By Anastasia Gruper
The beginning of August brought the start of our new school year. While building schedules, analyzing data, collaborating with my teammates, and preparing the building, my excitement for new learning and new beginnings grew. The teachers were the first to return; that’s always my favorite time: swapping amazing adventures from the summer break. The students followed shortly after in the same manner. As we are into the swing of things, I find myself constantly reflecting on the similarities and differences between Africa and the U.S. There are so many cultures, educational philosophies, political systems, and economic systems to learn. There are experiences and knowledge to be had and shared. As we prepare our students today for a global economy in the future, my hope is their literacy skills will be strong enough to build sustaining communities globally
A to Z Literacy Movement Blog 
Stasia, I love how you’re thinking globally and making plans to help our own students here in Crystal Lake do the same.
I agree with Ann. Our students, as well as ourselves, easily get caught up in the world we live in of Crystal Lake, IL, USA. We all need to realize and help our students realize that we need to build a global partnership with the other 7 billion people with which we share a planetary home. Literacy is a huge component of that and exposing our students not only to the literacy of other cultures but those students actual life experiences would go a long way in building that partnership. Thank you for the reminder!