Dear Faculty, Parent s, and Other Members of the Grafton Community,

Some 2000 years ago, a group of intrepid explorers and merchants set off across Central Asia in hopes of exploring new cultures – and selling silk. As that trade route expanded, silk, spices, gold, glass, and dozens of other commodities began traveling across the globe along what has since become known as the Silk Road. In years past, the English 10 students at Grafton created their own version of a Silk Road marketplace in the GHS atrium. The sounds, smells, sights and cultural experiences provided a rich learning experience for all involved.

The English Department at Grafton is once again planning to bring that cultural exploration to life for our students in conjunction with our study of World Literature in English 10. We envision our English 10 students recreating the cultures along the Silk Road for one another through art, music, food, and many other critical cultural experiences.

The morning-long “Silk Road Marketplace” will be held at Grafton on May 30, 2008 from 7:30 until 9:30 A.M. We are seeking your assistance in making this the significant, culturally rewarding experience we want for our students.

We have needs in several important areas. One of our most important goals is to bring in members of the community who are able to recreate elements of their cultural heritages for our students. This might be done through the demonstration of a traditional dance, the modeling and explanation of typical clothing, or the telling of stories in the old custom. This list is far from complete; we would be thrilled to have any other cultural demonstrations that you can envision.

In addition to these specialized roles, we also have a need for raw “manpower.” We are hoping to have parents volunteer as ambassadors who will help us with the logistics of moving over 320 students through our marketplace in an orderly, productive fashion. This is one of our greatest needs: in order to have a somewhat orderly marketplace, we need to be able to identify at least 25 parent ambassadors! We will also need people to help with donations and the purchase (funds will be provided) of some of the materials needed to complete the project. Finally, of course, assistance with set-up and clean-up is always critical.

If you, or someone you know, would be willing to help us recreate the Silk Road in the atrium of Grafton High School, please forward that person’s name and contact information to any of the teachers listed below. Furthermore, if you have any suggestions for additional resources we might consult, we would welcome those as well. Although we welcome any help you can provide at any time, it would be incredibly helpful if we might hear back from you by April 30^th. You can use the teacher email addresses shown below, or you may fill out, detach, and return the slip below.

To learn more about the Silk Road, or Grafton High School’s Silk Road project, please visit our soon-to-be-released website at http://yorkcountyschools.org/teachers/mellis1/Silkroad_Webpage/Silkroad_Project/silkroadindex.html

Thanks for your time, and we’ll see you “on the Road!”

Susan Petriella Mary Flaherty-Nobile

spetriella@ycsd.york.va.us mnobile@ycsd.york.va.us

Megan Miller Julie Owen

mmiller@ycsd.york.va.us jowen@ycsd.york.va.us

Megan Foard

mfoard@ycsd.york.va.us

--------------------------------------Detach here and return to Grafton High ----------------------------------------

Please return this to your child’s English teacher or to Mary Flaherty-Nobile, English Department Chair

Volunteer’s Name: __________________________________

Email or other contact info: _________________________________

I’d like to help the Silk Road Project at Grafton High School by: