Dear 2017-2018 School Year,

Isaiah 63:7 says,

"I will recount the Lord's faithful acts;
I will sing the Lord's praises,
because of all the Lord did for us..."

This past week, our school's Director shared this verse with our staff. I immediately wrote it down, as a reminder to use it to start this blog post. 

As this school year draws to a close, I can't help but think of how faithful and incredible my God has been throughout this year. He has blessed my class, my students, and myself, immeasurably more than I ever could have imagined.

Back in November 2016, I shared a dream God had laid on my heart. This was a dream of starting a class for a group of incredible students at my school... 



The picture above shows the "Before" shot of my room. My room had originally been a meeting room and by the point we took this picture, it had been completely emptied out, ready to be transformed into the room it is today. When I look at this picture, I get a little misty eyed, thinking of just how far we've come. 

We started with literally nothing. But thanks to the incredible generosity of amazing men and women and children from almost literally all around the world, I was able to purchase all sorts of books, supplies, technology, and so much more. 

And thanks to the support and encouragement of my administration, I've been able to watch my class grow from the 3 students we started with in August to the 9 (yes, nine!) that I will have this coming school year.

So, now let's go back to the present.

The 2017-2018 school year is almost finished.

My students finished this past Friday and I'm required to work all this week.

So, I thought I'd write a "letter" of sorts to the 2017-2018 school year, as a way to recap the good, the not so good, the fun, and the blessings that it contained. If for no other reason, but to jog my memory into remembering the goodness of God...

Dear 2017-2018 School Year,

What a year you've been!

I so enjoyed decorating my classroom for you.

Sadly, you started off with an injury on the very first day of classes, which left me working one handed (leaving me using my non-dominant hand, at that). To say it made things difficult would be a major understatement. And actually... Still to this day, I have very little strength in that wrist. I can't lift/hold anything heavy. And I still have periodic pain in that wrist, as well.



But thankfully I can write and type and teach. So all's good.

Back to the positives :)

My students and I have had such a great time with you this year. Every time I walked in that blue door, I smiled, knowing just what it took to get there.

We learned all sorts of things this year.

 

We played games.

 

We made new friends.

 

We had parties.

 

We were silly.

 

 

And we were serious, too.

We went on a field trip.

We cooked and made all sorts of fun treats.

We "adopted" the preK class and did all sorts of fun things with them.



We celebrated this country we all call "home."

We read.

 

We wrote and researched and created.

 

We worked on bulletin boards.

We watched movies.



We participated in Olympics.

 

 

We did projects and conducted experiments

 

We received awards.

We had so much fun this year.



And we did so much this year.

And as I sit here, with literal tears in my eyes, I want to say...

THANK YOU 2017-2018 School Year.

Thank you for providing me with such an incredible answer to prayer.

Thank you for helping me see a dream come true. 

Thank you for blessing me with the gift of being Teacher to these kids.

Thank you for reminding me of God's incredible grace and love.

Thank you 2017-2018 School Year.

Thanks for being such an incredibly blessed and wonderful year.

Sincerely,

Me

May 2018 in Photos

Happy Friday Y'all

Today's the last day of school for students at my school.

I'm definitely going to miss my squirrelly crew this summer. 

But at the same time...

It's almost summer vacation for me, y'all!



I still have to be at work all next week, working on paperwork, and packing up my classroom since there'll be some construction happening in my room over the summer (PTL for bathroom access from my room!!!). So, I won't be just sitting at home, doing nothing all day. But that's okay. I'll be able to sleep 'til 7 every day if I want to. So it's basically like a party every morning just for that. Ha! :)

Anywho - back to the point of this post.

At the beginning of each month, I'll share the previous month's photos. I'm sharing, if for no other reason, to help me remember some memories and thoughts that went along with each of my 365 photos from the month at hand...

So here are May's photos.

Days 121 - 123

121) On Day 121, we had a Pancake Picnic.
122) Day 122 included a lesson on throwing sin away in Kids Club.
123) On Day 123, my crew made/erupted volcanoes.

Days 124 - 126

124) On Day 124, I reflected on how happy I am to work at Dakar Academy.
125) Day 125 included a Cinco de Mayo style feast.
126) Day 126 started off with a baptism service at the beach.

Days 127 - 130

127) On Day 127, I marveled at the beauty of the sky on my walk home.
128) On Day 128, I bravely wore white pants to work AND kept them clean all day too :)
129) On Day 129, I bought a car.
130) On Day 130, this guy asked if he could keep my flowers "safe" for me by holding them all morning :)

Days 131 - 133

131) Day 131 ended with a lesson outside at the picnic tables, since we were tired of being cooped up indoors.
132) Day 132 found me doing computer work outside because it was such a nice day.
133) On Day 133, receiving a book in his heart language of Arabic made this guy smile :)

Days 134 - 137

134) On Day 134, my crew enjoyed a movie as part of a reward in class.
135) On Day 135, I treated my crew to a yummy treat.
136) Day 136 included lots of fun smiles in Kids Club.

Days 137 - 139

137) Day 137 included the arrival of a new stamp on a card saying I was legal to stay here a few more years.
138) On Day 138, one friend suggested we plug in the Christmas lights. Christmas in May!
139) On Day 139, I got to enjoy my crew's Spring Concert.

Days 140 - 143

140) Day 140 included a game of Jenga with this girl.
141) On Day 141, my friend and neighbor had her Baking Club make a zillion or so cookies for my Kids Club.
142) Day 142 ended with pizza delivery and paper writing.
143) Day 143 saw me getting a couple new books in the mail.

Days 144 - 147

144) Day 144 found my crew doing research for their big End of Year Project.
145) On Day 145, I took a selfie.
146) Day 146 ended with ice cream in my favorite mug.
147) Day 147 ended with watching a fabulous Drama Presentation.

Days 148-151

148) Day 148 included water balloons.
149) Day 149 ended with a cup of peppermint tea and a lot of popcorn.
150) Day 150 was our last Kids Club of the school year.
151) Day 151 ended with my writing a letter to my students to find when they arrived the next day.

And that was my May.

And in case you missed them, here are the links to the previous months' photos.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL