots from anywhere, but if you 

miss one of your shots the ball has to bounce 

once and the next person catches it. They can 

take two steps closer on each shot. If the person 

makes all three shots, on the third shot you 

yell, “Poison!” The other people try to run as far 

away from you, but freeze on the word of Poison. 

You take five steps forward and try to hit 

someone’s foot with your ball. If you hit them 

they get the next letter in the word Poison. The 

last person who does not get the letters of P-O- 

I-S-O-N wins. You can get a letter, too, if you let 

the ball bounce more that two times. Then you 


loose a turn. Well that’s the game. I hope you 

enjoyed reading g about my hobby, basketball, 

and also my favorite basketball game, Poison. 

Bye! 

Olive Trees 

Lujain Abdat 


olive trees are old trees 

planted in Palestine 

since thousands of years. 

Olive trees were planted in 

mountains and plateau land, and need little 

water or no irrigation and that is very suitable for 

our climate. 

Olive trees give us olives and oil used for 

food and it is very healthy for humans. A lot of 

people use olive oil for medical reasons, and for 

industry fields like soap and, shampoo, baby oil. 

People take wood from olive trees for heat and 

for the tourist industry. They make beautiful 

statues and souvenirs. Also the olive leaf is 

used as a sign of peace. 

Baseball 

Rori Fararo-Brooks 


ilike to play baseball on a team. When I first 

started I was playing on a softball team. That 

was when I was five. I’ve been playing baseball 

since I was six years old. The first year I was on 

a team called the “Crocs;” that’s short for “Crocodiles.” 

We did not get to choose our team 

name; instead the league chose the name for 

us. I wish we could choose our own name. That 

time when I was on the baseball team I was not 

the only girl. I was with another girl named Sydney. 

Now she is one of my best friends. Oh, by 

the way the colors of our uniforms are white, 

blue, and green. 

Computers 

Ameer Nasr 


there are computer advantages, but today I 

will talk about the disadvantages. For example, 

if we sit a long ours playing on computer we 

will encounter a lot of problems like, being fat, 

our shoulder will be suffering, our eyes will be 

hurt, sitting wrong, headaches, and not getting 

sleep. I advise people to play on the computer 

half an hour or less and use the computer only if 

needed. 

Rock Climbing and Ice Skating 

Melody Dehghan 


hello! This is Melody. I live in the city of 

Alameda, but I love to go to Oakland and 

Berkeley. One thing I love in Berkeley is a place 

called Iron Works. It is a place that you can rock 

climb. If you don’t know what rock climbing is, I 

will tell you. First, you put this strap on you that 

sort of wraps like a diaper. There is a hook in the 

middle of it. Then you go to a wall full of rocks 

that stick out. You have someone hook you to a 

string and then you try to climb the rocks all the 


way to the top. If you get to the top, then you 

climb down by pushing off your feet. It is okay to 

let go off the rocks, because you just hang in 

the air, but don’t look down! I love rock climbing 

and I don’t get tired just climbing the same wall 

over and over again. It is just so fun, and I never 

get tired. I just love rock climbing. When I go 

home I just think about the next time we are 

going to come here, looking out the window of 

the car. 

When I go to Oakland, I love to go to the ice 

skating ring. If you don’t know what that is, I will 

tell you. People go into a building that is freezing 

cold. It is cold because there is a frozen lake 

inside. If you need, you rent these special types 

of shoes that have blades at the end. You use 

the blades to glide on the ice. It is really fun, 

especially when you are with your friends. I love 

to skate around the ice, round and round until 

I’m too tired to do it anymore. There is also 

games and hot cocoa there too. I just love iceskating 

and I’m sure you would, too! 

Soccer 



iam on a soccer team. I love to play soccer 

because it’s fun to kick a soccer ball around. I 

am on the “Power Cheetahs” team. We are an 

unbeatable team. I have the hat trick. If you 

don’t now what a hat trick is, then I will tell you. 

It is where you score a goal three times in a 

soccer game. I’m on a soccer team in the spring 

and fall. My mom is the coach. It’s fun having 

my mom as a coach. I like to play forward and 

defense. We wear yellow and white uniforms. 

Bowling 

Naomi Asimow and Stella Kent 


bowling is a sport that many people enjoy. 

You have a long wooden alley in front of 

you with 10 white and red cones at the end of 

the alley. You’re standing at the other end of the 

alley with a very heavy ball in your hand. You get 

to choose the weight of your bowling ball. The 

ball can be six pounds at the least, and 18 

pounds at the most. The ball has three holes to 

put your fingers in. Then you throw the ball 

down the alley and try to knock as many cones 

as you can. If you knock all 10 cones down at 

one time, it is called a “strike.” You get a lot of 

points. Then it is the next persons turn, they do 

the same thing. To win you have to knock down 

more cones than the other person. 

IT’S LOTS OF FUN! 


Special Places

Egypt 

Zaina Barghouti 


my name is Zaina. I am from Palestine, 

and I live in Ramallah. I want to tell you 

about my journey to Egypt, I visited first Cairo 

with my family. It is very beautiful and crowded. 

First we visited the museum and the pyramids 

that were built by the pharaohs before 5000 

years and we saw (Abu Alhol), and then we ate 

fish in Khan el-Khalili market. The next day we 

traveled to Luxor by plane, we visited the temple 

of Karnak; it was very amazing and the temple 

of Luxor. Then we sailed by a huge ship on 

the Nile River from Luxor to Aswan. We slept 

three nights on the ship and we saw a very 

amazing view. In Aswan we visited the great 

Dam called Al-Sadd el-Ali; it was 3.5 kilometers 

long. Egypt is a wonderful place to go, and I 

hope you will be able to go there some day. 

Vacations 

Lizzy Chipman 


ihave some more things that I would like to 

share with you about my home. When my 

family and I go away on a vacation, we might go 

to my grandma’s house, which is on a ranch (a 

place where you raise horses) in Paso Robles. 

We usually go there for Easter, which is around 

my grandma’s birthday, and sometimes just for 

fun. At my grandma’s house there is also a 

swimming pool. So when I go there, I like to go 

swimming and ride the horses. 

Then for the Fourth of July, I go to see my 

sister Dorothy in Seattle on Vashon Island. She 

is married and has two sons and a dog. When 

we go to her house I usually baby-sit the boys. 

(One is in preschool and the younger one is just 

a year old.) I also help around the house. Then 

on the Fourth of July, we buy tons of fireworks 

and set them off at the beach. After that on the 

other side of the beach the professional 

fireworkers set off the real show. At the end of 

the trip my dad pays me for baby-sitting my 

nephews twenty four seven. 

On summer vacations, my family and I like to 

go to Georgia to see my cousins, sometimes 

Hawaii to have some fun in the ocean, and 

sometimes we just like to stay home and have a 

family movie night. That is one of my favorite 

vacations. 

Ramallah City 

Izz Abu Dakka 


ottoman archives record 16th century 

Ramallah as a well-established agricultural 

village of about four hundred people. With time 

Ramallah became a prosperous town attracting 

families to the area. It developed as any ordinary 

village, notable only for the fact it was predominately 

Christian. During the mid 19th century, in 

an attempt to make allies and create a balance 

of power against the Ottoman Empire, Ibrahim 

Pasha opened the country to European interests, 

including the church. Consequently the 

end of the 19th century saw a huge influx of 

church representatives and missionaries to the 

area, resulting in the development of church 

institutions such as schools and hospitals. 

Traveling to South East Asia 

Maddy Eggers 


igo to Indonesia every year. It’s totally 

awesome because everything is cheap and 

my family lives there. My grandpa’s house has a 

goldfish tank and a koi pond that is really BIG. 

Not to brag or anything, but he owns a hotel 

named Angkasa which means sky in Indonesian. 

There is a huge buffet there and there are 

yummy hash browns, which are crispy shredded 

potatoes. They are totally awesome! I once ate 


seven big hash browns and got so bloated that 

it hurt to move or breathe. 

We go traveling from Indonesia to Singapore 

and Kuala Lumpur, which is in Malaysia. It has 

the best water park in the world!! It is called Sunway 

Lagoon, and it’s the size of 3 normal 

amusement parks. It has a lot of swimming 

pools that you can inner tube in, a place you 

can surf, some water slides, and this really huge 

bridge that was rickety and which scared me, 

and a lot more things. 

I go to Singapore, too. I have a 9-year-old 

aunt named Sabrina and a 13-year-old aunt 

named Sarah. They’re both really nice. I slept 

over with them once. I like traveling because it’s 

like exploring new places. 

When you travel sometimes the airports are 

cool because of all the gift shops. San Francisco 

airport has an “SF Moma” (which means the San 

Francisco Museum of Modern Art). It is this cool 

modern shop with lots of awesome stuff inside 

like a pontiki, which is a little 3D shape, like a 

cube, egg or cylinder or any other. You can stick 

little parts inside it like eyes, pom poms, halos, 

and lots more. I have three of them. 

Indonesia is a wonderful place to go, and I 

hope you will be able to go there some day. 

Palestine 

Ameer Nasr 


my country is Palestine. It is located in 

the Middle East and it is very beautiful. 

It is the Holy Land because it has the Dome of 

the Rock for the Moslems, the Holy Sepulcher 

for the Christians, and the Wailing Wall for the 

Jews. It has many other holy places. My country 

is famous for its olive trees and many orange 

trees, grapes and many other kinds of fruits. I 

live in Ramallah City, which is very close to 

Jerusalem. However, we cannot get to Jerusalem, 

because we are not free to move around 

easily. We need a permit to get out of the city. 

Berkeley, One of My Favorite Cities 

Jordan Miller-Surratt 


my name is Jordan and I am a girl. Even 

though I live in Oakland one of my 

favorite cities is Berkeley. The reason I like 

Berkeley is because of the people. I like the 

people because they are all different shapes and 

sizes. I also really like Telegraph Avenue, a 

street in Berkeley near the college campus of 

UC Berkeley. I like it because there are usually a 

lot of street vendors selling things they have 

made or things not found in stores. I also like 

the two CD stores Rasputin’s and Amoeba 

because they sell Indie artists and used CD’s. 

(Indie means independent, and I like independent 

artists.) Another thing I like about Telegraph 

Avenue is the food joints (in other words, 

restaurants). The reason I like them is because 

almost all of them have food that I enjoy eating. 

As I said before even though I was born in 

Oakland, Berkeley is one of my favorite cities. 

My Visit to Egypt 



last summer, I went to Egypt with my family 

(parents, two brothers, my aunt, my uncle 

and his family). First we all had to go out of our 

country through the borders with Jordan by taxi. 

We stayed there in Jordan 3 days in my 

mother’s uncle house, George. By the way, my 

father, brother and I went two days before my 

mom and little brother because she had work. 

We visited my father’s relatives in Jordan and 

went to many malls and an international exhibition 

for different kinds of goods. 

We went by plane to Egypt. We arrived in 

Cairo and we rented a big furnished house 

where 11 of us stayed. Everyday, we visited one 

or more places. For example, we saw the great 

old pyramids that are very huge. We saw the 


Nile River and went in a ship for a cruise. There 

was a dancer on the ship and a big party. We 

had a lovely dinner on the ship. We also visited 

many old churches. We also went to the big 

park where movies are filmed in Cairo. 

We stayed in Cairo for one week and then we 

went to Alexandria where we stayed at a hotel. It 

was a lot of fun because we had the chance to 

swim. We really had fun as we took the train 

from Cairo to Alexandria. Both cities are too 

crowded. It was very hot. But I was fun and I 

wish we could go there again. 

Denmark 

Isabella Jensen 


denmark is in Europe right next to Italy. 

Copenhagen has lots of cool fun places to 

go to like Lego-land where everything is made 

out of Legos, including the restaurants, gift 

shops and roads. 

On sunny days in the spring or winter, school 

and work are canceled for people to enjoy the 

sunny day. Most people spend the day at the 

beach. In the winter around Christmas time in 

the month of December they have something 

called a juecalinen. A juecalinen is like an advent 

calendar but instead of chocolate or a picture 

you get little mini gifts. They look like gifts on a 

string. This year I got a pack of evil looking devil 

ducky pencil toppings. I like to go to Tivoli and 

go on the underwater roller coaster ride, and I 

love go to the beach and go in to the freezing 

water. I also like to go to the coffee shops because 

they are very warm and they sometimes 

have a fireplace in the middle of the store. 

I absolutely love throwing snowballs in Denmark 

in the winter because my neighborhood in 

California doesn’t get snow in the winter. I liked 

playing a really fun pirate game with my grandpa 

who is, sadly, dead now. He had two really nice 

cute dogs named Meli and Sise. They both died 

last summer. Meli died of brain cancer and Sise 

died of the same thing. 

My favorite thing about Denmark is speaking 

Danish. I don’t speak a lot of Danish, but I speak 

enough to get three pounds of licorice at a coffee 

shop. 

When I was really little in Denmark, I didn’t 

know any Danish so I thought they were speaking 

gibberish because there is so much “blu” 

and “flugh” in the language. 

But out of all that my favorite place to go is 

Tivoli. 

The City of Ramallah 

Dalia Shawar 


in the center of Palestine, 

ten miles north of 

Jerusalem, lies the city of 

Ramallah. Built on several 

hills at 900 meters above sea level, with a 

moderate climate. It was declared a city in 

1908. 

The original population of Ramallah is 

Christian. Both Christians and Moslems now live 

in full harmony in the city. A variety of mosques, 

as well as churches are found in the city. 

The population of Ramallah is about 40,000. 

There are eighty-eight towns and villages 

surrounding the city which makes the population 

of Ramallah District 220,000. 

Ramallah is known as an open city, therefore 

housing projects, banking activities, businesses, 

hotel projects and cultural activities make 

Ramallah the place to live in. 

The city is surrounded with olive trees, decorating 

the city to be one of a kind. 


About Berkeley 

Tavi Carpenter 


one of my favorite places to visit is Berkeley. 

I go there often too. It’s not only fun 

because there’s lots of things to do there, but 

it’s more that the people who live in Berkeley 

are so wild, fun, and diverse. 

In Berkeley because there’s so much diversity, 

there’s cool shops to go to. My favorite 

place in Berkeley is Berkeley Iceland. Berkeley 

Iceland is an ice skating rink. An ice skating rink 

is kind of like a frozen lake. 

I like to ice skate because it reminds me of 

winter and snow even in the summer. In the Bay 

Area there is no snow, in the winter it usually 

rains and is cloudy. When I skate it also gives 

me the sensation of gliding. 

I also like Telegraph Avenue, because they 

have all these cool street vendors and shops. 

Around December a bunch of artists and small 

independent stores sell lots of stuff, like jewelry, 

pottery, and art. The streets at that time are 

closed so people can shop in the middle of the 

road. 

I also love the restaurants in Berkeley. My 

favorite restaurant is this little Indian restaurant. 

They have really good food. I don’t know the 

name but the atmosphere is good and so is the 

food. My favorite food is Chicken Tikka Masala. 

It’s kind of like curry with Naan bread and 

chicken. 

My other favorite restaurant is like a deli. 

They only serve vegetarian sandwiches, salads 

and soups. Their salads change everyday. I don’t 

go there as often as I’d like to because it’s 

always crowded. 

Berkeley is one of my favorite places to go. I 

hope my article has helped you imagine what 

Berkeley is like for me. 

The Beautiful Berkeley Marina 

Emma Davis 


one of my favorite places to go is the 

Berkeley Marina. It’s very pretty and I love 

to ride my bike there. There is a long concrete 

trail that’s really nice for biking. Also, it’s a great 

place to walk your dog. I like going there with 

my mom and my dog, Cherie. There is actually 

a special place where dogs can run free, without 

a leash. 

Sometimes when the wind is blowing, people 

go there to fly their kites. It’s fun to bring your 

kite and have a picnic on the grassy green hills. 

It’s exciting to roll down the hills, too. The 

Berkeley Marina is a great place to watch birds 

as well. There are some really cool birds there, 

like the burrowing owl that lives in the rocks. 

Burrowing owls are pretty rare and they are also 

really, really cute! There are a lot of rock squirrels, 

too. They scamper in and out of their holes 

in the rocks and Cherie loves to chase them. 

One day, when I was biking with my mom and 

Cherie, I saw almost a hundred rock squirrels! 

They were sitting by the side of the road and 

standing stock still in the grass. When I rode my 

bike past them, they ran and hid in their holes. 

It was very funny! 

The concrete path at the Berkeley Marina 

winds by a shipyard. But if you follow it for a 

while, you’ll reach the Adventure Playground. It’s 

a really fun place to go. You can make whatever 

you want out of wood and paint it if you pick up 

five pieces of trash. There is also a wonderful 

playground that has a great, very fast rope 

swing! There are a ton of other toys to play on, 

too! It’s free if your parent is there to watch you! 

I love going there! 

I’m really glad the Berkeley Marina exists. It’s 

a fabulous place that everyone can enjoy. The 

many parts of the Marina each have a special 

charm, and together they make it a magnificent, 

magical place! 


Yemen 

Agheeba Ahmed 


hi, my name is Agheeba. I’m going to tell 

you about my country. There are things 

that are different from America in Yemen. I hope 

you enjoy my article! 

This summer, I’m going to Yemen. I’m going 

to see my cousins and others members of my 

family. I’m really excited! I’ve been there for only 

1 year when I was little. Yemen is very different 

from America. Yemen does not have that many 

amusement parks as in America. I know one of 

them, which is called Fun City. 

There are lots of poor people in Yemen. They 

will usually knock at your door and ask for some 

money. 

In Yemen, there is Arabic food. I’ll give you 

some names of some Arabic food. Somosa is 

food that has meat and cooked vegetables 

wrapped in dough. It’s very delicious. There’s 

another kind called sabiyah. It’s a kind of bread 

that is very good. Some people eat it for breakfast 

and sometimes they put honey on top. 

In Yemen, there are wild animals that aren’t 

trained. Dogs and cats run free! 

You don’t need dog food or cat food because 

they are wild. They will survive in the wild. 

Going to Bald Head Island 



every year we go to a place called Bald 

Head. It’s an island. There are no cars 

there, only golf carts. We go there with our 

cousins and Grandpa and Grandma on my 

mom’s side. Almost every day we go to the 

beach and swim, look for seashells, and build 

sand castles. Oh, by the way, the waves are 

HUGE!!! It’s really fun because I sometimes get 

to sit on my grandpa’s lap on the golf cart and 

get to drive. We like to go on safaris; a safari is a 

little trip that we go on and it’s fun because 

there’s a navigator. A navigator is a person who 

tells us where to go. One time this guy caught a 

baby hammerhead shark. It was awesome. 

Our Trip to Hawaii 

Rachel Wilson and Sophie MacCracken 


we are going to tell you about us going to 

Hawaii every year. We go with our families 

and stay at the same condos (apartment 

houses you rent). We always go to the beach 

and snorkel. The fish that we see underwater 

are really pretty. There are rainbow fish, yellow 

tang, puffer fish, humu humu nuku nuku apuaa 

(a Hawaiian fish), turtles and eels, and sometimes 

SHARKS!!! 

We also go to different beaches. There is one 

that we call the big wave beach because the 

waves are huge and you can buggy board and 

surf!!! We go to this hotel and every night they 

have a torch lighting walk and we get swim in 

the pool at night. It’s a lot of fun! 


A Trip to Oregon 

Rachel Wilson 


iam going to tell you about a trip that I love, 

which my family goes on every year. We 

always go to Oregon, which is a state north of 

California. I am named after the Mckenzie River. 

My full name is Rachel Mckenzie Wilson. That 

might be why I like Oregon so much, but there 

are plenty other reasons why I like Oregon. Oregon 

is pretty cold and most of the time when I 

go there, I stay in the forest. There are bears 

there but the bears keep to themselves. 

My cousins and I usually explore the forests. 

It is very fun and exciting. For the past few years 

we have brought my dog, Jack. He loves it there 

and has a great time. One of the other things 

that is fun about Oregon is that we always go 

fishing. Last year we caught 15 fish. It was really 

fun. Sometimes we even go white water rafting. 

In case you don’t know what that is, I will tell 

you. You get into a raft and paddle until you get 

to the white water, which is another was of saying 

rapids or currents. It is really fun. 

The Beach 

Ruby Moore-Bloom 


iam going to tell you about 

the beach. The beaches 

that I go to have sand, trees, 

bushes, and little sand hills. 

Even though it takes about one hour to drive 

there, I have lots of fun once I get there. Sometimes 

my family will go with our friends. Most 

times my family drives to a trailhead (a place 

where the hike starts) and we go on a hike that 

leads to a beach. I love to walk along the beach, 

letting my feet sink in the sand, and collect 

shells and smooth stones that have been 

washed up on the shore. I like to run and jump 

over and in the waves. Sometimes I will run 

away from the waves, trying not to get wet! I 

love going to the beach! 

Going to Japan and Korea 



this year I’m going to Japan and Korea. I 

mean this summer in the last year I wrote to 

you I told you I was from Korea. I just told you 

again in case you had forgotten. I know I I’m 

going to Seoul when I go to Korea, except I 

don’t know where I’m going in Japan. Are you 

going anywhere this summer? I wonder what 

Japan and Korea are going to be like. Have you 

ever gone to Japan or Korea before? I can’t wait 

to go Japan and Korea. I know I already told you 

that I was really excited, but I felt like telling you 

again. I wish time would go by faster than it is 

so I can go to Japan and Korea right right away. 


Favorite Recipes

Yogurt Chocolate Chips 

Aziza Yaropa 


i 

’m going to tell you about a recipe I made up 

myself. 

1. First you get vanilla yogurt and you put it in a 

bowl. 

2. Then you add raisins or chocolate chips, or 

both into the bowl. 

3. Pour our some cinnamon or syrup into the 

bowl. 

4. Stir it all up with a spoon. 

And enjoy! 

Recipe for a Health Cocktail 

Ibrahim Rabah 


1 banana 

Carrots, 

Celery or melons (1 pint), 

1 oz orange juice, 

1 lemon, 

8 ice cubes. 

How to make it: 

1. Peel and cut the carrots into slices and place 

them in a turbo blender. 

2. Place the lid on. 

3. Set speed at 2 and then press on button for 

5 seconds. 

4. Put the carrots aside. 

5. Repeat the process with the celery. 

6. Then add the carrots, piece of banana, 

orange and lemon juice, and mix for a 

minute. 

7. Mix until the mixture is smooth and creamy. 

8. Enjoy it. 

Ice Cat 

Gabriella Taylor 


this is a recipe I made 

once at a friend’s house. I 

call it Ice Cat. 

Get a scoop of ice cream. 

Add marshmallows, chocolate syrup, and 

whipped cream. 

Put two marshmallows on your scoop of ice 

cream as eyes. Put dots of chocolate syrup as 

pupils for the eyes. Put dots of whipped cream 

for ears. 

Use chocolate syrup to make a mouth and 

whiskers. 

Enjoy this sweet treat! 

Lemonade Recipe 

Jena Dajani 


this is my recipe for making 2 jars of lemonade 

for 6 people. 

Ingredients: 

16 lemons 

4 tablespoons of sugar 

Half a jar of water 

Preparation: 

Add the sugar to the water and stir well. 

Then squeeze the lemons. Add the lemon juice 

to the water and sugar and stir well. Then serve 

it in cold cups and if you like you can add fresh 

leaves of mint to the mixture. 

Enjoy it. 


Sugar Sugar Cookies 

Lizzy Chipman 


hey there. I have a delicious recipe that I 

would like to share with you. The recipe if 

for my sugar sugar cookies. 

First you will need to get out flour, sugar, vanilla 

extract, 3 eggs, measuring cup, milk, a bowl, a 

stirring spoon, measuring spoons, one stick of 

butter, two cookie sheets, and of course, an 

oven. 

First, heat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Then, 

with the flour and the measuring cup, scoop one 

cup and 1/4 of flour and put it into the bowl. 

Then crack the eggs and put hem into the bowl 

along with 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract and 

1/2 a cup of sugar. Then put 3/4 cup of milk and 

a stick of thick cooled butter in the bowl with the 

rest of the ingredients. 

When the dough is ready and the oven is ready, 

put the dough into little balls and place them 

one by one on the two sheets. Make sure the 

dough has space between each other when they 

bake. 

Leave the dough in the oven for 18 minutes or 

until they are golden brown. Then take them out 

to cool for ten minutes and then the cookies are 

ready to eat. Hope you like the cookies. 

Mjadara Recipe 

Ameer Nasr 


Ingredients 

2 cups lentil washed 

3 cups rice 

Chopped onion 

Olive oil 

Salt 

Cumin 

Safflower oil 

We pour the water on the lentil, and we put 

them on the stove, then we add the cumin, safflower 

oil and the salt and we put the rice on the 

lentil. Separately we mix the onion in the olive 

oil and we roast them, then we put them on the 

mjadara. 

A Recipe for Instant Cookies 

Naomi Asimow 


for kids to make without adult supervision. I 

invented this recipe by mixing some foods 

and it tasted good. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup 

1 spoon 

Brown sugar 

Flour 

Vanilla yogurt (optional) 

Peanut butter 

What to do: 

1. Put 2 spoonfuls of brown sugar into the cup 

2. Put 2 spoonfuls of flour into the cup 

3. Put 1 spoonful of vanilla yogurt into the cup 

4. Wash the yogurt off the spoon 

5. Put 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter into the cup 

6. Stir with the spoon 

7. It should be a sticky glob 

8. Roll into a ball and pop into your mouth or 

eat with a spoon 

9. YUM!!!!!!!! 


Rice Crispies Recipe 

Areen Bahour 


one of my favorite 

recipes is Rice Krispies: 

Ingredients: 6 cups of Rice 

Krispie Cereal 

1/4 cup corn oil butter 

1 bag (10 1/2 oz.) Miniature marshmallows 

Directions: Melt butter and marshmallows in 

large pot over low heat. Stir until melted. 

Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies cereal; 

stir until all cereal is coated. Put it into a 

greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan, and then put them 

in the refrigerator. Cut into squares or any shape 

you like and enjoy! 

Recipe for Smoothies 

Nia Jacobs 


this is a recipe for smoothies that my dad and 

I make, and I hope you enjoy it. A smoothie 

is a cold drink. It usually has fruit, yogurt, juice 

and sometimes sugar. 

Ingredients 

Fruit juice (any kind) 

Maple syrup 

Frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, 

blackberries) 

Tools: Blender, Spoon, Cups 

How to make it: 

Put the frozen fruit in the blender, then put the 

fruit juice in the blender, then put the syrup in 

the blender. Blend it all together. After a few 

minutes, use the spoon to taste the smoothie. 

If the smoothie is not sweet enough, add more 

syrup. After it’s done pour it into a cup and 

enjoy. 

Freezy Fruit Recipe 

Olivia Hoffman 


this is a recipe that my 14 year-old-brother, 

Ethan, taught me. This is good on hot days. 

Ingredients: 

Fruit (sliced apples, peaches, or 

watermelon, or any other fruit you can 

cut) 

Juice (any kind) 

Things needed: 

Parents Permission 

Cup 

Freezer 

Knife 

How to do it: Pour juice in cup and put in fruit 

and put in the freezer for 3 hours. 

Open the freezer grab a spoon and smoosh it so 

you can drink it up. 

And enjoy. 

Recipe for Cinnamon Toast 



iwant to share with you one of my favorite 

foods. It is called cinnamon toast. First you 

need to get out the cinnamon, sugar, and butter. 

Then you need to turn the stove on and get 

a frying pan. Then put about one to two pieces 

of butter in the pan. Wait till it is melted. Then 

put in about one spoonful of cinnamon in the 

pan and one spoonful of sugar. Then if you have 

a toaster, you can toast the bread. If you don’t 

have a toaster, then you can try to toast it on 

the stove by turning it over about every thirty 

seconds. Wait until the bread is light brown. If 

you don’t want the bread toasted, then you can 

have it plain. Now you pour the cinnamon, 

sugar, and butter on the bread. Then you can 

take a knife and spread it around. 

What is your favorite food and why? 


Homemade Non-Alcoholic Cocktails 

Stella Kent 


icreated this recipe by starting to mix juices 

and water together, and suddenly I realized I 

was making a homemade cocktail. A cocktail is 

a drink for adults that usually has alcohol in it, 

but this one does not. 

Ingredients: 

1. 1/4 of cup wild berry juice. 

2. 1/6 of cup fizzy water. 

3. 2 drops of blue food coloring. 

4. 3 blackberries on a toothpick. 

Preparation: 

• Put 1/4 of a cup wild berry juice in a glass. 

• Add 1/6 of cup fizzy water. 

• Then add 2 drops of the blue food coloring. 

• Put 3 blackberries. 

THAT’S ALL!!! YUM YUM!!! 

Sweet Apples 

Sydney Jacobs 


ilike this recipe because it’s really, really sweet 

and I learned how to make it from one of our 

teachers at school. I hope you enjoy it, too. 

Tools: Stove, Pan, Spoon 

Ingredients 

Apples, sliced 

Syrup 

Brown sugar 

Cinnamon 

How to make it 

Take a pan; put it on a stove, then pour syrup in 

the pan. 

Light the stove, mix it around with a spoon, then 

put the sliced apples in the pan. 

Sprinkle cinnamon on the apples then mix it up. 

Leave it for about 10 minutes, then turn off the 

stove and eat. 

Snickerdoodles 

Tavi Carpenter, Izzy Baker Lubin and Jordan Miller- 

Surratt 


one of our favorite cookies to eat is called 

the Snickerdoodle. We really like Snickerdoodles 

because they are sweet, chewy, and 

usually taste homemade. We enjoy them so 

much that we would like to share the recipe with 

you. 

1/2 cup butter or margarine 

1/2 cup shortening 

1 1 ⁄2 cups sugar 

2 eggs 

2 1 ⁄4 cups flour 

2 tablespoons sugar 

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

2 teaspoons cream of tartar 

1 teaspoon soda 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix thoroughly 

butter, shortening, sugar and eggs. Blend in 

four, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape 

dough by rounded teaspoons into balls. 

Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon; roll balls 

into mixture. Place 2 inches apart on greased 

baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. 

Remove from baking sheet. 

Makes about 6-dozen cookies. 


Mural in Friends School, Ramallah 

Friends School Classroom 

Friends School Playground 


Art class at Park Day School 

Visit with quilters of Gees Bend 

Readathon at Park Day School

Issue 4 - June2006 - Ramallah Friends Schools

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