April-May Newsletter

Earth Day

Earth Day is a worldwide holiday, celebrated on April 22nd since 1970, to support protection for the Earth's environment and promote peace. Cities all over the world hold Earth Day events to promote ways to protect the environment, also referred to as sustainability.

Here in Denver, there is a fair or party at the Civic Center Park from 10AM to 2PM. The entire event will be powered by solar power.  An emerging resource for electricity, especially in Colorado, converting the sun's energy to usable electricity or power.

At the Denver Earth Day Fair, there will be demonstrations on how to garden, compost (recycle food into dirt), how to make your own cleaning products, and much more "How To" demos. 

In addition, there will be delicious food from food trucks, that use locally raised food, and you can test drive the new electric luxury car, the Tesla. 

In Fort Collins, Colorado they have implemented "the most ambitious eco-plan of any city in the country" according to the newspaper, Parade, April 19th edition, "Under the city's Climate Action Plan, they'll reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent in 15 years and will be carbon neutral by 2050."

Earth Day reminds world citizens on what they can do to protect "Mother Earth".  One easy way is to recycle your water bottles, soda cans, and paper.  You can take it one step further, and bring your own water bottle to refill, rather than using the disposable or throw away bottles.  Also, when you go shopping you can bring your own bags.  Many cities in the United States and Europe require you to use your own shopping bags.  Also, you can choose to take public transportation, walk or ride a bike, a practice not many Americans do but should.

How does your country celebrate Earth Day?  If your country does not have any events on Earth Day, perhaps you can start one or at least do your part to spread the word about respecting the Earth's environment. 

Spring is Here!!

Spring has arrived in Colorado and if you have been here before, you may know the famous saying "If you don't like the weather now, wait 5 minutes".  We say this because Spring time in Colorado is one of the most unpredictable seasons.  One day it will be 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the next day it is snowing, or this drastic change can happen in one day!
So.... how do you dress for Spring?  You layer!  Most people may have a short-sleeve shirt on and a sweater on top.  They may also carry a light water resistant jacket or wind-breaker.

Despite the weather being unpredictable, it is a great chance to enjoy the outdoors.  You can visit the Botanical Gardens to see the beautiful tulips in bloom. Washington Park is a nice place to take a walk or just lay out on the grass.  Or you can attend the many outdoor festivals that happen around the city.
Denver.org is a great website to find many events happening around Denver, and they even have a special page for FREE events

Spring time is also a time when many families go on vacation, because of Spring Break, when school kids get one week off from school.  They may travel up to the mountains for hiking or Spring skiing, if the snow has not melted.  Or they may travel out of state to a beach destination.  Some families may just do a "staycation", when they stay home and enjoy leisure activities.

CSE will be celebrating Spring during our Friday activities.  We hope you join us, but remember to stay connected as plans may change, due to our unpredictable Spring weather.

End of Session Party- Spelling Bee!

On Friday March 26th we had our End-Of-Session party to celebrate students coming to the end of their curriculum. As always we began with pizza and drinks in the cafeteria and students and teachers mingled and relaxed.

We decided for this past session's party that we wanted to do a special theme and some teachers threw out the idea of a spelling bee. For those of you who aren't familiar with how a spelling bee works here is how we went about it at the school:

1) All students participated in a preliminary round during their Reading and Writing class in the morning. They had been practicing a list of words for several weeks and were ready to compete with each other. Each level chose two winners from their R/W class and these students competed in the school-wide Spelling Bee.

2) After eating, the finalists sat in two rows, facing the rest of the students. For each round they had to come to the front and spell a word correctly that Ajita, one of our teachers, gave them. The proper format is to say the word, spell the word and then say the word again. Beginning level students got beginning-level words, intermediate students intermediate words, etc.

3) By the end of 4 rounds we were down to two finalists. The overall winner was Jorge Sanchez from Venezuela! The top three winners each received a prize and the accolades of their classmates :)

Here are some pictures from the event. Enjoy!

Volunteering at the Grant Avenue Street Reach Soup Kitchen

Every Session students from CSE volunteer with an organization around Denver. It gives everyone a chance to interact with native English speakers, outside of the classroom and in a meaningful way.

During the Month of March, on three separate Mondays, students volunteered at the Grant Avenue Street Reach Soup Kitchen in downtown Denver. The soup kitchen provides hot meals, warm clothing and a safe place to relax for many homeless people living in the Denver area.

Students helped prepare and serve the food as well as hand out clothing to those in need. They were able to interact with those they were helping and gained a better understanding of the struggles this population faces each day. It was eye-opening and rewarding and we had several students ask to volunteer again!

Here are some photos taken from the Soup Kitchen. Enjoy!

Eldora Ski Trip!

 "If you french fry when you're supposed to pizza, you're gonna have a bad time!"


   Last Friday, Cecilia took students on a ski trip to Eldora Mountain Ski Resort. Even though some had never skied before, they still had a great time. Some of the students took classes while others skied on their own. Cecilia thought those who skied and snowboarded were great! The weather was beautiful as well!

There is one tip about skiing that can be learned from Southpark: "If you french fry when you're supposed to pizza, you're gonna have a bad time!"

Cold Winter Days in Colorado

Lately, it's been very cold in Colorado.

How do you like to spend these cold winter days?

Does the weather make you stir crazy? 

If you answered yes to that last question, you're not alone. Some people enjoy sitting at home in their pajamas all day while others get bored with this routine and can't wait to get out of the house.

What kind of person are you?

There are plenty of things to do in Colorado to keep you busy if you do have cabin fever and would like to go out and explore.

This Friday, CSE is taking a ski trip to Eldora Mountain Ski Resort.

It should be a lot of fun! So if you haven't tried skiing in Colorado yet, you should give it a try.


Other winter activities include: snowshoeing, snowmobiling, snowboarding, sledding, snowtubing, and iceskating.

So if you're feeling stir crazy, remember that there are a lot of things you can get out and do!



Stir crazy definition: when you become restless/bored from sitting in one place for too long.

Cabin fever: an unhappy and impatient feeling that comes from being indoors for too long.