Staff Blog

Words and words, pages and pages, books and books!  The Reading Challenge brought out the inner readers in all the students.  They stepped up and buried their noses in books.

Classmates competed against each other.  They worked hard, reading pages and pages.  At the end of August the class winners were announced.

Each class was rewarded for their hard work with a new book.  Teacher Cris’ class was so excited for the new book that they read it as soon as they got into their room.

The students learned a lot.  Most of all, many students found joy in books.  The number of pages will be forgotten, but the love of reading and learning will lead these students through life. 

The other day, I had the great pleasure of learning how to make pan de munay, a Filipino baked delicacy.  Jules, one of our Teen Home residents, recently completed a Bread and Pastry course.  He is a certified baker now!  Jules has long been interested in the Culinary Arts, but high school was long and difficult for him.  Even so, he never gave up on himself or his dream!  He graduated from high school this past April and he has been eager to pursue his desired field.  Since becoming certified, he is baking up a storm.  Each day trying something new!  Those at the Teen Home are blessed to eat his daily creations and I know, I am excited whenever I visit for the chance to taste one of his products.  For those of you interested in learning how pan de munay is made, check out Jules' step by step instructions in the pictures below.  He was a great teacher for me and he even let me roll a few of them!  :) 

1. Cut the dough

2. Roll it

3. Stretch it

4. Oil the pan

5. Cut the dough

6. Fill with sugar.  Yum!

7. Let rise

8. Bake, then let cool!

9. Enjoy!  (Truthfully, I had intended to take pictures after each bite, but I was overtaken by the warm, buttery, sugary goodness and instead just focused on eating it!)

Thanks for tuning in to baking with Jules!  Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to practice his skills and eventually looks for work as a baker.  He is a great guy and we are proud of him!

September brings new excitement for the youngest in the CSC family. Since arriving in Cebu a month ago I (Grace) have been hard at work creating a new toddler curriculum. The toddler program occurs each weekday and lasts for about an hour. This past week we officially had our kick-off and boy, did the kids have fun! 

The new toddler program is structured in a way that will be developmentally appropriate for the toddlers at CSC and will also help prepare them for preschool. Each week of the program is structured around a theme that will not only provide learning experiences, but fun as well! This week the toddlers had a blast learning about circles through activities and songs about bubbles and balls. 

Right now we have a group of about 11 toddlers who are full of energy, laughter and curiosity. Each morning we gather together in one of the three homes and start with a morning meeting. The toddlers are learning recognition and routine through their personalized seat mats (mats with pictures of their faces on them). The first day the kids were so excited about the pictures that they could hardly sit on them. By the end of the first week the children were starting to understand the routine and would either sit on their mats or hold them in their laps. During the meeting we do things like working on name recognition, reading books and singing songs. So far, the favorite part of morning meeting is the singing. Thanks to our wonderful aunties the children of CSC start to appreciate and love music at an early age. 

Other activities we have been doing this week are bubble blowing, bubble snakes, a ball pit and soccer. It has been such a joy to see the toddlers already making discoveries and having fun exploring the materials provided for them. To get a better idea of what the toddler program is like, take a look at these photos I took as well as a video created by Joel Reasoner!

Video: Toddler Time with Auntie Grace

August is Buwan ng Wika (Language Month) in schools throughout the Philippines and each school puts on activities at the end of the month.  The theme this year was Filipino: Wika ng Pagkakaisa or Filipino: Unity in Language.  We had our activities at school on August 22 and the day was filled with fun, games, language riddles and Filipino food.

Since I am new this year, Buwan ng Wika was my first all day school activity. In the morning, we had indoor activities like bugtongan (riddles in Filipino) and groups presented cheers in Filipino. We had a lot of fun thinking of cheers using the Filipino dialect.  It was hard because our first language is Cebuano, not Filipino.  After the activities inside the school, we went down to the shelter to have a snack and continue playing Filipino games. Some of the games were jack em' poy (rock, scissors, paper), takyan (a kind of home-made hacky sack), rubber band throwing, and a cat and dog tag game. After a lunch of Filipino food, we returned to school for student and teacher presentations. Some groups performed dances with costumes and props while others did a skit.

The students' faces showed their enjoyment throughout the day.  I also enjoyed the activities not only because of the fun games, but because of the bonding and fellowship we shared with the kids and teachers. I'm looking forward for more fun and exciting activities!

Last week Laura came to visit us at school.  Laura taught at our school for six years as an instructional assistant, working mainly with preschoolers and individual students in one-on-one tutoring sessions.  Laura is a lady with a story to tell, a powerful story of transformation. 

When Laura first started at CCHS, she was shy and new to the world of teaching.  She gained confidence with experience and the encouragement of her colleagues.  Laura was a also a seeker, intrigued by the message of God as her personal saviour.  She asked a lot of questions and eventually sought to have Christ as the guiding force in her life.  This desire transformed Laura giving her new purpose and a confidence she had not had before. 

Serious trouble arose in February of 2012 when Laura was diagnosed with cancer.  She had surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possble, but she was also frightened of chemotherapy, so she chose to try alternative therapies in an attempt to arrest the spread of the disease.  When these therapies were not successful and she was again faced with the decision to try chemotherapy, Laura realized her fear of chemotherapy had been the driving force of her decisions rather than her faith in God's promises.

Laura decided to have chemotherapy and she is feeling better, but she is not cancer free.  However, Laura is the first to tell others the promises of God are true and right.  She is firm in her belief God will give her the strength she needs each day.  She is bold and confident.  She loves to tell her story of God's transforming power in her life, come what may.