Monday, May 30, 2016

Saying See Ya Later to my Squirrels

Friday was the last day for students. 

So I thought it'd be fun to take a trip down Memory Lane...

On January 7, I wrote a post telling the story of how I came to decide on coming back to Dakar earlier than planned. In a matter of a week, I'd emailed back and forth with the elementary principal, spoke to the school director on the phone, put in my resignation letter at my school in the States, and made plans to finish out the remainder of January in order to get my ducks in a row there and not leave them in any more a bind than I already was doing. My last day at that school was January 29. I boarded a plane on Febuary 1st, landed in Senegal February 2nd, and started teaching this crew on February 3rd.

It's been a whirlwind, but I'm so glad that God knows what's best and has perfect timing/planning. I am so eternally grateful for the time I've had with this group of kids!

Now on to the memories :)

Remember my Introduction post? I'd taught 2 of these kiddos back in 1st grade. And then I knew a few of them from ESL testing or Kids Club. But a few were newbies to me.



We were only in school for 2 weeks when Valentine's Day arrived. And since I'd just got here, most of my crew thought I was all about parties. One guy even responded to a friend in another class, Man, this teacher is so cool! We'll have parties all the time! Ha!


Next up was Olympics, a day where we get to run and race, compete in all sorts of events, and play and have fun with all our friends. My hyper crew LOVED it!




It only took me a few days before I realized how squirrely my crew was and I thus dubbed them my "squirrels." Thankfully Amazon.com came to the rescue and I ordered Squirrely, the hyperactive squirrel to use as our class mascot :)


But you know, as squirrely as they were/are, this class was full of hardworking students. And they truly LOVED to read. In fact, they'd beg and beg to have "free" reading time...



And just for fun... Here are a few of the silly faces I got blessed with this year :)



In April, we took the Terra Nova Standardized Tests. These tests make for long, sometimes very difficult mornings. So I thought a daily reward for making it through was in order...


Something this whole crew agreed on was the awesomeness of a well-timed treat, whether it was lollipops from my mom sent in a box from America, cake after standardized tests, a taco lunch on the last day of school, or something else...


One of the highlights of our time together was when my kids showcased their love for another person in such a sweet way. They chose to work their little tails off, learning words to a story, a lesson, and a song in ASL so they could help put on our "Super Secret Sign Language Chapel" service for all parents, but one special parent in particular.


A few days before school ended the 3rd grade teacher and I took our kids on a field trip. We walked from the school to the zoo, did a scavenger hunt there at the zoo, and then walked to a little pond area of the park and had a picnic together, before walking back to the school. There's no way I could've done this field trip without the help of awesome chaperones and a certain mom/grandma team who helped me prep 40 picnic lunches! What a blessing those 2 ladies were! And the kids had a blast on the trip. So that made the stress of planning all worth it...seeing their sweet, happy faces! I loved it!


One of my kids' mom took my 2 favorite pictures of the field trip, though...


And finally, on this past Friday we finished up our time together with them as 4th graders, as marked by the traditional last day of school picture, including our mascot :)


I'm going to miss this squirrely crew this summer. But I only had to say See ya later to them, and not goodbye because thankfully, I'll be following them to 5th grade. 

So yay for no goodbyes since goodbyes stink.

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