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Box goes to Washington. Students learn about CARE cargo. |
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DC
Schoolchildren Prepare “Boomerang Box” Exchange
Washington,
DC, 15 March 2001 –
Local schoolchildren today helped CARE, the international relief and development
organization, celebrate a milestone anniversary, learn about a new culture and
start an interactive exploration into the world of international trade.
All in one morning.
It happened in a sixth-grade classroom at Ross Elementary School as the students heard from CARE officials and APL, the international container-shipping and logistics company, about a humanitarian aid shipment bound for India aboard a special APL shipping container known as the “Boomerang Box.”
APL’s Boomerang Box is an Internet-based learning program that helps students learn about geography, trade and transportation. In addition to the 40-foot Boomerang Box container, which students can track around the world, there is a 20-foot version known as Boomerang Box Junior that is a virtual classroom which travels to participating schools.
Ross students went outside to see the 40-foot Boomerang Box on a truck trailer,
and to present art work to a CARE India official to give to schoolchildren in
India. The Indian students then will “boomerang” art work back to the Americans.
“Using APL’s Boomerang Box Internet-based program is a special way to highlight
CARE’s mission on its 55th anniversary and provide American students with a unique
opportunity for cultural exchange with children around the world,” said Theresa
Rhodes, Senior Director of CARE in Washington.
“As CARE’s partner for more than 20 years, APL is proud to take part in teaching
children the value of practicing our humanitarian principles and honoring other
cultures,” said John Pachtner, director at APL’s Oakland, Calif., headquarters.
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Art
across borders.
Children's artwork heads to India. |
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The Washington public school was the first stop for the CARE shipment of high-protein
grain earmarked for a school feeding program in India’s Bay of Bengal region.
Ross students placed in the “Boomerang Box” drawings illustrating their school
and hometown for children in India.
As part of the Boomerang send-off, Ross students learned about life in India from
special guest, CARE’s India State Director, C.S. Reddy, manager of CARE programs
in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He also oversees CARE’s response to major
emergencies in India, including the recent Gujarat earthquake.
Rhodes and Pachtner talked to the students about CARE’s mission and APL’s role
in getting food, materials and supplies to support CARE programs internationally.
“We are delighted that students at Ross Elementary were able to participate
with us to learn more about CARE’s vital mission and life in India,” said Pachtner.
When it leaves Ross Elementary, the Boomerang Box will go to Cambria, Wisconsin,
to be loaded with 44,000 pounds of a high-protein corn soy mixture. From
there, the Boomerang Box travels by truck to Chicago, and from there by rail service
to Seattle, where it will be loaded on the APL Philippines for the month-long
voyage to Vishakhapatnam, a port on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
The Boomerang Box, which is painted bright blue and decorated with students’ art work, is easy to recognize as it moves around the globe carrying cargo. Thanks to the Internet, students in classrooms around the country track the Boomerang Box on its many voyages as part of APL’s interactive learning program via a special Web site: www.apl.com/boomerangbox.
More than 150 classrooms in 35 states and 29 different countries use the Boomerang Box as a teaching tool for geography, international trade, and transportation.
APL also is the Global Sponsor of CARE’s 55th Anniversary Celebration, which will be held in Washington, DC, on May 11.
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