Granada International School Newsletter – April 2018

A Letter from the Director


Hello again,

We are back from Spring Break and in our final trimester of the 2018 school year. This trimester we are creating a dialogue about nutrition. In Nicaragua sugar is a staple and it is in almost all juice marketed as ‘kid friendly’. Most people think of fruit juice as natural, but at a closer glance, often they have a high amount of processed sugar. According to the American Heart Association, children ages 2-18 should have less than 25 grams or six teaspoons of processed sugar a day.

We are tackling this by raising awareness about sugar consumption. Before the break, we received a visit from 30 students studying nutrition from the National University of Nicaragua. They met with each one of our grades talking about healthy alternatives, a balanced diet, and made healthy snacks out of fresh fruit. The week after the break we started a sugar control. We had all students take out there snacks and added up the total sugar in each grade and then totaled the amount of sugar consumed every day by the whole school during snack time. This valuable lesson in reading nutrition labels was also a great repetition of basic addition and measurement. The children weighed the sugar using a food scale to create a visual representation of consumption. This hands-on exploration was also accompanied by discussions about nutrition in class.
We are very pleased that some of our 6th graders have become very excited about this project and will continue to explore it in further depth by creating a graph of sugar consumption per grade and photographing the healthiest snacks. We look forward to helping our students and families make healthier choices.

Lauren White

Another Successful Spring Fling

Our annual Spring Fling Dinner and Dance is something many locals, parents and teachers look forward to each year. Each class works together to create a beautiful peice of art work which is then auctioned off to the highest bidder. This year we were very lucky to have professional auctioneer Karen Sorbo take the live auction and run with it. The auction was fun, lively and raised over $1100 for the scholarship program.  Our silent auction which included items donated by the local community helped raise $760.  Thanks to everyone who donated, attended and supported us this year!

Spirit Week 2018

Each year we celebrate our school and our students with a week full of fun events so everyone can show their team spirit. We started the week with RAINBOW Day and asked the kids to wear as many colors as possible and show off their rainbow. Tuesday was POOL Day and we were able to use the Jockey Club pool so all the grades could enjoy an hour of pooltime. Wednesday was Nature Day so everyone could come as a plant, animal or anything that is in nature. WE had a lot of trees and flowers waling about the playground! Thursday was ICONIC FIGURE Day and I was amazed at the effort and thought  many students put into their costumes. We had famous characters such as Babe Ruth, Minnie Mouse, Frida Kahlo and Harpo Marx. Friday was FIELD Day where the kids formed teams and competed against one another. This year the Green Team was victorious with the Yellow Team coming in second.  After the competitions were completed, the parents came for a picnic lunch and a few more games. Thanks to all the teachers for organizing another great event!

The Kindergarten students enjoyed pool day in a pool just thier size.  The older kids took the “short cut” to the Jockey Club pool.

Nature Day  gave us flowers, treees, bunnies and bees!

Our Field Day was a huge success as our Blue, Yellow, Green, Red and Orange teams competed in 10 games to win an overall prize for best team. The Green team won first  place for a Pizza Party and the Yellow team came in second for a Free Dress day.

Our Secondary Certificate is Underway!

Our goal for the school has always been to grow one grade per year until we reach 12 grades. This year is a milestone as we are underway for our approval for a partial secondary certification to add grades 7-8. Because we have not completed the building for the high school but we do have space for two additional classrooms, the Ministry of Education has agreed approve  us for only two grades. We hope to remodel the high school building in the next year and will apply for our 9-12 grade certification once completed.

This is to be our new high school building for next year if we can get it remodeled in time and can raise some additional funds.  This building will accommodate six classrooms and new bathrooms for the students.

Thank You for Your Thoughts

Nicaragua recently experienced civil unrest by the people over a change of policy by the government to the social security system. Students, business people, retirees all marched to show their disagreement. Unfortunately,  things got out of hand and several people were injured and killed by both the police and the gangs on the streets.  Fortunately, Granada was not as affected as other parts of the country. School was cancelled by the government for two days but we are back in classes and and preparing for the close of our year in June.  I would like to thank all the people who reached out to us to inquire to our safety and well being.  Nicaragua is our home and we will continue to work hard to ensure a great education for the children.

Our Wish List

STEAM Science kits…$20 each
Desktop Computers…$350 each
Kindle Fire Tables…$55 each
Tether Balls…$12 each
Soccer Goal Net…$20 each

If you would like to purchase anything on our wish list, you may do so and send to the address below or donate on our Giving page and let us know what you would like us to purchase.

Friends of Sacuanjoche School, Inc
3402 Auriga Drive
Garland, Texas 75044

Amazon Smile is a Great Way to Give

What is AmazonSmile?

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Granada International School every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to GIS.

How do I shop at AmazonSmile?

To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.

Can I use my existing Amazon.com account on AmazonSmile?

Yes, you use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.

How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile?

On your first visit to AmazonSmile smile.amazon.com, you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation. To choose Granada International School, type in Friends of Sacuanjoche School, Inc., the name of our 501c(3) organization in the United States.

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Our mailing address is:
KM 45 Carretera Masaya, Granada, NIcaragua 43000