The First Day of School...

...Started Well.

We all got up and got ready with little to no fuss. Alicia was in her classroom a bit after 7:00 to meet with her classroom aide Mdme. Gilbert.

The girls and I made it to devotion at 7:30 just fine and then on into the schoolyard. I went to my room got fans running, windows open, lit a candle to create a nice welcoming sort of ambience.

We switched around how all the classes line up for pledge this year, so there was a bit of initial confusion but we pulled it off without a hitch.

My classes went well. The first day is weird, because there's no routine, yet.

Alicia's day went pretty well also. From a behaviour and discipline point of view, we remarked how we wish every school day was like the first.

Alaina's day seemed fine. She likes for things to go according to plan and today, not every subject was covered during "it's time". Still, it was a positive experience all around.

Anessa's day didn't go so well. She had some difficulty following directions. She later said that she was nervous and missed her Grandma Cheryl. After speaking with her teacher, I might describe her behaviour as 'defiant'. Yup that's my girl. Someday God is going to use that 'defiance' in a my mighty for his kingdom. I don't want to snuff it out by any means, but we'll work on self-control obedience and who knows, tomorrow it all may be well. Pray for Anessa for missed Grandmas and to settle in to a new school year.

Inscription Day

Today was inscription, elsewhere known as enrollment. We transformed the preschool area, with long tables and chairs, into an office of sorts and before long we had more lines than a DMV office. The lines weren't long, each grade handles the enrollment paperwork and receipts for it's own students. After three hours or so we had everyone enrolled and it was back to our classrooms to continue room preparations.

I sorted some chemicals, textbooks and other classroom goodies (I found a small, preserved sheep brain in a plastic jar), cleaned and organized.

Tomorrow is the last day before school begins. I'll spend the time working on lesson plans, writing classroom procedures and creating some lists of needed lab materials. Alicia, I believe, is finished with her initial lesson plans and her room looks great. She's always way ahead of me.

The last few days have been grey and windy. Tropical storm/hurricane Ernesto passed by the southern peninsula leaving us with some very mild temperatures and off and on showers. Between the clouds, lower temperatures and classroom work it really feels as though the summer has passed. As we start this new school year, please pray for our students. Pray that they come ready to work, ready to be inspired and ready to grow in Christ. Pray that our students are able to share Christ with their families. Please pray also for the teaching staff, that we work at all things as though we are working for the Lord, that we can love as we are loved, and pray for energy!

Blessings,

Scott


P.S. Our phone service is still out and on a completely unrelated note, I'm looking for a full-sized anatomical skeleton model for the Biology, Anatomy & Physiology classes. If that sounds like the kind of procurement challenge you might be interested in, email me.

Back To School...

It's good to be back. We had a great summer visiting friends and family, doing a little shopping (well maybe more than a little) dining out a bit, etc.

We arrived in Port-de-Paix on Tuesday, August 14. We were blessed with safe and uneventful travel from Kansas City to Dallas, Miami and then onto Port au Prince and Port-de-Paix. Tuesday evening we managed to fire off one email before we lost interent access. Wednesday we discovered we were(are) without phone service. Here we are one week later and our internet access is stable though we still lack phone service for the time being.

What a difference from last year it's been! Last week was a busy week of unpacking, cleaning and reorganizing our house. We had two tables of dry goods plus the things we had taken to Evansville to be shipped waiting at the school, all in good shape but it took about ten trips with the wheelbarrow and two-wheeler. Needless to say we were beat!

This week we have started orientation with school and cleaning, organizing, decorating, etc. in our classrooms. Registration is on Monday and school starts on Wednesday. Scott has picked up teaching World History and American Literature along with the four science classes. He will have lots of extra work for planning and grading but he's excited about getting to teach two more of his favorite subjects.

The girls have been catching up on watching movies, seeing friends and we've made one trip to the ocean to swim. They've been helping Scott make homemade pizza(total of 3), the only problem is we've already gone through nearly a whole Sam's size shredded mozzerella cheese bag!

We will post some pictures in the next day or so. We love you all and miss you all!