Centro Cultural Nicaragüense Norteamericano
www.ccnn.org.ni
February, 2009
A Historic February 1
Progress and Purification
February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old Roman calendar. In the present this month is better known for celebrations like Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and Black History Month. It’s interesting how conmmemorations come to be for societies. Usually it begins with one person’s vision of change and improvement; then many, who react against leaving what they are used to, and learning a better way to live. St. Valentine for example, has his day for marrying Christians who were being persecuted by the Roman Empire and in the middle of those terrible odds wanted to take a sacred oath to honor and share their life with the person they love most. In time, the Roman Empire converted to Christianity. It’s true that President’s Days honors all US Presidents but those who celebrate this occassion commemorate the greatest; the one’s who made a difference and achieved greatness for many more people than just themselves. Black History Month, is an appropriate celebration for a month originally selected for purification, because it remembers tragedies of the past but emphazises achievements and a better future. It teaches us that what our society believes is not always correct and that people can learn better. And they do, this Presidents Day and Black History Month are proof. The Editor.
Summer Camp Every January and February CCNN has Summer Camp to imbed learning within socialization. Campers have an optimal atmosphere for relating English Language learning experience from the classroom to common day-to-day activities. The English Language learning experience is a fun way to make good friends and enjoy English Language music and media.
www.ccnn.org.ni
February, 2009
V Annual International Poetry
Festival in Granada
Every year the festival is inaugurated with a requiem for ignorance at the hands of literacy and a deep consciousness that can only be conveyed through verse.
Children’s
Prep Programs Children learn through their own curiosity CCNN’s prep programs for Children have been developed with the main goal of setting a strong foundation in the student’s process. This will be the base of learning more, at a greater pace later, in more demanding levels. Programs in CCNN have been carefully designed with the purpose of integrating activities that encourage, and make the learning of a new language an entertaining experience. Students are instructed through methods based on experimentalism and an integral approach to the English Language through reading, listening, speaking and writing. The Experimental Method encourages children to make thier own discoveries and to advance at an individual pace, through fun class projects.
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For the last five years Nicaragua’s bestpreserved colonial city; Granada is host to an international poetry festival with guests from all over the world as well as alternative art gatherings. Nicaragua’s most important hero is poet Rubén Darío, a man who against all odds became the greatest innovator of the Spanish language and was even recognized in his time.
www.ccnn.org.ni
February, 2009
Poetry and Power
The Atlantic Monthly | Feburary 1964 by John Fitzgerald Kennedy
T his day, devoted to the memory of Robert Frost, offers an opportunity for reflection which is prized by politicians as well as by others and even by poets. For Robert Frost was one of the granite figures of our time in America. He was supremely two things: an artist and an American. A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.
In honoring Robert Frost we therefore can pay honor to the deepest sources of our national strength. That strength takes many forms, and the most obvious forms are not always the most significant. The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us. Our national strength matters; but the spirit which informs and controls our strength matters just as much. This was the special significance of Robert Frost. He brought an unsparing instinct for reality to bear on the platitudes and pieties of society. His sense of the human tragedy fortified him against self-deception and easy consolation. “I have been,” he wrote, “one acquainted with the night.” And because he knew the midnight as well as the high noon, because he understood the ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirit, he gave his age strength with which to overcome despair. At bottom he held a deep faith in the spirit of man. And it is hardly an accident that Robert Frost coupled poetry and power, for he saw poetry as the means of saving power from itself. When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstones of our judgement. The artists, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state. The great artist is thus a solitary figure. He has, as Frost said, “a lover’s quarrel with the world.” In pursuing his perceptions of reality he must often sail against the currents of his
If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, make them aware that our nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. And as Mr. MacLeigh once remarked of poets, “There is nothing worse for our trade than to be in style.” In free society art is not a weapon, and it does not belong to the sphere of polemics and ideology. Artists are not engineers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. But in a democratic society the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist, is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites the fate of Robert Frost’s hired man—the fate of having “nothing to look backward to with pride, And nothing to look forward to with hope.” I look forward to a great future for America—a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral strength, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose. I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of our national environment, which will preserve the great old American houses and squares and parks of our national past, and which will build handsome and balanced cities for our future. I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all our citizens. And I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world, not only for its strength but for its civilization as well. And I look forward to a world which will be safe, not only for democracy and diversity but also for personal distinction.
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In America our heroes have customarily run to men of large accomplishments. But today this college and country honor a man whose contribution was not to our size but to our spirit; not to our political beliefs but to our insight; not to our self-esteem but to our self-comprehension.
time. This is not a popular role. If Robert Frost was much honored during his lifetime, it was because a good many preferred to ignore his darker truths. Yet, in retrospect, we see how the artist’s fidelity has strengthened the fiber of our national life.
www.ccnn.org.ni
February, 2009
Our Latest Graduations We are proud to congratulate our students for their effort in expanding their horizons and facing the challenges of a globalized world, through their commitment to learning the English
Language. In our Managua campuses as well as our campus in Estelí we have recently celebrated these milestones and continue to look ahead to the task at hand and to the future.
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American Corner In the Nicaraguan Central Bank’s Library, AMERICAN CORNER has a small collection of audiovisual resources on topics like: American Music, American History, and Biographies. AMERICAN CORNER has three computers with Internet access. Located on the second floor in the Library’s reading area. AMERICAN CORNER schedules movie presentations every week, or by visitor’s request. All our services are free of charge. Visit Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Tel. 255-7171 ext 238 americancorner@cablenet.com.ni Second Floor Biblioteca Roberto Incer Barquero Central Bank of Nicaragua Library By Pass 7 sur, Managua, Nicaragua
www.ccnn.org.ni
February, 2009
I Have a Nicaraguan Dream
After a CCNN’s Special Presentation of the Film “Boycott” in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King. Students wrote a reflection on Dr. King’s message in his speech “I Have a Dream” and brought it to Nicaragua and it’s reality. Katherine Pineda from Level 4 emphazised the importance of teaching people to not litter on the street or throw waste out of bus windows.
Darling Ortega from the fourth level agrees politically with Yoshe and also expresses concern for the creation of more infrastructure and economic progress. In Level 9 Heddy Maria Escobar was so moved by the subject-matter and decided the poetry was better suited for her rendition of the Nicaraguan Dream.
The Educational Advisor’s Office, on January 6th, 7th and 8th recieved a visit from Tim Wright, EducationUSA REAC, who came to meet Adivser Alejandra Aleman and evaluate the Advising Center. For the management of the OG program and Advising in general, REAC´s visit was extremely helpful. Activity for Saint Dominique High School students. Seven students and one teacher attended this presentation in English on January 22nd, from 10 to 11 a.m. (4 male and 3 female, one male teacher). The EducationUSA Adviser explained about OG program and gave each student free copies of materials such as Applying to Colleges and Universities by Petersons, International Student Guide to U.S. Community Colleges, and Study in the USA magazine. Activity coordinated with Public Affairs section of US embassy. Maira Vargas and Adviser Alejandra Aleman presented different programs available to participants of the College Horizons program at UCA, on January 24th, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. There were 23 students (12 female and 11 male), who received folders and pens with the American Corner and Estamos Unidos logos. Adviser included materials about Opportunity grant such as brochure, prospective student welcome letter and copies of Study in the USA magazine in the folders.
For Children’s Story Reading CCNN presented a slide show with The Tortoise and the Hare illustrated storybook. Kids of all ages participated in vocabulary excercises, sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” as well as the all-time greatest hit; “The HokeyPokey”.
CCNN’s Newsletter General Director.............Diego Delgadillo Academic Director...........Jorge Moreno Children’s Program.........Asdrúbal Canelo Adult’s Program.................Franklin Tèllez Librarian............................Maria Victoria American Corner.......... Nubia Manzanares Adviser........................Alejandra Alemán Comments: AlvaroAVergara@gmail.com
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Level 11’s Yoshe Britton says: “I dream of a Nicaragua free from oppression with electoral transparency and participation of political
parties; a country with freedom of speech.”