EC SAN DIEGO would like to wish a happy birthday to the following students:

• Abdulkarim A.
• Adel A.
• Aiman A.
• Anjo
• Bruna
• Christopher W.
• Corina
• Edith
• Fahad A.
• Ghali
• Gonzalo
• Jeongmi
• Jeremy
• Jihyun
• Jiwon
• Maiko
• Manuel
• Marina
• Mathias
• Moad A.
• Mohammed Aldo.
• Mohammed Als.
• Naif
• Olivia
• Saleh
• Samara
• Sarah
• Seiya
• Seonhyo
• Severina
• Stefan
• Vanessa
• Werner
• Yoonseung
• Youngwho

Essam participated in the Ocean Beach clean up which was part of EC San Diego’s Giving Back Day held on April 13th. He shares his experience;

“This was the first time joining a volunteer group and it was nice to participate here. This is a part of our society because we are living here. It is our duty to clean. It was a good opportunity for me to practice my English, as well as changing the weekend routine.”

If you care about the climate and the environment, or maybe all things outdoors, then maybe Earth Day is likely very important to you. EC San Diego students and San Diegans celebrated early at Balboa Park.

There were many events and celebrations around town yesterday. A parade at 10:30am kicked off the Earth Day event at Balboa Park. Thereafter, visitors got to visit more than 275 tables filled with items for sale made out of recycled materials, Hybrid cars were on display, animals, birds, plants and kids arts and crafts. For entertainment, visitors listened to music played by live bands on stage. It is great to see EC San Diego students interested in an event such as this one. Check out more photos on Facebook.

Tomorrow, Friday, April 19^th, EC San Diego will be holding a bake-sale fundraiser to raise money for the victims of the Boston bombing which took place last weekend during the Boston Marathon.  Please support this worthy cause. Stop by the front desk tomorrow and buy some tasty pastries.

John Kim has worked and taught at various levels at the U.S. Embassy Far East. He has worked in Germany, Japan, and Korea in both private and public sectors. John is currently an active tutor and volunteer with the EC School in San Diego. You can find him teaching One-to-One classes in room 8.

Join Teacher John today for the AY (Academic Year) Lecture. He will be talking about “Job Interview Strategies and Techniques”. Sign up and meet in the upstairs computer lounge as follows:

1:00PM: Levels Low Intermediate and above

2:00PM: Levels Beginners, Elementary, and Pre-Intermediate

Our second annual ‘Giving Back Day’ was very successful.  We had a total of 18 people, (staff, teachers, and students), attend this event.  Together we helped the Surfrider foundation to clean up tons of garbage from the habitat in and around Sunset Cliffs.  Thanks to all who came and participated in this wonderful volunteer opportunity. Check out our Facebook page for photos from this event.

Our CSR champion, Daniel Heckmeyer, doing one of this newest initiatives, collecting and sending cigarette butts for recycling. This is done to ensure that such products do not end up in our oceans. If you are interested in implementing such programs please visit www.terracycle.com

When I first saw that EC had this kind of activities, I immediately thought that I had to do it because there is not more warm and wise people than the elderly people.

First of all, I have to say that the experience was more than I expected. The two Ladies that shared the dinner with us that night were amazing, wise and had a lot of experience traveling. For all that, my partner from Taiwan and me from Colombia, could establish a very nice conversation about each of our countries and its relationship with every culture. Furthermore we found ourselves talking about personal issues and laughing which gave us the possibility to know each other better .

Finally, I just have words of gratitude with EC for giving the students such as marvelous opportunities to enhance not only our English level but also our knowledge about different cultures around the world by sharing time with people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Best Regards,

Lady Muñoz

The 1:1 Movement is a non-profit company headquartered in San Diego. Their goal is to be part of the solution in making our community as safe, clean, and healthy as possible. They work very hard in trying to help save the environment. Amanda Tatum, Co-founder and director of The 1:1 Movement, stopped by EC San Diego to educate our students about what the company does. After the lecture, Amanda gave each student a tote bag which is made from reclaimed waste vinyl material, which would otherwise be thrown away. Our students found the lecture very informative.

Andrew Yossef is one of our Volunteers for Guided Self-Study.  He comes here to EC San Diego every Monday from 1:45PM to 3:45PM to assist any students who come.  He is an Economics major at UCSD and a local business owner.  His family is originally from Egypt and he is therefore fluent in both English and Arabic.  He is a great resource for any low-level Arabic speakers who would like to improve their English skills more quickly.  This Wednesday he will be giving an Economics Lecture to all of our AY students.