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.
A Special Friend
You guys all know Wilmar. You see him playing basketball, riding a bike, holding a toy lion, crocodile or a dinosaur or you see him just sitting and singing a song or two. Wilmar receives a lot of support at the school and shelter.
At school, Wilmar has three different teachers and one physical therapist. Yup, we make sure these kids get what they need. So yeah, Wilmar has teachers supporting him, but what about a friend? Who plays with him at the shelter? Who helps him line up? Who holds his hand during school programs?
Well, there is one special friend and classmate who assists Wilmar in all of these. This girl sang a duet with Wilmar in the last music recital. She holds Wilmar’s hand when going up and down to the stage; she walks with him to the next class and works on classroom activities with him. Even her classmates know who Wilmar should sit with. And she is very happy to do all of this. No complaints.
This girl is also close to the rest of the special needs kids/adults in her house. She sees them as equal. She has a big heart for them. Now, that’s one special friend!
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Sportsfest 2016
Sportsfest 2016 is officially over. A great day of fun, athleticism, and sportsmanship was had by all! The day started off with a parade,cheers from each team, reciting of the sportsmanship pledge and the lighting of the torch. Then the games began!
Enjoy some fun photos of the day! 
The Torch
Getting Ready
Hula Hoop
Sack Race
Hurdles
The Aqua Blue Team
The Green Team
The Royal Blue Team
The Gray Team
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Yesterday and today
I have been finishing up my book on the history of CSC. It has been a great experience to look back on the earlier years of the ministry and see how many times God has seen us through difficulties and helped us meet challenges. We have faced financial hardships, political uncertainties, sickness, natural disasters, death and a fire. And one year we faced all of these. Except the fire.
1990 was quite a year for CSC. Our board had approved a budget that was significantly more than the previous year. But income was down significantly and our reserves were being depleted. What's more, CSC's Executive Director had to resign for health reasons. There were lots of political uncertainties in the country. Many of our children were sick and one, little Sonny Boy, died after a 72 hour battle in the ICU. Three of our staff were on furlough during the year, leaving us short-handed in Cebu. And, in November we got hit by super typhoon Ruping which cause lots of damage in Cebu, though nothing major at CSC. We were inconvenienced by power outage and lack of sufficient water.
Not a great year. But one where we learned a lot about God's sustaining power, his heart, and our ability, with his help, to withstand lots of challenges. We also learned a lot about CSC's supporters, and how they rally around us during difficult times. People stepped up, pitched in with the fund raising, gave sacrificially, prayed for us and help pull us through 1990. And every year since.
Some of you have been around CSC since 1990. If so, thanks for then and for now. If you were a part of our stupendous December giving rally in 2015, or have been praying for CSC or our family, BIG thanks. We have needed you so much. We take on the challenges of today and in the future because of what you have meant to us in the past. Bless you all.
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Playing with Dominoes in Science Class
If you walked by our science class on any given day, it might resemble play time. In fact, we are having so much fun, things are falling over fast! One of the science classes recently finished a unit on speed. They learned how distance, time, and speed are related. To further illustrate this relationship, they had the opportunity to play with dominoes. The class was divided into two teams. The teams had to line up 25 dominoes that were equally spaced in such a way that their dominoes would fall faster than the other team. This led to a lot of discussion about concepts related to speed, and we had fun in the process!
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A Wonderful Surprise!
Happy New Year!
God is GREAT! He has been so faithful to Cebu Children of Hope School during the past year. His protection and provision were so evident in the lives of each one of us at school. A number of kids were given forever families and are now starting new chapters in their lives in new families, homes, and schools.
This year already God has given us a wonderful surprise at school. Seven lovable students joined classes after the Christmas break, three preschoolers and four elementary students. Their coming has made the school merrier because each one of them is a bundle of joy. They are gifts from God that enrich everyone’s lives at school.
New Preschoolers
New Elementary students
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