ACC announces scholarship awards

SOUTHFIELD — The Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) has announced its 6th Annual Scholarship Awards Program, which provides financial assistance to graduating high school students pursuing a higher education.

Applicants must be a high school senior with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, who has been accepted to college, and has demonstrated extracurricular/volunteer activities. Completed scholarship applications must be submitted by Friday, May 2, 2008. Scholarships are based on academic excellence and financial need.

The award recipients will be recognized at ACC’s 6th Annual Golf Outing & Scholarship Awards Dinner on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield.

For questions and to learn more about this event and sponsorship opportunities, contact Kimberly Salem at 248.559.1990.

Palestinian Summer Celebration 2008

BETHLEHEM — The Palestinian Summer Celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life and culture in Palestine in addition to donating some of their time to a local community organization through voluntary work and internships.

The celebration will take place in the Bethlehem area in Palestine, between June 15th and August 17th 2008.

The annual celebration is organized by Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies (www.sirajcenter.org) in partnership with Bethlehem University (www.bethlehem.edu) and the U.S. based Society for Biblical Studies (www.sbsedu.org).

Participants will also have the opportunity to listen and question high level speakers of various positions and expertise.

The program includes studying Arabic, history and theology at Bethlehem University, living with local families, volunteering with local community organizations in addition to touring Palestine and enjoying its beauty and culture as well as having a firsthand look at the political situation.

Participants will also have the chance to take Palestinian cooking classes and debkeh dancing training. During the program, eight films will be screened in the Siraj office.

For more information regarding registration and cost visit www.sirajcenter.org.

Free afternoon gallery talks at AANM

Dearborn – Galleries filled with art and sculpture are a dreamy delight to some people and a vivid nightmare to others. How does a viewer approach and examine an artwork? What feeling or message does the viewer get from the artwork? How do you know for sure what the artist is trying to say?

These and other fascinating questions will be addressed by local artists and educators in the Arab American National Museum’s first-ever series of Free Gallery Talks.

Beginning Sunday, March 2, all are welcome to attend these casual, interactive hour-long sessions in the Museum’s Main Floor Gallery, hosted by AANM staff and led by artists and art educators. This inaugural series of Free Gallery Talks focuses on abstract art as exemplified by the current exhibition Fragmentation & Unity: The Art of Sari Khoury.

“Abstract art can be particularly challenging, especially for viewers with no educational background in art,” says Stephen Williams, who manages the Museum’s Curatorial Department. “While a brief discussion cannot demystify abstract art, it’s our hope that attendees leave these talks with a few tools and bit more confidence to approach art of any kind.”

Museum admission is always free for those attending Free Gallery Talks. Those who attend Friday talks are welcome to bring lunch and eat in the Lower Level Classroom.

The schedule is as follows:

2-3 p.m. Sunday, March 2

Staff Moderator: Suzy Mazloum, Collections

Presenter: Mohamed Bazzi, artist, OTHER Collective, and educator, Dearborn Public Schools

Topic: “Abstraction and the Personal Voice”

Noon-1 p.m. Friday, March 14

Staff Moderator: Nahleh Ali, Education

Presenter: Joe Namy, Artist, OTHER Collective, Detroit

Topic: “Abstracting Reflections Subjecting Reverberations”

2-3 p.m. Sunday, March 30

Staff Moderator: TBA

Presenter: Suheila Khoury (wife of Sari Khoury)

Topic: “Sari Khoury’s Inspiration and Love for Abstract Art”

Noon-1 p.m. Friday, April 11

Staff Moderator: Lama Mansour, Education

Presenter: Jennie Williams, Educator, Detroit Institute of Arts

Topic: “Learning to Look at Abstract Art”

2-3 p.m. Sunday, April 20

Staff Moderator: Christina Southers, Education

Presenter: TBA

Topic: TBA

The Arab American National Museum documents, preserves, celebrates, and educates the public on the history, life, culture, and contributions of Arab Americans.  The Arab American National Museum is a project of ACCESS, a Dearborn, Michigan-based nonprofit human services and cultural organization. Learn more at www.arabamericanmuseum.org and www.accesscommunity.org.

The Arab American National Museum is a proud Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The Museum is located at 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI, 48126. Museum hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for students, seniors and children 6-12; ages 5 and under, free. Call 313.582.2266 for further information.

National City promotes savings

CLEVELAND — With personal savings rates at historic lows, saving is more important than ever. National City champions responsible savings habits through its participation in the second annual America Saves Week, February 24 – March 2, 2008. While saving may seem like an insurmountable task for many, National City has found that people can and do manage to save more when the obstacles that typically prevent them from saving are broken down. One year ago National City removed common barriers to saving by offering its first-ever savings account with no minimum balance requirement or monthly fee for customers with a checking account. As a result, the number of new savings accounts has doubled.

“Offering savings tools that make it easy for customers to create an emergency fund helps meet a critical financial need,” said Daniel J. Frate, executive vice president for retail banking at National City. “In this time of economic uncertainty, it has never been more important to raise awareness of the need to save.”

National City promotes saving through the National City/America Saves motivational workshop titled, “From Debt to Wealth:  How to Save $1 Million,” which educates participants on the principles of wealth building, debt reduction and the steps toward reaching savings goals. The workshop was developed with assistance from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). National City is presenting the workshop free of charge to the communities it serves. This program is one of National City’s primary financial education initiatives. Since piloting the program in 2005, the bank has presented this workshop to over 4,600 individuals, including employees and persons in all income brackets. In 2007, the bank doubled the number of employees certified to present the workshop.

“Our knowledge of core finance principles allows us to help others understand the factors that affect savings, such as interest rates and inflation, and establish behaviors for a stable financial future,” Frate added.

Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America said, “Our second annual America Saves Week is focused especially on the 150 million Americans who do not believe they are saving adequately to meet needs ranging from emergencies to retirement. We applaud National City for its extensive participation in America Saves and for its many savings initiatives such, as the model Debt to Wealth workshop.”

More information on America Saves Week is available at National City branches and at barany@consumerfed.org. To open a savings account at National City, visit any one of the bank’s more than 1,200 retail branches, online at www.nationalcity.com or call 1-800-622-0332.

National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC), headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the nation’s largest financial holding companies. The company operates through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its core businesses include commercial and retail banking, mortgage financing and servicing, consumer finance and asset management. For more information about National City, visit the company’s Web site at www.nationalcity.com.

Student project needs help

DEARBORN — Students at the Berry Career Center are working on an oral history project to create first-hand accounts of American history.  This is a great experience for the kids, and will result in submission of their work to the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.  If you know of anyone who would be willing to exchange letters with high school students for the next several months in order to help them learn about the firsthand experiences of history, please have them contact Lisa Lark, social studies teacher, at the Berry Career Center at 313.827.4800.