Junior Friends of Thailand recognized under Embassy Adoption Program

H.D. Cooke Elementary School’s fifth graders posed with Ambassador Pisan and his staff. Teachers and representatives from DC Public Schools and Washington Performing Arts were also present.

Singing Thailand’s national anthem in perfect Thai was one of the highlights of the final presentation on June 11, 2015 by a group of fifth graders from H.D. Cooke Elementary School on their knowledge about the Southeast Asian country that has been friends with the U.S. for 182 years now.

The presentation at the Embassy was among a series of activities the Embassy had organized with the school during this academic year. The Embassy has been a proud partner with District of Columbia Public Schools and Washington Performing Arts under the Embassy Adoption Program (EAP), which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

Under the Program, this year the Embassy adopted Mr. Jordan Kivitz’s class of 23 fifth graders at H.D. Cooke to open doors for them to the world outside the U.S. and to share with them about Thailand.

 

The Embassy’s activities started off last November with a launching of the “Thai Food Day” at H.D. Cooke, which around 45,000 students in over 100 public schools in the D.C. area had Thai food for breakfast and lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch the Thai Food Day on Fox 5 here.

It was followed by the Embassy’s visit to the class on 17 December 2014 to present them about Thailand, its geography as well as Thai language and culture. The class then visited the Embassy on 4 February 2015 for a Thai Cooking Class, where they learnt how to make papaya salad and Thai desserts.

 

Recently on April 8, 2015, the Embassy took the class to Wat Thai, Washington, D.C, to learn about Buddhism and its method of meditation from Monk Jack.

 

 

 

 

 

At the presentation on June 11, 2015, under the guidance by the U.S. Air Force Band and their teachers, the students impressed Ambassador Pisan Manawapat and his Embassy colleagues with wonderful singing of the Thai national anthem, considering the Thai language being one of the most difficult languages to learn by Americans. The event was also attended by representatives from DC Public Schools and Washington Performing Arts.

Thai national anthem performed by H.D. Cooke 5th Grade Class

The students then performed dances along a Thai song with musical accompaniment on xylophone, guided meditation session learnt from Monk Jack, and poems reading on Thai food, Thai kickboxing and fun facts about Thailand.  These performances were a culmination of their learning experiences with the Embassy.

At the end of the presentation, Ambassador Pisan presented each student with a certificate to recognize them as “Junior Friends of Thailand” He also shared with them the long history of the Thai – U.S. relations and hosted them Thai food from his Residence.

—————————-

Thanida Menasavet