Staff Blog
More than anything else in the world, in relation to her work, a teacher cares most about what her students have actually learned. She always wonders if she’s getting through to her students every day. I know I do. It pleases me and gives me a sense of achievement whenever I see proof that my students are understanding the lessons. Imagine how God must feel every time we show him just how much we need to learn from him.
A week ago we were practicing our morning meeting, a 30-minute presentation done by each level to showcase what they have learned in class. There are four levels of classes: Pre-K, A, B, and C. I teach one of the Level B classes. Our reading curriculum is organized with lessons based around different themes. Recently Level B classes have been reading stories based on the themes of Kindness and City Wildlife. To make sure that our kids really understood the concepts we were working on, I found a video about kindness showing a Pay-It-Forward kind of concept with people helping one another in a chain reaction. As a preview for the presentation, the Level B students watched the video. They enjoyed the video, but didn’t seem to give it any kind of special thought. I was a bit disappointed.
One of the things that we train our kids to do at school is to be disciplined. Every morning as they change from their tennis shoes to their classroom slippers, we remind them they should arrange their shoes neatly along the wall. One morning this week I saw some pairs of shoes were not neatly arranged. I called the attention of the owners of the shoes to arrange them correctly. What happened next touched me and surprised me as well!
One owner was about to go to his shoes to fix them when the person standing next to the shoes immediately arranged them. The owner smiled in gratitude and was about to line up when he heard me call another of the students to fix her shoes. As the girl was about to go and fix her shoes, the boy who was helped first ran to her shoes to fix them himself. Then he looked at me, smiled, and said, “Like in the movie, teacher. He helped me. I’m going to help her too.” After saying that, he went back to his line and went to his room.
The day passed, I was done teaching my lessons and I finally sat down in my classroom. I pondered about the one seemingly insignificant situation that had taken place that morning.
They were all Level B students. They were the ones we showed the video to first. They were the ones we taught about kindness. I thought the unit didn’t impress them much. I was absolutely wrong. They had learned. And when they saw an opportunity to apply the lesson, they did it as if they had done it many times in their lives. It was amazing! Another realization hit me. Unlike adults, kids don’t tend to be so dramatic and touchy about movies they see that teach them a wonderful lesson. But it doesn’t mean they don’t care. They are internalizing the idea, waiting for an opportunity to apply exactly what they gained from that lesson.
What a precious treasure!
-Ann Sabio
First Day of School
Everybody is excited when the schoolyear is about to begin. CSC kids love school!
On the fifteenth day of this month, school was officially opened to all the students of CCHS. The students walked to school with big smiles that told everyone how happy they were to be back at school and how ready they were to learn new things. They were accompanied by their house parents, aunties, and some members of the staff. The adults, too, were so glad to see all of the students march to school with cheer.
Upon arriving at school, the students were welcomed with wide open arms by their loving teachers. The teachers had thoughtfully prepared everything to give the students a great kick off for the schoolyear 2019-2020. True enough, the first day went really well. The teachers and students worked together to begin creating a positive community in which to learn.
At the end of the day the students went home feeling loved and excited again for the next day of school.
The Cebu Children of Hope School is an important part of the larger CSC ministry. Students not only gain academic skills but, with the help of their dedicated teachers, also learn equally valuable lessons like responsibility, problem-solving, cooperation, and self-control.
Thank you supporters for enabling us to impact these great kids to be the people God made them to be!
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What's New @ CCHS?
Today is the first day of school at Cebu Children of Hope School!
With the start of the new school year, we wanted to let you know about some great new parts of our school.
New Students
We are excited to have five new students join us this school year, four in preschool and one in second grade. We can't wait to have them in school!
New Teacher
We are happy to welcome Teacher Kristine to our team. She will be an Instructional Assistant for this school year. She is a fresh graduate from Cebu Normal University, one of the top universities in Cebu. She has her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Special Education.
New Curriculum
We are extremely grateful for our supporters for their generosity! Because of YOU we were able to purchase a new reading and writing curriculum to replace our 15 year old curriculum. Special thanks to Shari Reasoner who helped us research different curricula to find the best one for our students. It was purchased in the States and, with the help of many visitors, the materials were brought to Cebu, suitcase by suitcase. We are thankful for everyone who made it possible!
New Technology
Starting this school year every teacher will have the opportunity to use the newly installed overhead projectors and document cameras in their classrooms. This equipment was donated by a longtime supporter of CSC and we are incredibly grateful for his contribution! This upgrade will greatly help our teachers present their lessons in a very systematic and creative way, bringing the lessons to life!
These are just a few glimpses of the new things that we have at CCHS. We encourage you to rejoice with us as we experience God's abundant blessings through our faithful supporters. Join us in welcoming the new school year and journey with us this school year 2019-2020!
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Anniversary Bash in Cebu this June 28 - 29
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All Our Days
This video kind of sums up the feelings of Marlys and me about the history of CSC. For 14,600 days, He has been with us. He is the God of all our days!
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Summer At CSC
As a school administrator I get a little excited for summer break. It's a time to reflect on the past school year, celebrate the great things God did, and dream about "what could be" for the next school year.
Class at CCHS is out for the summer, I'm sitting at my desk planning for the upcoming school year, and I still hear kids. What's going on?
I peek my head out of my office and I smell a wonderful aroma. Auntie Lourdes, a longtime house mom, is leading a cooking class in the school kitchen. She is teaching our older kids how to cook a delicious Filipino meal.
After sitting and eating with them (I just had to have a few bites) I walk into the Big Room. Our Program Director's husband, John, is facilitating guitar lessons with an excited group of girls. He is leading several different guitar groups during the week. Everytime I see Rovilito at the Shelter he talks about learning the guitar. This morning he ran up to me and said he knows how to play two songs already!
In another classroom violin lessons are taking place. Cris has been super excited to learn how to play violin and a CSC volunteer is making it happen.
I have the pleasure of leading a small group of budding marathoners in our Summer Run Club. We meet twice a week and have fun running and playing games together. They love running up the road from the school though they quickly learned downhill is much more fun!
If you walked into the new Banawa McDonald's recently you would have been greeted by some CSC kids who were part of McDo's Kiddie Crew. Many of our kids took part in this yummy summer "job" and they did everything from take people's orders to make cheeseburgers to tell departing customers, "Thanks for coming to McDonald's. See you again soon!"
Summers at CSC look different from year to year but they are always well-planned and filled with lots of fun! Just ask the kids!
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