December 2017
DECEMBER 2017
AMERICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL BEIRUT
VOLUME 31, ISSUE I
“Don’t Lose a Nation to a Lack of Education”
RAZAN MERSAL
In This Issue “Don’t Lose a Nation to a Lack of Education” pg. 1 The Story of Gucci Mane pg. 1 New Teachers: Ms. Montgomery pg. 1 Progidy Players in the World of Football pg. 2 Thriller of the Decade: IT pg. 2 Invisible Child Beggars pg. 2 New Teachers: Mr. Pallett pg. 2
Nour International is an organization created by ACS students that works collaboratively with the Women’s Program Association at the Burj AlBarajneh refugee camp. Their goal? To ensure kids get an education. Bylasan Ahmad is a grade 12 ACS student who has volunteered for 3 years at the Burj AlBarajneh camp and with Nour International since its inception 2 years ago. She is also the co-president of the group here at ACS. She says that the aim of Nour International is to “provide [the kids with] a safe space
and an empowering space where they can feel free to express themselves”. Nour International provides students with school supplies, English lessons, and financial support. Each Saturday, a group of students from ACS tutors kids in English, also providing fun activities such as soccer and crafts. They support and help those that have been displaced and are unable to enroll in a Lebanese school due to a multitude of reasons. One issue is cost, another is that students need to be Lebanese citizens or have some
kind of papers stating that they can be in Lebanon. Another unfortunate reality is that many refugees enroll, but end up leaving due to the harsh treatment by Lebanese students. Bylasan says that her favorite part of volunteering there is teaching the kids English, which she has done for 3 years now. She also enjoys carrying community outreach initiatives with other schools. The amazing work that some students at ACS do in order to help with the Syrian refugee crisis has been extremely helpful to those that can benefit
from it. Yet, we cannot let the discussion end here. Each and every individual can and should help to
ensure that no child has to live without, at least, a very basic education.
Photo captured at one of the Saturday sessions, photo rights reserved to Nour International website.
The Story of Gucci Mane TAYMOUR NAKIB
As the “founding father of trap music,” Gucci Mane has quite a resume. Mane has been a rapper since the year 2001, when he first put out his underground tape, Str8 Drop Records Presents Gucci Mane La Flare. Since then the American artist has put out dozens of mixtapes, singles, and eight collaborative studio albums. Before his name came to fame, he was known as Radric Davis. Watching his father hustle on the streets of Atlanta, for money to support the family, it influenced him to do the same. “You know, he had all kinds of games and scams, like three card molly, shaking the pea, pigeon drop,” Gucci Mane expresses his childhood and his father to NPR. He says all of these little games/ scams was how his father made money and that his father learned them on the streets. Gucci himself learned these games, and
on his way to fame, Gucci would use these games and deal drugs to support his music career. He would rap about his life and the way he deals with it all, and became the rapper “who always kept it real.” He recently released a book, which he started to write during his time in a maximum-security prison. He was imprisoned for firearm possession and was kept in that facility from 2014 until 2016. In that time period also began his turning point,
when he made a promise to himself that he would change his life, and in his words, “start doing better.” His book, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane, focuses on his father, and how hustling shaped his rap career. It also touches on the fact of his transformation and where that led him today, being the founding father of trap music, where the new generation rap artists start.
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NEW TEACHERS: Ms. Montgomery ORNELLA FRECHERO Ann Montgomery is one of the new teachers in High School. She is from Boise, Idaho, a beautiful city in the United States, also known as the Treasure Valley. Even though she is North American, she has also been teaching at Lincoln School, in Kathmandu, Nepal. At ACS, Ms. Montgomery teaches 9th grade Biology, 10th grade Science, and IB Sports Science. “I’m getting used to the ACS schedule, cocurricular and my classes. I’m in transition” Ms. Montgomery says with enthusiasm, seeming to be happy with her new students, which according to her are “very kind and ready to learn.” Many of you may ask yourselves why Ms. Montgomery came to Lebanon. “Some of my friends love Beirut and encouraged me to come here. Besides, I wanted to teach at a bigger school,” she says. If you have already had class with Ms. Montgomery, you might have realized how nice she is and you probably feel lucky to have her as your teacher.