Dear Parents/Guardians:

Have you ever stopped and wondered who are the people who keep ISD clean, safe, and friendly?  Our maintenance/support staff is a significant part of that equation.  The Jappalé Committee of ISD is concerned with providing support for our maintenance staff, an essential part of our ISD family.

Jappalé is the Wolof word for “support”.  Our current Senior High School Class (class of 2012) established the Jappalé Committee during the 2008-2009 academic school year through service work and relationship building with our staff.  This 2011-2012 academic year the Jappalé Committee has a full calendar and we want you, our parents, to get involved.

Below are some of the initiatives that the Jappalé Committee will undertake (please note that our Happy Korite Acknowledgement will begin immediately):

 1) Korite, Tabaski, Christmas, Easter: Religious holidays are a time for praise, peace, and celebration.  They can also be a trying time financially, especially with the rising costs of living in Dakar.  During each of these holidays that Jappalé Committee intends to acknowledge our hard working staff.  Each homeroom will provide 25,000 CFA to one of our celebrating maintenance/support staff.  This breaks down to approximately 1,000 CFA per child in each homeroom class.

 Korite will be on either Tuesday August 30 or Wednesday August 31.  This drive will begin now (Tuesday August 23 through Monday August 29).  Each homeroom is challenged to raise 25,000 CFA for their maintenance/support staff member and to write a Happy Korite card to acknowledge and recognize this important and meaningful time in their life.  

2) School Supply Drive: The Jappalé Committee is collecting, gathering, and distributing school supplies and monetary assistance to each of our staff families with children in school.  This will begin in late September/early October.

 3) Saturday Family Fun Day: The Jappalé Committee will be hosting Saturday field days for our maintenance/support staff and their families.  We will attempt to have one field day per trimester.  All ISD families are invited.  This gives our maintenance/support staff an opportunity to bring their families to our campus to participate in fun activities like sports, arts, singing, and dance.  More information will be sent out as planning continues.

 Other possible initiatives include language teaching (Wolof for English and visa versa),

 The Jappalé Committee would like to thank you in advance for your consideration and assistance.  If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Philen at Brad@isd.sn or Mrs. Idir at Djamila@isd.sn.  Also, in the future there will be other opportunities to get involved with Jappalé.  See the Jag Journal for updates. 

 

Sincerely,

 

The Jappalé Committee