The school year is officially over and I have completed my first year of teaching! The year has gone by quickly in so many ways and I am eager to reflect on this past year. But first, I would like to fill you in on things that have been happening since the last time I posted...which is a lot!
The last couple weeks of school were exciting and full of activity as I brought units to a close and worked on finishing the school year well. We had many moments of celebrating the end of Second Grade (and my first year of teaching!) with Water Fun Day, Elementary Pool Day, and a Pizza Party!
WATER FUN DAY
One of the things I love most about Sahel Academy, is the ability that we have as a K-12 school to combine the Secondary and Elementary activities. The High School and Middle School students make great role models for the little ones, who absolutely adore the older kids. For example, every Thursday is "Buddy Day," in which secondary students are partnered with elementary kids for lunch time and activities. It is so neat to see the mentoring process and precious interactions among the different age groups.
The Secondary students on Student Council put together a wonderful afternoon of wet fun for K-5 with Water Fun Day! This included water guns, slip and slides, sprinklers, water balloons, sponge wars, wet t-shirt races, and lots of wet games. Of course, I could not get away without being kindly attacked with wet hugs from my students! To finish the fun, there were frozen treats for everyone.
ELEMENTARY POOL DAY
Every year, Coach Winsor takes the Elementary students swimming to celebrate the end of the year. K-5 spends the morning cooling off at the pool. With a kiddie pool, diving board, and high dive, the students had a wonderful time! I enjoyed being in a different setting with my students, able to watching those who did not know how to swim brave the water. And I was surprised to see the number of students who lined up for the high dive! Of course, my class wanted to see me jump, so I stood in line, knees shaking. Getting to the top was easy, but standing roughly 25 feet above the water and actually jumping was another feat. But don't worry, the entire Elementary cheered me on, "Miss Knox! Miss Knox!" as I prepared to jump! And of course, Coach mesmerized the crowd with his back flips and fancy dives off of the high dive!
PIZZA PARTY!
On the last Monday of school, students and their parents brought pizzas for a party! Staff provided cookies and school paid for drinks. It was a lovely way to end the year. The next day was a Teacher Work Day so that we could finish getting grades in (you'd think I would learn by now to have grades in a bit sooner...) and Wednesday was the Closing Assembly. Many awards were given out during the assembly and we worshiped together as an entire school (I loved that part :)). We also said goodbye and prayed for the many teachers that were leaving. This community generally dreads the month of June, as it marks many farewells for staff and students alike.
GRADUATION!
What an honor and privilege to be apart of the senior class's celebrations at the end of this year. On Tuesday, June 2nd, staff, families, juniors, and seniors attended the Senior banquet. Parents had a chance to share something about their child and the juniors put together a comical presentation about each senior graduating. On Thursday, a ceremony was held outside in the courtyard. Each senior put together a small speech and afterwards we had cupcakes and punch!
MORE WORK
After school officially ended, the work was not yet done for teachers. We kept busy closing up our classrooms, cleaning and organizing. Everyone pitched in to help empty lockers and move furniture. One of the adventures of teaching at Sahel is working with the space that we have. Due to lack of staff for next year, a couple rooms had to be switched. The first grade teacher graciously agreed to teach first and second grade next year so that I can cover for the fourth grade teacher who is leaving for home assignment. The classroom that I was in this past year as a 2nd grade teacher is now the Kindergarten room and all of the 2nd grade things had to be moved to the 1st grade room. So there was a lot of shuffling, but many hands makes the work light. I am looking forward to the teaching the students that I will have for 4th grade next year. And of course, I am eager to learn and become a better teacher.
MOVING
Another adventurous part of my life lately has been my living situation. The house I lived in this past year belonged to the previous director of Sahel and his family. They left quickly last year and returned at the end of this school year to sell their things. So I moved out June 6th into another small house on campus. I lived out of boxes for about a week until I was able to move into my new house on a neighboring campus! I have now lived there for about a week and it is beginning to feel like home already. My new housemate and friend recently moved in and before school starts we will welcome our third housemate. The campus that I now live on is just a 5 minute walk from the school, which is both convenient and nice to be able to separate work and play. I have already made friends with the guards at the gate as I walk between the two properties, greeting each other in both French and Zarma. Of course, that's about all I know, but I hope to learn more soon!
GETTING MY HAIR DID
Before my friend Abby left, she wanted to get her hair braided with extensions. So of course, I did it with her! We arranged it with a couple girls I met at church and through SIM Education. We had been warned beforehand of what an incredibly time-consuming undertaking this was, so we set aside an entire afternoon and evening. And it's a good thing we did! All together, the braiding took 7 hours! But what fun we had as we sat, fingers pinching hair, pulling scalp. Extra hair danced on the ground around us as the fans cooled the room. In my broken French and their broken English we managed to have conversation (Abby honestly did a lot of translating!). Our friend Miriam came over to hang out and take pictures. Sitting for that long was kind of tiring, but it also felt nice to have an excuse to not do anything. The end of the school year was very busy and getting our hair done was the perfect excuse to relax. We celebrated with hugs and cheers when the last braids were done! You are probably wondering...what is it like to have such long extensions? Great question. It's heavy, itchy, and kind of like having a dead animal on your head. The first night was the hardest because falling asleep on a bunch of rope-like braids was pretty uncomfortable. But since then, I have discovered more convenient ways of doing my hair, making it much easier to manage. Unfortunately, all of this fake hair holds moisture quite well, making swimming and showering a bit cumbersome. But I don't regret it one bit and I'm so grateful for the experience!
Well, there is always more updating to do. But that's enough for now. Thank you for your continued prayers as I stay here this summer. I am looking forward to welcoming my parents in August. Please pray for them as they continue to prepare for departure! Praising God for His faithfulness!!
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33
