Staff Blog

Having conversations with my students helps them learn to interact with their peers and teachers. It has a great impact on their learning and ability to listen as well.

I started this year with just three kids in my classroom. Three kids who love conversation and enjoy sharing their thoughts. One afternoon, during Civics class, one of my students shared with me about one of the CSC aunties (child care workers).

Student 1: Teacher, our auntie just had a baby! (saying it excitedly)

Me: Wow, that's great! Do you know if the baby is a boy or a girl?

Student 1: I don't know.

Student 2: Teacher, I know where the baby comes out.

Me: Where?

Student 2: Here! (referring to his bottom)

Student 1: No Teacher! I heard that a baby comes out from your belly button.

Student 3: Teacher, I know where babies come out of, here in our back.

Student 1: (reacting with a shocked face) No, the baby can't come out of there!

Me: Why?

Student 1: Because our back has a lot of bones. The baby will get hurt!

I love teaching at Cebu Children of Hope School for many reasons. One of them is the creative minds these little children have. You never know what ideas they will share.

Child welfare types refer to children who become very close while in care at a place like CSC as "institutional siblings." They are not siblings by blood but by affinity. Many of our children experience that kind of relationship while living at CSC. For the younger ones, they don't understand the difference. Such was the case with little Jacob. He had four very good buddies in the Eicher Home nursery. They spent lots of time together eating and playing. They looked out for each other, fought like true siblings and were known to tattle on each other on occasion. 

Recently, Jacob was adopted by a great family from Europe. Shortly before Jacob's family came to get him, two of his pals got sick and had to be in isolation. Their ailment was very contagious. We worried that Jake, too, would get sick when he was supposed to travel but, thankfully, that didn't happen. But we felt bad that Jake wouldn't be able to say goodbye to his buddies. So Marlys came up with a plan. The infirmary caregivers brought the sick children outside to the bridge and Jake was able to look up, see them and say goodbye. The overhead kids shouted "bye-bye" and it was very touching. Certainly they didn't understand that he was going far away and they might never see him again.  But they knew something big was up. 

There is lots of love at CSC. Jacob experienced that from house parents, child care workers, staff and the other children. Now he will be feeling the love of a family. And a new sibling that will be his forever.

The official school year has begun at CSC! Teacher Lyrah, one of our dedicated and gifted teachers, shared about a science lesson she taught the other day:

Everyone was ready and calm as I stepped into the classroom. The students seemed very excited for the afternoon's discussion entitled "The Scientist and the Science tools."

I asked my students about the science tools and the brainstorming happened like this:

TEACHER: Can you still remember some of the science tools that you learned about last year in your class?

STUDENTS: Yes, Teacher Lyrah!

TEACHER: Tell me about one of those science tools.

STUDENT 1: Teacher, a hand lens.

STUDENT 2: How about a balance?

STUDENT 3: A measuring cup.

STUDENT 4: Thermometer!

TEACHER: WOW! You are really thinking about these tools. What are some others?

I called on one student who hadn't answered yet.

TEACHER: Okay, what is it?

He was very hesitant about his tool and just smiled again.

STUDENT 5: Teacher, how about a telecopter?

He was laughing so hard because he mentioned the tool in a different way. Everyone in the class was puzzled about his answer.

STUDENT 1: What do you mean a telecopter?

Student 5 laughed so hard and kept on saying the word telecopter.

STUDENT 5: (laughing) Teacher, what I mean is a telescope not a telecopter!

TEACHER: A telecopter? That word is a combination of a telescope and a helicopter. Isn't it?

He laughed and said: " Yes, teacher because we use a telescope to see the stars and other flying objects like helicopters."

Then I remembered the time last year when I showed them a telescope and we talked about how it worked.

Everyone in the classroom was amazed with his great new word invention!

Philippine American Friendship Day was celebrated at CSC with hot dogs, games, a parade and lots of fun. 

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.