Category: Decorating - Bayon English Academy

Bayon English Academy

Sprucing Up BEA Christmas Ornaments

24/12/2014

The BEA kids finished up their last Christmas craft activity just in time for the big day! After rolling out their dough ornaments and letting them dry, they were able to get creative with painting their ornaments. Once again, the kids absolutely amaze me with their creativity. Some of the ornaments even looked like you could buy them in one of those boutique Christmas shops.

It's such a shame that such talent can't be nurtured more at BEA since we don't have enough staff to run these projects on a full-time basis, as well as the funding to pay for salaries and supplies. We're hoping for more funding in 2015 so that we can continue our current programs.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Rolling out BEA Ornaments

23/12/2014

As our last Christmas craft activity before our Christmas party, the BEA kids finished the first part of our ornament-making sessions yesterday. For every single one of them it was the very first time to roll out dough and cut out their ornaments. At the start of each lesson, most of the students asked me if they could eat the dough, but I told them it wouldn't be a good idea since it's just full of flour, salt and a bit of cinnamon. Originally, I thought two to three ornaments would be enough for each student since it took me an hour to paint three of them when I did a test run the night before. However, they all asked me to make more because they wanted to give them to their family and friends as gifts. Of course, I couldn't resist, so some of the kids have six to seven ornaments. This afternoon, we'll be painting and glittering them all up just in time for Christmas.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Deck the Halls at BEA

21/12/2014

We've been all decked out for the holidays these past few weeks at BEA. The kids did a fantastic job with helping us decorate the school with their Snowmen and Santa creations; and our staff as added their own beautifully hand-drawn artwork as well. The students have really enjoyed the festive spirit at the school this month and learning about different holiday traditions, and how some of these traditions are similar to Cambodian ones. Over the next few days, we'll have a few more Christmas activities and then bring in the big day with our Christmas Day party!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Here Comes Santa Claus

13/12/2014

Santa Claus dropped by the BEA library a little early this year to inspire some creativity among the BEA kids. To help us decorate the classrooms and library, we've been running Christmas craft activities in our library in which the students can sign-up for if they have the time before or after their regular lessons. Just with paper plates, cotton balls and a bit of glitter, the kids came up with some amazing versions of Santa!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Here Comes Frosty the Snowman

11/12/2014

Snowmen were dancing all around the library this week as the BEA kids finished up their first Christmas arts and craft activity, which was a welcomed relief from their week of mid-term exams. Before their regularly scheduled lessons, the students signed-up for one of the three paper-plate snowmen-making classes. None of our students have a chance to participate in music and art classes in public school, so we’ve started to offer additional classes in the library during holiday times to encourage our students to be creative and to expose them to different holiday traditions from around the world.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Trimming the BEA Tree

5/12/2014

To give a bit of Christmas cheer to the BEA kids, especially since it's mid-term exam week, the students were able to decorate our tree in the library while taking a break from studying for their tests. For all of our students, it's the very first time for them to trim a tree, as well as to be in a school that's all decked out for the holidays.

While I was back in Japan, I picked up some tree ornaments and shipped them to Siem Reap since my suitcase was already packed with graded readers and larger decorations. I wasn't expecting to find any artificial trees in Siem Reap, but I actually found a large selection at the bookstore where I get most of the school supplies for BEA. As usual, our bank account just has enough to cover this month's rent and salaries, so I've paid for the decorations and all the art supplies for our crafts activities out of my own pocket so that the BEA kids don't miss out on learning about Christmas traditions and getting the chance to celebrate their very first Christmas with the staff and myself. We're hoping in the spirit of Christmas that our supporters can give us a bit of "cheer" that will cover our rent and staff salaries for the next few months.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Halloween Remnants

2/12/2014

Halloween is still battling it out, and hoping to stick around for a little while longer in the BEA library. I never noticed that my librarian has allowed a few Halloween decorations to survive into the Christmas season. Can you find them?

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The BEA Elves

2/12/2014

The lights are strung up on the tree, and now it's time to move on to preparing the decorations! I had to ship most of our decorations from Japan. Despite the shipping costs, I'm grateful that the 100 yen shops (like dollar stores) throughout Japan go all out for Christmas and have every type of decorations imaginable. I was also able to pick up a few more ornaments at a local bookstore, along with the Christmas tree, here in Siem Reap. However, I had no luck tracking down ornament hooks, so the BEA elves, also known as the BEA students, helped me thread string through each one to get them ready for hanging tomorrow afternoon. It's the very first time our kids will be able to celebrate Christmas, but I was still astounded at how excited they were to prepare the ornaments. I can't wait until tomorrow when they get to hang up the ornaments on the BEA tree! I don't get as much time as I'd like to spend with the kids since most of my time is spent on policy-making and training, so this was such a special afternoon for me!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

O BEA Christmas Tree

2/12/2014

Since this is the first time I've been in Cambodia for Christmas, I decided that the school should be decked out in its fullest with decorations and plenty of Christmas cheer. I usually haul everything on my motorbike, but a Christmas tree and two large boxes of decorations was too much of a feat for me - still not a local yet. Instead, I played it safe with a tuk-tuk rather than a precarious balancing act on my motorbike. After I put the tree together, I started stringing the lights and noticed that my librarian wanted to take over. Stringing up lights is a necessary evil for me - shouldn't really use "evil" when talking about Christmas, but it's the only phrase I could think of so late in the evening. Fortunately, hanging up ornaments is something I completely love. If I ever need lights up on a Christmas tree, Sreynet is the person I will always call. She had it done in less than an hour!!!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Decked out for Halloween!

7/10/2014

BEA is all decked out for the month of October to celebrate Halloween! Sreynet and I spent all Saturday afternoon putting up decorations in the classrooms and library for the BEA kids. For most of them, it’ll be the very first time for them to take part in my absolutely favorite holiday. In the past, I always missed the month of October because of my university position back in Japan, but this year, I’m definitely going to make up for all the missed time. I’m planning a variety of activities that will include Halloween arts and crafts, as well as cultural-content lessons. On the big day, we’ll have face painting and trick-or-treating!!!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.