Staff Blog

There have been lots of exciting things happening at Cebu Children of Hope School lately. 

Reading challenge finished recently and the winners took a trip to a local used bookstore and each got to choose a cool book.  All of the kids who participated in reading challenge are on a field trip today to the local library.

We have completed our first quarter of school and conferences finished up last week.  The teachers shared about each of the students in their class with the houseparents and select staff for three afternoons. It was great to hear so many fun stories and positive things that are happening in each classroom.  We have a wonderful group of dedicated teachers and it was exciting to spend time discussing the kids progress with them.

Three new students started this second quarter already and three more will be starting tomorrow.  This is an unique and awesome thing about Cebu Children of Hope School.  Kids can start school as soon as they are admitted to CSC.  Exciting!  Pray for our new kids and teachers as they adjust to their new school and classroom.

Keep checking back at our blogs to hear more stories and see more pictures of all the exciting happenings at CCHS!  United Nations Day is fast approaching in October!

Last Friday was September 11, a pretty regular day at our school.  American Studies, a class for the students who are matched with their adoptive families, was a bit pathetic because we were missing some members due to an outbreak of sore eyes, the Filipino version of pink eye.  Since the numbers were down and we had a shortened class period for an all-school event in the afternoon, I was trying to decide how to spend the class time with only two students.  Continuing with our study of famous Americans didn't seem like the best option.  Teacher Amanda suggested maybe we should talk about 9/11 since it was the anniversary of the attack and it is a significant event the kids should at least be aware of.  I took Amanda up on her suggestion.  I already had material related to the topic and decided to read a realistic fiction story describing the event through the eyes of a young boy whose uncle was a NYC firefighter.  

As we read the story I tried to fill in details and put the event in some sort of context for the girls.  They barely know where New York is located much less anything that has happened there.  I wasn't exactly sure how much they were actually comprehending because they were kind of quiet, but this was understandable considering the topic.  I plowed ahead.  After we read the story, which concluded with thoughts on heroism, I asked the girls if there was anyone they thought of as their heroes; someone they looked up to or had helped them in a significant way.  Without much hesitation one of the girls said,"the aunties and uncles" and the other one said, "my mom and dad."  

Well, I guess they got it.  It was a bit hard not to cry right there, so I smiled.   

The Reading Challenge is finishing up tomorrow!  The children have been reading, a lot.  Many of them leave school will a stack of books in their hands.  The total number of pages read is staggering.  Keep reading!

 Last Friday, August 28, was a happy day for everyone at CCHS.  It was the Buwan ng Wika Celebration, an all-day event focusing on Filipino language.  All the students as well as the teachers really had fun.

The Filipino games played in the morning gave every student a chance to participate and every team showed good teamwork.  The older kids helped the preschoolers even by carrying the little kids to get the tasks accomplished.  It was an amazing sight to see all members of each team working as one.

The afternoon activity was short, but sweet.  All the students’ presentations were really great!  Each presentation displayed the children’s and teachers’ great efforts.  

Mabuhay ang Wikang Filipino!

Recently, Children of Hope School emphasized nutrition along with the rest of the schools in the Philippines.  There are some many benefits to eating healthy foods.  The children learned many things from the basics of what foods are healthy to why some foods are good for you and some are bad for you. 

Enjoy this song from two of the students!