CONTENTS
JANUARY 2020
CITIZEN KID
ON THE COVER
Help your kids get hooked on civics. Page 24
Students at the British
International School
of Washington
FEATURES DEPARTMENTS
14
8 CALENDAR
HOW TO WORK WITH A CAMP
CONSULTANT Let the experts help you choose the right camp
for your kid
16
NEXT-LEVEL CAMPER
The many benefits of being a counselor-in-
training 24
CITIZEN KID
How to raise civic-minded children while
avoiding the ugly side of politics
GUIDES 17 SUMMER CAMPS
28 SCHOOLS/OPEN HOUSES
36 MONTESSORI SCHOOLS
12
FAMILY FUN
13
AT A GLANCE
38
FAMILY TALK
40
HEALTHY FAMILY
42
YOUR SPECIAL CHILD
A recipe for hot chocolate slime that smells as
delicious as it looks
Take a walk in Dr. Jane Goodall’s shoes at the
National Geographic Museum
Local parents share the New Year’s resolutions
they wish their kids would make
How one mom learned to reframe her children’s
tantrums when tempers are flaring
Special needs families often struggle to accept
help, even when they need it the most
44 BOOKMARKED
New books to inspire your kids to become
readers in 2020
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4 Washington FAMILY JANUARY 2020
46 MOM LIFE
Angie Goff, a Fox 5 DC anchor, talks about
creating family traditions and more
PROVIDED READERS’ RESPONSES



— ADVERTORIAL —
Making a World of Difference
Learning and service are
core components of
school trip to Tanzania
E SAHER AHMED, YEAR 13,
AT THE BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF WASHINGTON
PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL BRITISH SCHOOL
very year the British International
School of Washington (BISW)
offers an incomparable oppor-
tunity for all our high school juniors to
travel abroad and help communities and
schools in rural areas of Tanzania as part
of their IB Diploma Programme. During
the 10-day trip, our students work collab-
oratively with students from other Nord
Anglia schools to install solar panels and
build desks, benches, classrooms, goat
sheds and smokeless stoves.

“It was incredible being able to see the
tangible effects of the work we were doing,
like bringing the desks we had built into a
classroom for children to use or watching
a family experience having lights in their
home for the first time after installing solar
panels,” says Annamaria McHugh, a BISW
senior who participated last year.

In preparation for the trip, which
strengthens the school’s partnerships with
the Seeway Tanzania charity, students raise
money to pay for the supplies they will use to
develop infrastructure in Arusha, Tanzania.

The fundraising helps them to build valu-
able leadership, project management and
organization skills while allowing them to
empathise with those they will help when
they arrive in Tanzania.

Minna Abdel-Gawad, a BISW junior, is
looking forward to making an impact when
she travels with the school in February. “My
Annamaria McHugh builds a student
desk outside a school in Tanzania.

Jordy Oranje delivers a family a goat
for their newly constructed goat
shed. The goat provides milk for the
family and excess milk can be sold
to generate income.

Students from the British International School of Washington, and other
Nord Anglia schools, stand in front of a completed goat shed they built.

expectations for the trip are that of any com-
munity service, but in a much larger scale,”
she says. “I am especially excited to be work-
ing in schools to promote education and
build desks and chairs to provide children
with the necessary commodities to further
their learning.”
Abdel-Gawad adds, “I am fully aware
how lucky I am to be receiving an amaz-
ing education and cultural awakening, and
I hope that others experience the same
elsewhere in the world.”
BISW students are also given the chance
during the trip to appreciate the beauty
and natural diversity of Tanzania. They
go on a safari through Tarangire National
Park and have the rare opportunity to camp
Jordy Oranje talks with some local
children about their new goat shed.

overnight, hike on Mount Meru and learn
to cook traditional dishes.

“We found our expedition to Tanzania
invaluable and unforgettable,” says BISW stu-
dent body co-president, Isabella Impavido.

“For many of us, it was our first time vis-
iting the continent of Africa and we had no
idea what to expect. Though everyone that
attended the trip enjoyed themselves and
learnt so much.”
Impavido’s co-president, Thomas Pierce
Jones, says, “I knew going into the trip that
we would encounter poverty, but the expe-
rience made me fully realise how little some
people have and what lengths they go to for
things we take for granted. It was surreal
helping people.”
According to Principal Ian Piper, attend-
ing the Tanzania trip allows students to
engage with global issues and develop the
ten IB learner profile characteristics. They
return with first-hand knowledge that they
can make a difference.

“The students who go on this trip are
all positively impacted by helping others
in less fortunate situations. Even if only
10 percent of those students are inspired
to make continued change, their impact in
their community, and the world, is expo-
nential. That’s the true power of a global
experience at an international school like
ours,” he says.

WashingtonFAMILY.com 5