Basic HTML Version
SUMMER
2013
9
So, the good intentioned mother, at the
constant urging of her daughter, decides
to help out the fifth graders research their
PYPX project.The subject chosen is street
children in Lebanon. Among their quest
is to find out if these children are exposed
to drugs.The mother takes the three fifth
graders: one boy and two girls to the Ho-
beish Police station – the headquarters for
Drug Enforcement in Beirut.The officer
who usually faces hardcore drug addicts
finds himself under the scrutiny of three
wide-eyed children, each armed with a list
of questions. He launches into a lengthy
explanation of the types of drugs used in
Lebanon and its dangers. Before long,
other curious officers on the floor begin to
outdo themselves in wanting to provide
information to the youngsters.The biggest
attraction is a wide display of drugs used
in the country.
“You see this?” asks the officer. “This is
heroin. Very bad.The worst. And this, this
is cannabis. Sometimes people sneak this
out of the country by hiding it in carbon
paper. Now, this stuff here is….”
“What’s ‘carbon paper’?” asks one child.
“You know, to copy from,” replies the of-
ficer. “Now this drug is called….”
“What do you mean ‘copy from’?” asks
another child.
“The paper you put between papers,” the
officer replies. “Now about this drug…”
“Why do you put it between the papers?”
continues a child.
Sighing, the officer goes to his office and
brings back some carbon paper.
“This is carbon paper,” he says. “Now
about this drug…”
“How does it work?” asks a child.
The officer walks back to his office and
brings out a notebook and gently places the
carbon between the paper and writes a let-
ter. He then shows the children the copy.
“See? Carbon paper,” he says. “Now, these
drugs here…”
“Does it work with a pencil as well?” asks
a child.
“Well, we only use ink at the station here
so I’ve never tried it,” he says. “You see
these pills here, these are…”
“Can we try and see if pencils work?” asks
a child.
The officer walks back to the office and
gets a pencil.The children gather excitedly
to see if the ‘experiment’ works. It doesn’t.
“What if we used different colored ink?”
one child inquires.
But there is only blue ink at the station.The
officer quickly disposes of the carbon paper.
“Now about cannabis…” he begins hesitantly.
The next day, the mother, proud of herself
that she was able to help out her daughter
and friends in their research, takes her
daughter to the Security Generale Head-
quarters to get her passport renewed.
As the mother waits her turn patiently,
she suddenly hears an excited shriek from
her daughter. She turns to see her precious
fifth grader pointing to a few officers
taking notes. “Look mom!” the daughter
practically shouts in the middle of the
Security Generale lobby filled with all the
good law enforcement officers. “Look! The
carbon paper used to hide cannabis!”
PYPX Exhibition
The Primary Years Program Exhibi-
tion (PYPX) is held in May and open to
parents.The exhibition marks the last
PYP project before fifth graders gradu-
ate to the middle school.The final project
encompasses all the skills they have
been learning since preschool, which
include research, inquiry, communica-
tion, presentation, social, writing, and IT
skills. Every PYPX project is required to
have an action component. Fifth graders
are divided into groups – with a mentor
(teacher or parent) assigned to each.
A mother,
three fifth
graders and
PYPX
Moral: RUN don’t walk
to the nearest exit after a
PYPX project.
Tales from the Classroom