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. 

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.  

Last March the National Achievement Test (NAT) for Grade 6 was administered by the Department of Education.  This is a nation-wide test given to all students in their last year of elementary school.  This was the first time we had any of our students take the national test because we had been exempt from taking it in the past.  The rules changed recently so we had two students who qualified to take the test.  To be honest, we did not have a good feeling about what the results would be because of a planning glitch in the Department of Education.  We had not been informed of the exact day the test was going to be administered, so we had to scramble the day of the test. 

The results of the test did not come out until about 6 months after they were taken.   Cris Tabra, the principal of our school, was attending a private school administrators meeting a couple of weeks ago and she noticed one attendee looking at a print out of the results of the NAT.  She started looking at the back of the list of results for private schools in Cebu City.  When Cebu Children of Hope School did not appear on the back couple of pages, she kept turning forward to the first page.  There was the name of our school third on the list!  Our students had done well enough to rank third out of 98 private schools in the city.  Wow!

The girls were excited they had done so well.  Their efforts at school paid off in a big way.  The teachers might have been even more proud and excited than the girls.  What a great encouragement for all.  As teachers we are thankful for the children's achievement.  We are also very thankful for the reading and math curriculums we use.  Both programs expose the children to a broad knowledge base and prepare them to think critically.  Thank you for being a part of Cebu Children of Hope School, praying for the students and staff as we gather each day to learn and grow. 

Our Third Place Girls!

When I first came to CCHS, it was for my interview with the principal and the consultant. I was so nervous because it was my first time to be interviewed. I prayed and tried to be optimistic no matter what happened. My prayer was granted.

I am now part of the CCHS faculty. The people at CCHS are so great because they make me feel comfortable. I have learned a lot of new things from them. I am so thankful that I have been able to meet happy people. Everything happens for a reason.

The students are so energetic. Each child has his own unique personality and skills. Every afternoon the kids bring flowers they have picked for the teachers. How sweet these students are! Every time the school has a special event, they are excited for the games, activities and especially the snacks. They participate and enjoy the activity.  It’s More Fun at CCHS!

-Rhasie Gantuangco, Instructional Assistant