Dance Practice and Graduation

June 23 - 25, 2011

What better thing to do in the morning than watch little kids try their very hardest to practice these crazy cute dances they've been learning!

I'm pretty sure this is Peggy's baby, soooooooo cute!!!!!

Lien also getting some last min. pic.'s in!

Awe, Wade ;)

The theme was "Around the World" and the costumes, were so great!

And now comes the montage of Graduation Day and me posing with some kids I taught (or who thought I taught them ;)

Where's Katy 

You gotta love the hair! 

I was later found to be the only one in the area who had access to red lipstick and was designated lipstick artist for these lovely senoritas in red! 

Ok, now comes story time. Once upon a time I asked if my class needed to prepare a skit/dance/song for graduation, the powers that be (Frances, and upper secretaries) said, "No." So I went on my way with fun lesson plans and other joys of teaching. Then,the Monday before graduation, TIC struck. "Katy, what is your BR class doing for graduation?" Right, think fast Katy. "What would you like us to do? A song a poem? A . . ." "Do a poem." "Ok." We spent the entire week learning a cute poem called, Isabel Met an Enormous Bear and even added some movements and gestures. Then Jimmy said he couldn't go. Well, when you have a class of 4 that's a bit of problem, but we adjusted. Of course, that wasn't all. Winnie informed us on Wednesday that she couldn't go either, but now Jimmy could go. Adjust, adjust, adjust. They got that poem down really well, and then came the day of graduation. Jerry didn't show up . . . I was confident that it would still work, but Frances decided to nix it. Needless to say I was a bit perturbed! So guess what, in the middle of the other performances, Jerry shows up, and then we were back on! Still not done. They had practiced all these gestures without mics so what does the stage-secretary shove into there hands as they walk on stage? Microphones . . . but I digress, the performance was cute, they did really well and adjusted better than most! I was proud of them!

Can you guess who the two bears were and who Isabel was?

Allison standing in as a parent for Shayla, cute!

Don't they look so thrilled to be graduating? ;)

Honestly, I don't think the younger ones knew what was really going on!

The older kids were graduating into the writing classes, and the younger kids were graduating into the elementary classes.


Last semi-group photo
(Allison was visiting a student for the last time)

Nathan, Gerald, Shauntelle, Katy, Destiny, Betsy, Lien, Jenny, Kiri, and Kailey 
(I don't know who the child is . . . )

Last Week of Classes :..(

June 22 - 28, 2011

She is just hun ka ai! (so cute!) 

And I'm just . . . well . . . 

My last week of classes with the KE students (not including the last 2 days which were of the next week). We learned how to use a camera ;)

A couple of these were taken by the students.

Progression of student learning (give it about 2 years)

"Tur . . . Wae!"

to

"I want take pitur . . . Wade!"

to

"May I please take a picture of Wade?"

KE 2

If you look at this picture full sized you might understand the constant motion of the baby KE class ;)

KE 1 

KE 5 

My basic reading class's last day was Monday the 27th. I don't remember what we did that day . . . maybe we slept ;)

Monday was also the last day of my 4a class. We had a couple upper grade competitions at the end of the semester. In the pic you can see that two of my students tied for 1st, and one got 2nd in the speech contest, and as a class we won the Berhan Olympics! Yep, we basically rocked!!!

We finally got his face on camera!!! 

The last days for my writing classes were Wednesday the 22nd, and Friday the 24th.

They were such fun classes, getting to know the students by just chatting and on another level by reading the crazy creative stories they would come up with. (M&M love stories and bazaar friendship dilemmas!)

"Will you take a picture?" 

Love her!

I really wanted to go home, but I really, really wished I could have stayed at the same time! Some day in the next few years I will go back for a visit. Do you think they will remember me? Well, we'll see, but even if they don't, I'll remember we had fun!!! ;) 

Jai Oh Ni Men!!!!!