Friday, April 23, 2010

Expedition Night

Last night was Expedition Night. This is the evening that the students have to present all that they have been doing and learning throughout the last 2 months during their expedition. Each grade had a different topic of study. While I was not able to see all of the presentations (they occurred simultaneously), I was able to catch a few.

Kindergarten presenting a skit about insects
5th graders presenting about immigration
3rd graders reincarnated from the Egyptian tombs
8th graders decorated the library to show all they learned about Freshwater Ecosystems
High Schoolers doing a skit about protecting yourself from germs

Animals in the 2nd grade Australian zoo

They worked so hard this week. Now it is time to rest!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Mission trip to Sosua with the 5th graders

Last week Friday and Saturday, I went on a mini- mission trip with the 5th grade class. They have been studying immigration, so we traveled to Sosua, about 3 hours away, to go visit and work with a community of Haitian immigrants.

The visit started out by helping to clean up a preschool for Haitian children. The rain didn't stop us from helping clean up the walls of the buildings!




We then went on a tour of a batey, a poor village made up of primarily Haitian immigrants who were promised work by the Dominican government but then did not receive enough work to make ends meet.


After the tour, the students had time to interact with the children living in the batey by playing with them. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, jumprope, and frisbee were big hits!

That night, we had a time of worship and small group devotions. During this time, one of the girls accepted Christ as her Savior!!

On Saturday, the students went to a Jewish holocaust museum to study about Jewish immigrants to the DR and then went to visit another batey. Once again, the sports were a very popular way for them to see that Haitian children are just like them.




Since we were near the coast, the trip did include lunch on the beach (with a little swim time). Overall, it was a very good trip and a positive experience for all of the students. Here a few extra photos from the trip. Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Open the floodgates of Heaven....

Let it rain! Rainy season has begun. It has been raining a lot lately. Today, the weather couldn't decide if it was going to rain or not, so it did both. Every time I needed to go from my office to the other building, it was not raining. Right after I stepped outside, it would start to rain.

Let me give you an example of this...

When I was going to lunch today, I looked out the window. Not raining. Good. By the time I walked downstairs and to the door, it was pouring. Walked back upstairs to get the umbrella. Went back down and out the door- barely raining. By the time I got to the cafeteria (50 feet away, if that), no rain. Figures.

The kids do not seem to mind the rain. Gym classes continue outdoors. Recess continues outdoors. I pray I can keep up the same enthusiasm that the kids have when I have to walk to work and spend the day all wet!