At St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School, Mrs. Lucciantonio’s Gr. 2/3 class and Miss Filice’s Gr. 3/4 class have been involved with the International Friendship Project in Ecuador. They are working with Jan and David Buley who are two professors from the School of Education at Laurentian University. The students have become penpals with the students in Ecuador so that they can share the wonderful things about our community and knowledge of Canada, and learn a great deal about the community and customs of Ecuador. They have also been collecting Crayola Art Supplies to send to them as this spring Jan and David will be going to Ecuador and will be bringing 10 Laurentian Education students with them to provide an arts camp for 250 students. Both of the St. Raphael teachers feel this is an excellent opportunity for their students to learn about different cultures as well as the importance of building compassionate relationships.