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Zel.graduationb11b0fa3abI would like say thank you, not only that Children of Hope School has given me a remarkable honor, but also for the weeks of fear and  anxiety that I have endured at the thought of this big responsibility. The sleepless nights finally convinced me that I can be a speaker once in my lifetime.  Since I had been here for five years as a school teacher, it is a great advantage because I can think that this is a simple reunion. 

I have finally set my heart and mind about what I am going to talk about today. To the graduates, particularly Eugene, Epifanio, Analiza, and Wilmar, today is a day of celebration and thanksgiving. You have all worked hard to make it to this day. It has been a long journey and you have reached this far.

The staff, the teachers and therapists in the school, the house parents, and  the uncles and aunties in the shelter, were all there and have witnessed when you started practicing on holding a pencil, when you were singing loudly the ABC song,  when  you were learning to write  the letters of the alphabet, when you were trying to read the words with care, and when you were tirelessly counting the numbers from 1 to 100 until you have grown up and have improved your abilities like writing your stories and autobiography, performing an experiment in science, solving problems in math, and showcasing your talent in theater, music and arts, and even sports! Above all these, you have grown up with a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s been a long journey to have finished your elementary years in school, to have developed  skills and values, and to grow up rich in spirit. Congratulations, graduates!    

Going back to my own elementary commencement, just like you sitting in the front row, my heart was filled with thanksgiving. At 12 years old, I had already been planning on becoming a teacher and had dreamed of landing a job because, primarily, I wanted to elevate my family's situation. My parents were poor and , thus, I am  poor. Then,  when I was in the 5th grade, my father passed away. But I am blessed that my family stayed strong and had faith in the Lord. Since then, every day is a miracle. Although I am very much acquainted with the hardships in life, I did not use being poor as an excuse not to finish my education. As a matter of fact, with the support of my family, teachers and friends, I had all the motivation to work harder, to do well in my studies, and to give the best version of myself. I am very determined to learn more and even willing to run an extra mile for education.

In the midst of the challenges and hardships in life, I was successful in my academic journey. So, after college, I looked for a job. In June 2009, I was accepted here in Children of Hope School as a shadow teacher of Wilmar and an I.I. instructor for the kids in the afternoon. After a year, I was promoted to a regular teaching job and was assigned in Level B2. Some of you here were once my students then.

So why am I telling you all of this? That day on my elementary graduation, I was young like you, but was very determined to reach my dreams. And now with the blessings of the Lord, I have made some of them come true, like being a teacher and to have done the things that I love to do. Therefore, I want you to be reminded of not giving up on your dreams and to have faith that you will reach your goals. More than that, I am humbled that I was a part of this ministry and learned that life is more meaningful when  it is shared with a cause. My five year stay in this school was one of the memorable times in my life and it was way greater than what I have dreamed of.

 To the graduates, be grateful to the people that have supported you along the way. The CSC staff and supporters, the childcare staff which includes the uncles and aunties in the shelter, the medical staff, the teachers and therapists in school, and the maintenance staff, they were the set of people who DARED to choose you, serving and molding you to become what you are right now. They are the set of people who CARED not about your past, but on where you’re heading in the future. They are the set of people who SHARED their time, effort, love, and prayers so you won’t be left behind. They dared, cared, and shared because you are special. So dear graduates, we need you to make the most of the wonderful opportunities that have been given to you. 

You may not remember everything I’ve said today, but my message to you is that: Do not give up on your dreams and make them all come true. My hope is that you will have the passion, the courage, the faith, and the sense of responsibility it takes so that you’ll be successful in high school and in the next years of your education. Again, congratulations and God bless you graduates. Thank you very much.

  

 

Girl's Night

Nov. 10, 2014By: Grace Anderson

For the past month and a half, the older girls of CSC have had the chance to experience "girls night". Almost every weekend, two girls are invited to my apartment for an evening of fun! 

The event starts long before the weekend even arrives. On Monday after school the group for the week is told that they are invited to girls night. Their excitement is immediate, and only builds over the coming days. On Wednesday the girls are given menu choices. I have  a variety of dinner dessert choices that the girls have the chance to agree upon, and then make. Many of the foods on my list are meals that are uncommon here in the Philippines, so I often have to explain what the meal consists of. So far, each group has chosen something that they have never tried before!

At 4:30 on Friday, the girls meet me at the guard shack. From there, we get a ride down the road to One Pavilion, a shopping center near my apartment. I give the girls a list, and they are then responsible for finding all of our needed ingredients. Once we check out, we make the trek to my apartment on foot. It has been fun to provide this experience for the girls, and have the chance to teach them life skills like cooking and grocery shopping. When we arrive at my apartment, I give the girls instructions on how to prepare the food. Everything we eat that evening will be prepared and cooked by the girls. 

Cooking has been a joyful experience for all involved. Jonnalyn and Andrea enjoyed mixing up and frying meatballs. Jannice and Pretchy made some interesting choices in dessert (corn and cheese ice cream!!). Joanna Mae and Hannah devoured their tacos (they each had about 5!). Adelyn and Ven Ven went into a sugar coma with s'mores dip. Cheryl Mae and Sarah got messy kneading cookie dough. 

The final event of the evening includes watching a movie. With these girls, it was no surprise to find my collection of chick flicks exhausted. Like any teenage girl, the girls of CSC are saps for a good romance movie...especially a Disney one! Watching their reactions to particular scenes has been the most entertaining part for me. Cheryl Mae almost started hyperventilating as the kissing scene in Pride and Prejudice approached, Jonnalyn giggled constantly during A Cinderella Story, and Janice melted at the romance in The Lizzy McGuire Movie.

With the rotation of teens finished, I can say that girls night has been a great success! I look forward to many more nights of fun with these wonderful girls!

Roxaboxen

Nov. 7, 2014By: Featured Guest

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran was the last story in our theme on Imagination in reading this quarter and it was the best story I have ever heard for this theme.  When I was reading before the class started, I was fascinated with how the children in the story enjoyed their childhood life and played all day with their neighborhood friends in a village they created from stones, boxes, and desert glass.   Even after the children in the story had grown up and moved away, they still remembered the make-believe village they had created so long ago.  After reading the story, I remembered my childhood days with my brother, sister, and neighborhood friends.  We did not create a village like Roxaboxen, but we played in the mansanitas tree, rode our bicycles, and ran in our neighbor’s garden taking the fruit and vegetables.  I wish I could go back to where I grew up, full of enjoyment and excitement.

Every child has memories of his childhood days.   After we finished reading the story in class, I asked my Level B2 students to share experiences from their childhood days.  They all shared about their life at the shelter.  Similar to my experience, they have not had a Roxaboxen, but they are very happy and enjoy playing with their friends at CCHS. 

In order to experience this make-believe Roxaboxen a little bit more, we made our own small town on a board filled with beads for stones in between houses drawn on the board. 

Clayd_1

Clayd_2325d74acb7Everyone was so excited.  While we were making our own Roxaboxen, my students felt like they were in a real place.  They used their imagination to create a great Roxaboxen of their own.  Congrats kids!Clayd_3

Clayd_4701d1b3981Remember!  “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.” So never stop imagining and dreaming.  God Bless!!!!

-Clayd Verzales, Level B Teacher

Morning Meeting

Morning Meeting!  This is one of the most popular activities in school that CCHS children look forward to.  Each level is given a slot every quarter to share what they have learned in SRA (reading and language arts) class through songs, poems, stories, and other activities. 

Level B1 students did a great job in their morning meeting last week.  They shared about kindness and sharing stories, the two most recent themes they had covered in reading.  There was a variety of presentations. 

morning_meetinb5fe4d8d68One group of students shared a song about kindness.  

morning_meeting_2Another group told a story using hand puppets.  

morning_meeting_3One of the boys talked about sharing stories using a big hand-made book.  

morning_meeting_4The children ended the morning meeting with a dance about sharing.  

It was fun to see Level B1 students perform!

French Fries

Oct. 30, 2014By: Jinkee Reasoner

Typical day in the therapy room: student having his speech therapy session with the therapist.

Conversation:

The therapist asks, “Where do French fries come from?”

Without any pause or hesitation, the student answers, “McDonald’s!”

My co-therapist and I burst out laughing. I know we are not supposed to laugh when a student makes a mistake, but we couldn’t help ourselves. It was so cute! The answer does make sense though, if you are a kid. The student just looked between me and my co-therapist with a look that said, “Okay, so what’s funny?”

French_Fries

It was, in fact, a true and genuine answer coming from a seven-year-old boy. McDonald’s and its counterpart, Jollibee, are a hit here in the Philippines, especially for the young kids at the shelter. It is a big deal for them when they are able to go to one of these establishments. (My blog is not about advertising for these businesses, by the way.)

Sometimes as adults we are so caught up with our adult stuff that we forget how to live life like a child, worry free. The kids at the shelter remind us that, in spite of the difficulties they have already faced at a young age, we have a God who is bigger than our worries.

I sat in the therapy room with the speech therapy session still going on thinking how blessed I am to be in this environment. I teach and treat kids with special needs and in turn, they too, teach me even more. As an English proverb says, “The soul is healed by being with children.”

Opening the Doors

Oct. 28, 2014By: Shari Reasoner

Of course, most of the students at Cebu Children of Hope School are from the shelter since that is the main reason for the existence of our school.  However, over the years we have had a handful of community kids attend the school for varying amounts of time.  There was VJ, Andree Kaye, John Ray, Rufa Mae, Christian, and a few others.  CCHS is not big enough to be able to open its doors to the community at large, so we have always brought in community kids just by word of mouth.  It has usually been the case that a commmunity student attends CCHS because he cannot go to another school due to extenuating circumstances. 

For the past three years we have had our hands pretty full with the kids who need schooling from the shelter, but we had our eyes and ears open for a community child who may fit into our school.  Well, meet Lael.  Lael lives with his family nearby and his parents heard about CCHS from someone who works in their church.  Lael is eight years old and suffers from a rare syndrome called Lennox Gestaut Syndrome.  His mom and dad have been looking for a school where Lael can interact with other kids his age in a safe, caring environment. 

Lael 

Last week Lael started attending CCHS for library and art classes two times a week.  It was a great start for everyone and we are excited to have a new student in our midst.  After all, we are Children of Hope for children of hope.