GEBG Conference

In an effort to continue to build Ursuline Academy's Global Education Program, Mrs. Amanda Neill - Director of Global Education - traveled to Miami to attend the Global Educator's Conference sponsored by GEBG (Global Education Benchmark Group).  GEBG is a grassroots organization that was started by educators from independent schools all over the U.S. who were looking for a way to connect and collaborate with like-minded individuals. The organization is staffed by one half-time person and an impressive volunteer board of directors made of up global educators in high-performing independent schools from around the country. 

Conference sessions focused on curriculum, professional development for teachers, program development, risk management and many other relevant topics. Mrs. Neill was able to network with the more than 200 attendees and gather best practices from schools who have established programs as well as share program development ideas with schools who are in a similar phase of growth as Ursuline. 

As the current school year begins its descent and conversations begin about the 2015-16 school year, Ursuline will continue to build a hallmark Global Education Program because of all that was shared at the GEBG conference. 

For more information about GEBG, check out their website: www.gebg.org

A great day in Fort Worth

We have had a wonderful day in Fort Worth. We left our host sisters at school this morning and headed out in the rain for a full day in Fort Worth. As Brigid Morrissey correctly predicted, the rain lasted only through our commute and the skies cleared as we pulled into the Fort Worth Stockyards. Way to go Brigid!

We wandered around the old time stockyards & into some very Texan stores, picking up a few fun souvenirs for our loved ones. 

At 11:30, the cowboys began to lead the Texas Longhorn cattle down the main street in Ft. Worth. What a sight!! None of us have ever seen anything like this before. These cattle were some of the biggest creatures we've ever seen up close. 

From there, we headed out to a delicious TexMex lunch at Joe T. Garcia's. The girls dined on fajitas, nachos and lemonade. We all got to try some yummy sopapillos for dessert - fried dough sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and dipped in honey. 

After lunch we hopped aboard our bus to the Fort Worth Science Museum. What a great place! The entryway has a piece of ironwork from the twin towers of the World Trade Center that was recovered from the wreckage of 9/11. The piece serves as a 9/11 memorial and it is truly breathtaking. 

We explored the rest of the museum, riding a 4D attraction on fracking, measuring dinosaur bones, experiencing the hurricane simulator, and building structures for air travel. 

Heading to Ft Worth

It is a rainy day in Dallas after a night of strong (& loud) thunderstorms. Our delegation is en route to Fort Worth for the day with Ms. Robinson & Ms. Lavelle.   The goal for today is learning about and experiencing cattle ranching. 

Safely back on US soil

Coming Home from South Africa

Our South African delegation is en route home from their exchange in South Africa.  We lift them up in prayer for a safe journey and we give thanks to God for allowing them to have this incredible opportunity.

Weekends with our Host Families

We are closing out a full weekend of time with our host families.  The girls have been living life as UA Dallas students - accompanying their new "families" to soccer games, lacrosse games, confirmation practice, mass and living normal student life.  Our delegation has learned a lot about what life is like for a UA Dallas student.  The opportunity to experience life at a sister school is one of the hallmarks of our Global Education program and something that sets Ursuline Academy apart from other schools.  We have a network of sister schools built on the same values and beliefs - the tenets of St. Angela.  It is moving to see our girls connect with their sister community in the ways of our founder.

Dallas has a lot to offer and we barely scratched the surface of amazing sights to see.  Many of our girls had the opportunity to visit the local malls - they wouldn't be teenage girls if they didn't want to see where their host sisters shop!

Our delegation was also treated to some of the historical sights in Dallas.  Check out some of their photos below!

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava

Reunion Tower

Grassy Knoll at Dealey Plaza

Presenting in Dallas

We had a wonderful Friday here in Dallas. Our students had a late arrival - lucky girls! Ms. Williams and Mrs. Neill arrived in time to see the beautiful white dress tradition for graduation. It was so beautiful - the girls were decked out in their white dresses and matching white hats. They will wear these dresses again for graduation.  

The girls went to class today with their sisters - learning a lot in their classes. Julia Sparco remarked how much she enjoyed her Spanish class because it was immersion and taught completely in Spanish. 

This afternoon, we gathered in the KIVA to present to members of the UA Dallas student body all about Ursuline. We were so thrilled to have so many students, faculty, and administration in attendance. Our girls did a wonderful job talking about all of the things that make Delaware and UA Wilmington unique as well as some of the experiences they've had since arriving in Dallas. They fielded some great questions from the crowd including some tough ones about taxes and Queen Christina!! The delegation handled themselves beautifully - just as you'd expect of an Ursuline girl.  

We were so proud to share with the group the amazing work of our awesome 4th grade "delegates" - the crowd loved it and gave the 4th graders, Mr. Dougherty, & Mrs. Clody a huge round of applause for their awesome work. Thanks 4th graders!!!

We are finishing our day watching the UA Bears Softball Team beating the Parrish Panthers - GO BEARS!! 

Serviam in Action!

What an amazing day we've had! We are so very proud of our girls. We started our first full day at UA Dallas making announcements introducing ourselves to the community. 

Our student ambassador Elizabeth did an excellent job touring is around the campus and orienting us to life at UA Dallas. Our girls loved seeing the expansive campus and especially loved the St. Angela Chapel, the KIVA, the gym, and the black box theatre.  They were impressed with the diversity of courses offered, especially all of the world languages. 

After our tour, we met to review and update our presentation before heading off to our first service project. We met with Mrs. Buxkemper who taught us to make headbands & bows for babies and young girls who have cancer or other serious illnesses. The organization we are donating to is Bow Dazzling - www.bowdazzling.com. Our girls are very interested in bringing this back to UA as a club.  

Ms. Nipp & Ms. Ross had a boxed lunch ready for us on board our bus to the North Texas Food Bank. Mrs. Clark from UA Dallas accompanied us for our service project in the afternoon. Wow - what a place!! The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) is a huge warehouse that packages food for regional food banks and pantries across the North Texas region. Our girls and chaperones were given the task of packing boxes with 15-20 lbs of snacks to be distributed. After a few hours of roll-up-your-sleeves hard work, we were so proud to have packed over 8,900 lbs of food - enough to provide 7,425 meals. Amazing! Our girls were the hardest working volunteers of the entire afternoon - everyone there was so impressed by them. That's an Ursuline girl for you! 

South Africa photos

Our delegation in South Africa is having a wonderful time with their host sisters at Brescia House.

Here are some photos from their adventures:

Arriving in Dallas!

What a warm Texas welcome we received yesterday!  After an easy flight with some funny giggles on landing, we were met in the airport by our gracious hostess, Ms. Cecilia Nipp - Director of Gloabl Relationships & Cultural Exchange and a UA Dallas Math Teacher, Ms. Tammy Yung.  Ms. Nipp welcomed us to Dallas and we promptly departed for Ursuline Academy - Dallas so the girls could meet up with their host sisters.

We drove through the beautiful neighborhood surrounding the campus and through the gates onto the school's beautiful campus.  The school has so much space compared to our city campus in Wilmington!  We drove around to the Global Village and were welcomed with balloons, cheering, a lovely banner and chalk design and Honey Buns, the school mascot.  Did you know that many Ursuline schools have a bear of some kind as their mascot?

We were met outside by the host sisters, Ms. Gretchen Kane - the President of Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Ms. Andrea Shurley - the Principal, Mr. Robert Zamora - the Dean of Students and Ms. Kathy Ross who works with Ms. Nipp on their Global Relationships & Cultural Exchange Program.  We moved inside where we relaxed with some refreshments and were introduced to the school.  The team thought of everything, ensuring that our girls had some water and nourishment after our travels.  Each of us were presented with a lovely welcoming gift - a bear pillow, a water bottle, and several other little momentos.

The girls were dismissed with their host sisters at 3:45pm, which is the dismissal time at UA Dallas.  We hugged the girls and sent them on their way.

Ms. Williams and Mrs. Neill were treated to a lovely dinner with some faculty at a true Texas restaurant - complete with big steaks and true Texas hospitality.  Throughout our dinner we remarked how incredibly wonderful it is to be a part of the Ursuline network; to have the opportunity to connect with our sisters at other schools and immediately find the bond of St. Angela that ties us together.

Annie, Julia & Brigid on the plane

MaryKate, Carina & Ms. Williams on the plane

Ms. Nipp & Ms. Yung greet the delegation in the DFW airport

A Dallas welcome from our host sisters, Honey Buns, and
several members of the administration

The official Honey Buns welcome