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Summer
2014 5
In the very back of the Chalhoub Group
Library of the new elementary school, a
group of students are sitting around a
table in deep discussion.
“Life is hard when we take decisions,”
said one student.
“Life is a story and we are the writers,”
said another.
“Life is a test and we have to pass it,”
quipped yet another student.
Each comment was uttered in formal
Arabic. One would think high school
students are at work. Not so. A closer
look would reveal a group of nine and
ten-year-olds discussing the latest book
in their Arabic Book Club. The group was
headed by the school’s in-house author
and Arabic teacher, Sana Harakeh. The
book under discussion was one of hers.
In an effort to encourage young
students to read Arabic, the Interna-
tional College Parents Committee (ICPC)
launched a book club for the upper
elementary school students earlier this
year. It so happens that IC boasts several
preschool and elementary level teachers
who are also published Arabic authors.
With the administration on board,
everything seemed to fall into place.
The first meeting was called. About 20
students were expected to show up. Cer-
tainly not more. But to everyone’s shock,
74 fourth and fifth grade students – from
both English and French sections - walked
into the library.
A new plan was quickly concocted:
half of the group would meet in the first
recess and the other half in the second
Since then, the club – which now meets
every three or four weeks – has increased
to 82 members ( and still growing).
As the Chairperson of the Arabic
Department and assistant to the direc-
tor, Mahitab Faytrouni, was pleasantly
surprised. “The students are beginning
to see that Arabic books are just as nice
as the French or English ones,” she said.
“They can’t wait for us to distribute the
next one.”
The success of the book Club has
spurred the administration into adopting
it in its extracurricular activities program
next year.
As for the students, a new world has
opened up. “I like reading in Arabic
now,” said Lynn Chanouha, 10. “I like
listening to other people’s point of view.”
Her friend, Mariam JabaKhanji, 11,
is eagerly waiting for the next assigned
book. “I like to read it in bed at night,”
she said. “It’s fun.”
The ARABIC Book Club
Sana Harakeh leading the book club