Staff Blog
I have been allotted six minutes by the emcee for the history of the school, which comes out to 18 seconds per year. I've already lost a couple years by telling you this! So lets get going.
It would be foolhardy to try and capture the whole history of Children of Hope School. Even the many red letter dates would be too much. And as I prepared for this presentation I realized that even mentioning all the people who have had significant contributions here would be too time consuming. Suffice it to say that hundreds of people have given of their time, talent and treasure to help this school, including many of you here tonight. So I'm going to summarize.
I'll talk about two groups – the heroes and the unsung heroes.
Some of the heroes of Children of Hope School are here and will be honored or mentioned tonight.
Dan Chalmers, with his wife Carla, made the donation that allowed us to build this school. Without their generosity and responsiveness to God's leading, we would not be here tonight.
Lisa Saavedra was one of the visionaries who started this school. Her progressive ideas about education and her willingness to go to bat for CHS with the Dept. of Education, and her work as our school principal for many years was foundational.
Shari Reasoner's hard work, talent and foresight allowed our school to improve and be more responsive to the needs of our kids.
Those are our heroes and we will be sure to honor them tonight.
But I want to mention a few unsung heroes, people whose contributions might not be known to many here tonight.
Ron Duterte was the best friend that our staff ever had in Cebu. He was generous with his time, his influence and his heart. Many don't know that Ron was, technically, the first Principal we had at CHS. We needed a name when we submitted our papers for registration, and we penciled him in. His doctorate was respected and we were off and running. Like the pace car in an automobile race, he soon pulled over and let someone else take the reins, but he was our first.
Nancy Healy helped us greatly by writing the first curriculum for our school, using her knowledge and experience in multi-age classrooms, and her big heart for the CSC kids. She helped us pioneer a type of education that was previously not known in the Philippines and was a big help to our first teachers. She and Lisa worked together to get CHS started and provide a standard for our education that is still being realized today.
Brian Kusunoki heard about CSC from a friend from Minnesota where he used to live. When he moved to Hong Kong for his work he told the Union Church about CSC. He came down to visit us on behalf of the church and went back excited about our school idea. His promotion of our ministry in that church resulted in a major contribution for outfitting our school, particularly our main activity room which is named for the church.
Jan Druckenmiller is an early childhood educator who had a vision for our pre-school program. She wrote a curriculum, did teacher training, sent over materials and came often to help out with our younger students.
I want to mention one more unsung hero, and that is Paul Reasoner. Shari's commitment to the school and coming here several times a year had a cost, and Paul generously gave her up, though it meant that they were often apart. Paul's willingness to have her in Cebu so much is a contribution to CHS that we often overlook. Not tonight.
There are many more. Many more. People who came along just when we needed them to teach, contribute or encourage. God has always filled the slots and raised up the heroes that we needed to establish this school and keep it going.
Workers' Christmas Party
Check out these pictures from our workers' Christmas party on December 1. It was a great night of fun, gifts, prizes and recognition of the great contributions of our workers.
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Trust His Heart
God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart
-From a song called "Trust His Heart" by Babbie Mason
The view out of my classroom window on a recent rainy day.
Human as we are, we have lots of worries in life. As we worry, some questions come up in our minds. What will my future be like? Will I be able to sustain the needs of my family? What kind of life will my children have? How do I meet the needs of my students, especially those who are struggling? How will I deal with the difficult situations I will be facing in the future? Do the things that I strive to do matter? Am I making a difference in my workplace? Am I on the right track? Is this the will of God for me? I don't understand God's plan for me, what should I do?
Upon worrying and doubting, we sometimes forget that there's someone up there who is bigger than our worries. When our mind is clouded with worries instead of trusting the One who is sovereign over everything, we see the uncertainties. May the message of the song above encourage both you and me to put our full trust in Him who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient amidst uncertainties.
May we hold onto His promise and command from Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV that says, "
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
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40 Years of Hope and Blessings at CSC
CSC will celebrate 40 years of ministry in Cebu City in June of 2019. Our friends and supporters are warmly invited to attend the festivities in Cebu on June 28 and 29. Everyone is invited to see historical videos, pictures and accounts from the past 40 years here on this website and on our Facebook page.
This is from Christmas 2007:
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One Great Afternoon at CCHS!
The United Nations Day celebration is one of the exciting activities at CCHS. It is always fun and informative. Children and teachers look forward to this event every year.
The day before the event, all the teachers put in great effort to prepare lots of things for the kids. Everyone stayed late that night just to make their country booth really captivating. There was the sharing of minds on what to display and how to arrange things in the booth.
The celebration started with the singing of the Philippine national anthem at the shelter followed by a parade heading to school. After the parade the children visited the the different countries: Belgium, Norway, Italy, and the Netherlands. Each group was given twenty-five minutes to stay at each booth and learn about the country. There was important information shared by the teachers, crafts to do, and food to eat.
After the country tour was the jeopardy game. Questions were asked to each group to test how well they remembered the things that were shared earlier. It was really fun to hear the students help each other think of the correct answers.
The event ended with a surprise thank you program for the teachers prepared by Teacher Eunice. It was indeed one great afternoon at CCHS!
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Habitat Turnover
Habitat Turnover 60 homes for our workers were turned over to the homeowners on October 2 7 in an emotional ceremony in Talisay, Cebu. After many delays this project was completed and our workers will soon be moving into their new homes. All of these workers will be owning a home for the first time, a dreams that would have gone unfulfilled if not for Habitat for Humanity and Paul Reasoner, who led the fundraising. 
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