Staff Blog
Last October we entered the Support Give-Away Contest for Resource Mate, the library automation program we use at Cebu Children of Hope School. It doesn't sound too glamorous, but we thought it would be worth it to submit the required essay to see if we could win a year of free tech support. The essay had to describe how Resource Mate helps impact our community. Well, we just found out we won the contest!!! Woo Hoo!!!
Here's the essay we submitted:
It’s library day and Eugene wants to check out the next book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. He looks at the spine label and heads to the “Fla” part of the Fiction section. Juliet wants to check out a Clifford book. She read one in her class and is excited there are more books about Clifford. I help her look in the Easy section and we hunt for the spine labels that have “Bri.” Mary Grace is ready to tackle chapter books and wants to know where to look for ones for girls. I point her in the direction of the Fiction section of books with spine labels that read “Ame” for American Girl books. Maybe she’d like to try a Junie B. Jones book too. The Level B reading class is studying about camouflage. A bunch of the kids ask where to find books about animals that use camouflage. We brainstorm about how to do that and someone remembers that we should search on the Resource Mate computer using the keyword camouflage. The Reading Challenge contest is in full swing. Kids race into the library each day to return their books and check out a new stack to read at home. Teacher Amanda comes into the library looking for books on the theme of risks and consequences. She searches and finds a number of books she can check out and keep in the classroom for the kids to read while they are working on this topic. Teacher Alfie stops in right before leaving for the day to check out some books to read to his girls at home. Sounds like a pretty normal day in the life of a library.
But the library at Cebu Children of Hope School is anything but normal or typical in this city of 866,000 people with one public library. Our library serves the community of children who reside at Children’s Shelter of Cebu, an orphanage in Cebu City, Philippines and the staff who work with the children. All of the children who come to live at Children’s Shelter of Cebu are from the surrounding communities on the island of Cebu or neighboring islands. The vast majority of the children have either never attended school or have attended very little. When the children start attending school at Children of Hope School, they often do not know the letters of the alphabet much less how to read. Usually it is safe to say no one has ever had a book read to them. Needless to say, they have never seen a library.
The children are thrilled to learn what a
library is. No one has to convince them
how cool it is to browse the shelves of books and check out books to take home
to the shelter. Teachers have also often
never been inside a proper library. To
have an automated system and thousands of books at their fingertips is pretty
unbelievable. The children and teachers
are taught how to look for books in the library. They learn what spine labels and bar codes
are and how the books are organized on the shelves. They are taught how to search for books by
title, author, subject, or keyword. The
children hover around the Resource Mate computer in the library eager to have
their books scanned so they can start reading their selections.
Most of the children who come through the doors
of the shelter and school are adopted either locally or internationally. Currently the children have been adopted into
families in fourteen different countries around the world. The experience and knowledge gained at our
school and in our library goes with them to their new countries, communities,
and families.
On the surface, the little library at Cebu Children of Hope School seems pretty normal, but every day really is a little bit miraculous in our slice of the world on the tiny island of Cebu in the Pacific Ocean.
Love is a verb
Actions speak louder than words...
I see this adage lived out every day by our workers. They care for our kids in a way that goes above and beyond what is outlined in their job description. They do their job---whether it is preparing a meal, overseeing bathtime, homework time, changing diapers, or making sure our vehicles are safe and in good running order---with heart and dedication to the ministry of CSC. They love these kids and it shows!
How our Uncles love...
Taking care of our homes
Celebrating a special day
Playing with them
Holding them---even though it means you will get sticky in the process!
Praying over them
Helping them play safely
How our Aunties love...
Helping with homework
Meeting a need
Encouraging cooperative play
Laughing with them
Being one of our children's first teachers!
Providing one-on-one attention
And the list goes on....
I believe we learn how to love and how to be kind to others from how we are loved and treated by those around us.
It warms my heart every time I see one of our kids loving another one of our kids, but what else would you expect when they have such good teachers? :)
How our kids love each other...
We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19
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Snack Time
Every day after school the kids come home and eat a snack before going out to play. I was in the Eicher home today while snack was being made and thought I would show you some photos of snack time. Cheese bread is always a hit!
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Happy Birthday!
"Happy Birthday!" is something that we say a lot at CSC. We work hard to make each birthday a special occassion for each of our kids. Really, all our kids have of their own is their name and their birthday, most other things have been taken from them.
We have the big event on the exact date of their birthday....even if that means we have three different birthday parties in one week. The kids know exactly what to expect. They like to wear red on their birthday. Their birthday will be celebrated in their house, all the staff are invited and each of the kids get to invite two more people...usually one kid from each of the other two houses, but sometimes they invite their teachers from school. If we happen to have two birthdays on one day that just means the party doubles, we usually have it outside because all the kids from two houses are included. Most often the first thing that happens is the kids are presented with a printed copy of all the greetings that were posted on FaceBook for their Birthday - they especially love looking at each of the tiny FaceBook profile photos! They do read the notes as well. We always have a rousing (read LOUD) birthday song and lots of table banging (trust me - it goes with the song). Following that we all have to tell the birthday child "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and expect a "Thankyou" in return. Then is time for a special prayer for the birthday child, the child gets to chose a staff person to pray for them. We are always certain to thank God for bringing this child to CSC and for each of the talents that we know this child has. Then...time to eat. The kids love to have chicken and spaghetti! Sometimes the menu varies (and that makes the staff happy.) After everyone has eaten all they want (and that usually does not include vegetables when they get to fill their own plates) it is time for Ice Cream and Birthday Cake, but first they have to have their picture taken with their specially ordered birthday cake. The birthday child is usually the first one done eating. The last big event of the evening is getting their gift! They are so excited to get their birthday gift...CSC kids are appreciative and happy with what they receive. It is a blessing to watch their face as each thing is pulled out of their bags...okay, clothes usually get tossed aside rather quickly, but they are happy to wear them the next day! Then it is time to pack everything back in the birthday bag and bring it upstairs to their bedrooms to find special places to keep each thing (usually that will be in their bed with them for a few nights at least). Yep, we love birthdays at CSC. Each and every one of them.
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Recent School Activities
There are always lots of activities going on at the school. Conferences, morning meetings, and programs. It has been a very busy last few weeks. Here are some of the programs we've had lately!
Level A2 Morning Meeting:
Two weeks ago Level A2 presented a morning meeting about different types of weather! They did a cute skit in which a boy took pictures of the kids acting out all of the seasons. That was followed up with the students explaining several different types of weather. Then they danced to the song "Beautiful Day" before closing up the morning with a game. For the game, two kids had to form a house with their arms. A third child sat inside as the "baby". Whenever there was a storm, the houses fell apart and everyone had to run around to form a new house with a new baby. There was a bit of confusion during every "storm", but lots of laughter as well!
Science & Math Day:
Last Thursday, our school held our annual Science & Math Day. The program was split into two different parts. The first part was the math quiz bowl. The kids were all quite excited about it and many had asked their teachers in advance to PLEASE help them practice. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, number comparison, and fractions were just a few of the topics covered. They all did a great job and it was fun to see the teamwork and encouragement that went on within the teams! The second part of the program included presentations from each of the science classes. Group 2 shared about plants and how they grow! Group 3 explained potential & kinetic energy. Then they used a roller coaster to demonstrate those types of energy. Group 4 showed examples of energy transformation! After all of the science presentations, the kids were clapping and spontaneously yelled out, "Science rules!!" It's fun to see their love for science! The day ended with two math dances put on by our older kids! Here is a short video that we showed about group 4's energy creations. They had to create something that would move a Ping-Pong ball as far as possible!
Level B Morning Meeting:
Last Friday, Level B presented their morning meeting. It started off with the girls performing a fun dance to the song "Show Jesus" by Jamie Grace. Then they did a cute skit about camouflage. The rabbit kept running into things that were hidden in the grass, trees, and flowers! The program ended by acknowledging the March birthday celebrants!
Check out more pictures from these events!
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Math Girls
I never loved math as a student, but every year my love for teaching math grows a little bit more. And this year my love for teaching math is at an all time high because of my hard working and motivated students! I have never had students who are so excited to not only know if they got it right or wrong, but WHY they got it right or wrong. Sometimes they interrogate me - in a good way - "Why, teacher Lindsay? Can you show me number 6 again?" It's like a teacher's dream come true.
Not only do they love to work on their assignments in class, they will gladly accept homework and even get excited about "extra challenge" assignments. They truly hunger for knowledge and academic challenge, and it's such a privilege to be their teacher.
They even sing songs about math!
I'm so proud of these girls. :)
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