Do you ever have those times at your job when you look around and you are simply amazed at all the wonderful things happening? When you see coworkers overcoming huge obstacles to continue to do their jobs with excellence? That is how I feel right now.
Amazed and thankful.
The teachers I have been fortunate enough to work with for the past three years are coming up on one year of being locked in at the shelter, one year of educating the CSC kids in the living rooms and offices scattered around the shelter. This is not easy but the teachers have not used this challenging time to complain or only give 50%. The opposite is true. These coworkers, my friends, have met this challenge with energy and dedication. They have helped me problem solve how to daily transform living rooms into classrooms and then back to living rooms, making sure that all the resources needed to help kids learn are present and mobile. They have supported each other when COVID or death has struck their family and they haven't been able to be present because of government restrictions.
They have thought of new ways to bring school lessons to life, enabling their students to understand concepts deeper through creative, hands on activities. As an example, last week our two third grade teachers worked together with their students to create the CCHS Mini Snack Bar. Their unit in math was on money and decimals. What better way to grasp these concepts than to run a little store for the day and interact with money in a real way?
Not only was this activity helpful for the third graders, but the other classes benefited by learning about money, making choices, practicing how to speak with confidence as they made their order, and understanding what you can buy with 5 or 10 pesos.
As schools all over the world are trying to decide how best to educate kids during this pandemic, be rest assured that the kids at CSC are continuing to make great gains and thriving largely in part to this amazing team of teachers. CSC is filled with these kinds of dedicated and knowledgeable people in every department!
Cooks Return to the Kitchen
Over the past three months, the afternoon cooks in both Cherne and Duterte homes have been recovering from surgery. Auntie Mayflor and Auntie Sonia each had an operation which required lots of rest and recovery. In their absence, other child care workers jumped in to cover the afternoon cook duties. Of course no meals were missed and tasty food was always on the tables.
Last week Auntie Sonia returned to work!
This week Auntie Mayflor also returned to work! It is good to have them back in their respective kitchens.
As Auntie Mayflor enter the shelter gate the children from the Cherne home were walking up to school. When they saw Auntie Mayflor, the line they were walking in suddenly morphed into a mob. The children ran shouting “Auntie Mayflor!” racing to hug her.
The aunties’ impact in the lives was on full display in the moment of Auntie Mayflor’s welcome back from the children.
Keep the all CSC employees in your prayers. They do everything for the children and their good health is essential.
Confessions of a Messy Eater
I like to eat.
I nibble on my feet.
I pray before I eat.
I don’t know how to feed myself yet,
So I depend on my auntie’s hand.
I open my mouth wide
And welcome my tasty food.
Blended, pureed, squashed,
Smashed and crushed.
The way I like it.
The way I want it.
I don’t usually look like this,
I know.
There’s something on my face.
I know food goes to my mouth,
Not on my cheeks or forehead or ears.
What’s the use of a bib
If I eat like this?
At the end of my meal time,
Burp says this tummy of mine.
Aah…
What a treat!
Volcanoes, Mountains, and Valleys
For the past few weeks, the preschool class has been learning about landforms. They now know how to identify mountains, valleys, hills, volcanoes, isthmuses, and islands.
They even sang a song during their morning meeting about landforms!
They topped off the unit by making their own models using play dough. Fun stuff!
He is risen, He is risen indeed!
It is Holy Week. This week is a meaningful time for Christians everywhere. In the Philippines, most stores and restaurants are closed on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and schools are not in session on those days either. Therefore, our school, Cebu Children of Hope, held it's Easter celebration on Wednesday. The event started with a reading of Scripture - recounting the events of Jesus' last days on Earth. Then there were games, crafts and praise and worship.
I was moved during the praise and worship, and as you can see below, I was not the only one! How blessed are we to be children of the Most High God! That He, being without blemish, laid His life down for ours when we needed it most, but were also the most undeserving.
May you and your families be blessed this Easter and remember God's goodness and Jesus' sacrifice.
Praise the Lord! He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Have Fun with Math and Science!
Science and Math Day is always fun for everyone at CCHS. It is a whole day affair full of interesting activities.
Recently, everyone had a lot of fun during the science and math culminating activity. In the morning, there was a math quiz bowl with the students grouped into teams. The students took turns answering math questions categorized by levels of difficulty: easy, average, and difficult. It was so cool to see the students think and analyze.
The afternoon events focused on topics the students had been learning about in their science classes. Different presentations were given by each of the science classes. The highlight was the demonstration from the Group 4 class about static electricity. Examples of static electricity were shown using balloons. The students were amazed with what they saw and discovered. It was super fun for everyone!