My First Full Day

Today I went to school to acclimate myself and shadow Kamala as a way of easing into my role as co-principal. As a former one-room schoolhouse student, I had some notions of what Maison de Lumiere School would be like since the school serves students of many different grade levels.

I sat in on Alissa's science class first, and she was teaching a song about how seeds travel. I think I had the tune stuck in my head for most of the morning, and as I visited her later classes, the kids were really enthusiastic and getting into it. It helps that they have an incredibly talented and vivacious teacher. Next I saw Caitlin's math class and they were using manipulatives to work on negative numbers. I remember math, and I remember learning negative numbers, but I don't remember cool colored bears and beads. I love Caitlin's hands-on approach. Speaking of hands, the 1st graders were talking about different things you can do with your hands, and they came up with quite a list including clapping, counting, and other clever things. Jessica's class is in the medical clinic because of space restraints, but that didn't stop her from teaching her three students. Richard, Markendy, and Oline were working on spelling, telling time, and some science. A missions team from Biola came in to teach music to the kids. They had them clapping rhythms, singing songs, and playing instruments.

It was a full day, and while my expectations were off, I was impressed with what I saw. There are definite differences between Haitian and American students, but I saw good teaching and many kids engaged. Yay MdL teachers! I'll have so much more to share as the days pass.

Aside from school, I'm doing okay. I didn't sleep much, not for lack of trying, and from what the teachers said, that's pretty normal. We must have had 8 fans in our room and it still felt like a sauna. Paula and Lexie even took their mattresses to the roof because it was so hot! I'm hoping tonight is a little better, and some fan repositioning may be in order.

I'm not quite ready to blog about the emotions going through my head. Everything I've seen has touched my heart and I know that I will be forever changed. My dear friend Priscilla wrote me a card for each week I'm here, and tonight I'm going to read it and cherish her words of love. Continue to pray for the missionaries, the teachers, the kids, and the nation of Haiti. I'll try to post some pictures in the next few days.