Volume I September 30, 2011 Issue 4

Chapter and Verse

News, Announcements and Updates for Friendship House Teachers

Personal Thanks As our fall semester starts to hit full stride, I want to begin by thanking
each one of you for the talent, time, dedication and commitment you personally bring to your classes
and students. Wow! I am so impressed by the professionalism and passion each of you brings to
Friendship House and its mission.

Teacher Meeting Here are my notes from teacher meetings held September 19-20. In the
interest of being succinct, bullets seem best (please let me know if I missed anything):

Communications:
Favorable response to use of Chapter & Verse as a teachers-only communications tool
A master list of teachers & email addresses was requested for sharing with all faculty
Wes Thorp outlined current and projected social media plans for Friendship House
Teachers were asked to register themselves & their students on http://friendshiphousemsu.org/
Current blog statistics: 30 posts, 24 comments, 907 views
Teachers asked to volunteer to be interviewed for a blog about them & their classes
Some teachers email their students weekly to remind them of date, time, subject of next class
Rich offered to email reminders to students about upcoming classes if teacher so requests
Rich explained his use of student focus groups to identify ways students communicate
A couple teachers expressed that its always best to let students know whats coming up
A suggestion was made to start Skyping with Internationals who return to their home countries
A suggestion was made to improve WiFi signal strength at Friendship House
A couple teachers expressed a desire to have Friendship House business cards
Another teacher shared this wisdom: you have to show interest to get interest
A suggestion was made to make our display of resource material more efficient & attractive

Classes:
Teachers were requested to use attendance sheets
Teachers encouraged to contact Rich if they need substitutes
Discussion about student absenteeism, retention and related issues of attendance

Resources:
A suggestion was made to consolidate all Bibles on the first floor of Friendship House
A collapsible playpen for use in the second floor classroom was suggested
Suggestion that FH have car seats of various developmental sizes available to student parents
Another suggestion made was to have a small supply of umbrellas on hand to loan students

Winter/Spring 2012 Semester:
All teachers attending both meetings said they wish to teach in the winter/spring semester
Rich shared that hope to use an online class registration within the blog for winter/spring 2012

Training:
A suggestion was made to sign up FH teachers for annual September ESL training at Trinity

Post-Friendship House:
One teacher expressed hope that we can help connect students returning to their countries with
missionaries and/or similar individuals representing the Christian Church

Announcements

9 Don Christensen has arranged for the Friendship House carpets to be cleaned on Tuesday
October 4. Thanks, Don!

9 Pursuant to our recent City of East Lansing property inspection, Don is also starting to replace
some of our electrical outlets with upgraded grounded outlets. Thanks for that too, Don!

9 Don re-installed closet doors on the second floor classroom at the request of Rachel & Alix.
More well-deserved kudos to Don!

9 The front doors (outer & inner) have been oiled (sometimes its the little things in life). The
sound in your classes will no longer be punctuated by a creaky groan reminiscent of The
Haunted Mansion (!)

9 A few minor adornments have been added to the upstairs lavatory (with more to come).

9 Jodi is planning a great field trip for her Friday class to the Country Mill on October 14. The
trip is open to her students and their guests. Thanks to Martin Luther Chapel for loaning their
new mini-bus (and driver) for this trip!

9 The TV/DVD player that had been located in the 1
st
floor classroom has been moved to the
second floor. This will allow us to have TVs on both floors, thanks to a generous donation by
Mary Lou & Al Krause (thanks very much!)

9 Wed really appreciate it if you and your students will subscribe to the new Friendship House
blog at: http://friendshiphousemsu.org/
Upcoming Events

Please contact me if you have questions about any of these calendar items:

October 4 Carpet cleaning at Friendship House
October 11 Friendship House MSU/ISM-LA Board meeting
October 14 Jodis Class Field Trip to the Country Mill
October 21 MSU Homecoming Parade & Afterglow at Martin Luther Chapel
November 6 Ministry Fair at St. Lukes Lutheran Church (FH will have a display)
November 13 Global Festival (12:00 noon 5:00 pm) MSU Student Union
November TBA Friendship House TemIeTaIkalUniversilyLulheranChurch

Featuring Your Class If you would like information about your class featured on the blog,
please let me know. This can range from a special class topic or activity, to a field trip, to a report about
something you found especially interesting or educational that happened in your class.

A Question for the Teachers Has Friendship House ever coordinated invitations for
students to join teachers, Board members, other FH volunteers & supporters or families belonging to
area congregations for Thanksgiving Dinner in their homes? Just asking, as they say. I know that
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has hosted a well-received annual Thanksgiving Dinner for our
Internationals in the days preceding Thanksgiving Day. I was thinking of invitations to homes in
addition to this fine event and/or for people unable to attend their event. Please let me know your
thoughts.

Prayers Please pray for . . . those on our faculty, and among our volunteers, with health concerns
. . . our students who make a conscious choice to attend our English & Bible classes . . . volunteers to
come forward to assist with Friendship House office assistance . . . those in our country without jobs, or
without health care, or without a friend in Jesus.

Questions or Concerns? Have a suggestion?

Friendship House email: intlstum@msu.edu
Friendship House phone: (517) 332-8050
RichsceIIhone (517) 755-6464
You can also leave comments at: http://friendshiphousemsu.org/

Verse for the Week

nnd Io, I nm wIfh you nIwnys, ovon fo fho ond of fho ngo. Matthew 28: 20(b)

May God richly bless your day!