This past Monday some of our kids got to experience a music event at CSC. As I have mentioned in previous posts, for the past 4 months I have been teaching private voice and piano lessons to 8 talented CSC kids. All of their hard work culminated into a special music recital. For the past month or so, the 8 students had been working hard to make their 2-3 songs performance ready. I had been working equally as hard to prepare the setting for what I believed would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some of them.
For the voice students (there are 6), Disney and Broadway songs have been the focus in our lessons. Some of the songs performed included: Part of your world - The Little Mermaid, Consider Yourself - Oliver, I Could Have Danced All Night - My Fair Lady, Colors of the Wind - Pocahontas, Do Re Mi - The Sound of Music, and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - Phantom of the Opera. As you can see, we had quite the selection! Considering the fact that most of their pieces were very theatrical songs, I decided that I would gather costumes for EACH of their songs. I really wanted the kids to have the chance to get in character, and perform in a more dramatic and theatrical way. In all honesty, the costumes actually helped them become better performers, because it helped them use better facial expressions and actions, so as to match their costumes.
The piano students (2 of them) performed a mix of classical and contemporary pieces. Some of the selections included: Somewhere Over the Rainbow - The Wizard of Oz, Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven, Carol of the Bells, and A Whole New World - Aladdin.
There was a lot of action building up to the performance. Besides finding all the costumes and fitting the kids, I had to coordinate helpers, set up the stage, create a picture board, make snacks, prepare a slide show, and coordinate group practices. Normally individual lessons take place after school each day, but the week before the performance all of the students stayed after school every day for group practices. It was a bit chaotic at first, trying to pull all the acts together, but at last I could see the big picture. On the Friday before the performance we had dress rehearsal. This was really fun for me (and the kids) because we could at last see all of our hard work coming together. It was also really exciting to see the songs put together with hair, makeup and costumes!
The excitement of the kids was clearly building, both for the performers and for the other kids at CSC. This recital was a bit different than other recitals, because it did not include every child at CSC. The performers were each given 3 invitations to pass out to friends, so that in the end there would be a total of 25 children, along with house parents, teachers, counselors, staff and other outside guests (making the total around 80). The kids at the shelter could not wait to see what we had in store for them!
The day of the recital finally arrived, and the performers headed up to school around 3 for some last minute notes. At about 4:00 we started doing hair and makeup (without lipstick), because at 5:00 we had 2 3-foot pizzas delivered for dinner. No I am not joking, these pizzas were 3 feet in diameter!! It was crazy! After chowing down, we finally got everyone into their costumes in time to go out to the music room for warm ups before the show. The kids expressed that they were nervous, but very excited. After a short prayer we headed out to start the show.
Everything about the recital went just as I had planned - maybe even better! The kids really came through in their performances, and truly showcased how hard they had been working in the past 4 months. It was exciting to see the performances come to life as the kids added their actions and personalities to the songs. I was particularly impressed by one of my student's performance. All throughout practicing and lessons she had quite a hard time learning and memorizing the words to her songs. Even all the way up to the day of the performance I was worried that she would not have the confidence to sing her songs completely. I had been working with her so hard on building her confidence in herself, so despite my worries, was feeling hopeful for her performance. Boy was I surprised what she would bring to the floor! Not only did she say the words better than she ever had in practice, she had strength in her voice and sang with confidence and accurate pitch! I felt so proud.
We ended the recital with our surprise number "Let it Go". Once we finished, I felt instantly relieved, and I know the kids did too. It was a complete success, and I have never been more proud of my students!
An Educational Tour
Last month the Level A1 and A2 pupils went on a field trip to a couple of places related to their reading unit theme Animals and Camouflage. It was a chance for hands-ons learning.
The students went to Crocolandia, a zoo located in Talisay City and Cebu Zoo located in Lahug.
They were very excited to see the different animals. The kids wanted to know how the animals live, move and adapt to their environment.
They kids enjoyed listening to a short lecture.
They learned animals are important and people need to take good care of animals. They heard that some animals have not been treated well and are endangered.
After the lecture the students were allowed to touch some of the animals!
Everyone had a really good time and the kids want to visit the zoos again sometime.
Changing and Growing
We’re making some changes in preschool. This is my third year as the preschool teacher aide but this school year is different. One change is that we have a new main teacher, our principal. Also, we are using the same lesson plans but taking a different approach when teaching lessons. The schedule is also different: the 5 and 6 year old students stay until 11:30 for additional lessons to prepare them for the next level and the 4 year old students go home at 10:15.
This year I am teaching math for 45 minutes to five kids. Our first topic was on sorting and classifying. The students enjoyed sorting through objects looking for common attributes like size or color. One student kept asking, “Sorting ta, Teacher?” (“Teacher, are we still sorting?”) I said, “Yes, we are still sorting.”
We moved on to Topic 2 (patterns) and Topic 3 (Numbers 0-5) and he still wanted to know if we were working on sorting. Every day he kept asking me the same question, “Sorting ta, Teacher?” and I replied the same, “No, we are now on a new lesson!”
Suddenly, one day that little guy asked me, “Patterns ta, Teacher?” (“Teacher, are we in patterns?”) He had shifted his question! Unfortunately, I had to answer, “No, we are now on numbers”. But the real thing that is amazing about these conversations is that he is asking the questions in the first place. This little guy is the shiest of all the students and it has taken him quite a while to feel comfortable about being in school much less being able to ask questions. I am so proud of how much he has grown.
Change
Change is a part of life here at CSC. The ministry has undergone tremendous change since our initial band of pioneers started the ministry in 1979. We have grown tremendously, have added facilities and services and have expanded our work force from an inital six to about 130. We have professionals working in child development, social work, education, accounting, nursing and physical and occupational therapy. And thing change from month to month with new staff coming on board, others moving on and some going on furlough.
Change is a necessary part of doing a ministry like ours. We need to constantly be improving our programs and services. We recently hired a Social Work Director here in Cebu, Klaris Cabansal, to head up the Social Work department, supervise our three other social workers, write and edit social case study reports, and work with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Inter-Country Adoption Board on behalf of CSC. We are also hiring people in Child Development and Human Resources. We are currently trying to hire two therapists, as well. We want to upgrade all of our departments and improve all our services to the children. So change is important.
In spite of this, when asked about the secret to our success over the years, I always say that we have been successful because we have not changed. We are still doing the same basic thing that we set out to do back in 1979. We are taking care of children who do not have families. When people think about CSC they know exactly what it is we do. (That's one reason we don't have to produce new brochures every few years!) And next month and next year it will still be the same. In a changing world, with shifting values and constantly evolving technologies, economic and political landscapes and donor expectations, we still take care of children who do not have families. We have more kids, and we do a better job of caring for them, but our basic program is the same.
Birthday blessings
Filipinos love birthdays. One of the fun things about being on the CSC staff is the opportunity to help our children celebrate their birthdays. We attend lots of parties! But another fringe benefit is that we get lots of love on our birthdays. The kids enjoy making colorful and creative cards to give to us on our special days. The are written and colored with love and appreciation. As we get older, some of us would imagine our birthday to be kind of low key, no big deal. But our birthdays are a big deal to the CSC kids. And so, the cards are made and presented. And greatly appreciated. Giving and receiving love is the greatest part of working at CSC here in Cebu. Here is a small sampling of the cards I received on my birthday recently:
Jake's Friday gig
Friday is Jake's day in the office, stamping names on note paper for the office staff. There is a lot of kidding and laughing while he is in the office, because Jake brings his great sense of humor wherever he goes. It doesn't seem possible that Jake has been with us for just over 30 years! He is a blessing to all of us at CSC and a testimony to how God has worked in his life. Things haven't always been rosy for Jake, but he hangs in there and meets the challenges of life with determination. And humor.