Because I know that God is in control, I know it's not surprising or ironic, but I came home after Bible study last night and found both an email and a voicemail from a principal interested in interviewing me... In fact, I knew this man 10-15 years ago when he taught at Locust Fork, so I still say it's all in who you know.
And now I have an interview on Monday, May 21st at 2:00.
I'm thankful that I have two weeks to prepare and to form my list of questions as well.
The school is in an area of Birmingham that I'm unfamiliar with, and it is part of the Jefferson County School System. After working in Shelby County and simply assuming I would return there, this opportunity has caught me off guard a bit.
However, I remember when I received a voicemail asking me to come interview for the job at Vincent during the summer of 2007. Megan and I were laying out at the pool at our apartment, and she basically had to convince me that I should call them back. I had never heard of the school and had very little interest in moving my life so far out in that direction. Yet, I know God wanted me there all along. Perhaps this could work in the same way... I guess time will tell.
It feels nice to be wanted, and I like the idea of being in the Birmingham area for friends and my church while actually heading back a little closer to my family.
After today, I feel as though my fifth grade experience has been made complete. Why? Because after all these months, we finally broke out the paint. The strong and distinct odor of tempera paint filled my classroom this afternoon as my students took turns painting cereal boxes (and apparently their clothes) for a reading project. They are actually turning these boxes into a creative form of a book report, and I'm excited to see how they turn out. If nothing else, I think they enjoyed doing a little work for once - or maybe they just didn't realize it was work.
I guess due in part to the tropical storm and the massive amounts of rain that have fallen in Honduras lately, the flying insect population seems to have multiplied exponentially. We are swatting flies while we teach, and many of us are walking around with bug bites dotting our arms and legs. I am tempted to start applying a coat of bug spray as a part of my daily routine: deoderant, brush teeth, bug spray... I also know of teachers who have begun to carry anti-itch cream with them at all times. Welcome to Honduras. :)
Tomorrow is Kirsten's (my teammate in 5th grade) last day of teaching... I am so proud of her for hanging in there through what I would call one of the worst first years of teaching imaginable. Her class has shown a lot of defiance, disrespect, and rudeness all year, and I am very impressed by her strength and courage as she has not given up.
I have two and a half teaching days left...
Ready or not, here they come!
This weekend is going to be extremely full as a group of us travel to a lake a few hours away to stay in a hotel and explore and even visit some waterfall. I am very excited to have one last adventure with Twana before she leaves the country on Sunday. Perhaps I'll come back with one last set of crazy pictures to document this journey.
The infamous Pablo is having another (and supposedly the final) surgery on his ear next week. Then he says he'll spend his summer sitting around because of the recovery. I imagine that could mean lots of facebook messages from him to "the Miss", but I told him it sounded to me like the perfect opportunity for some intense math tutoring! :)
As of right now, and it should not change, all of my students are passing. I'm very surprised by this, especially in the case of one kid in particular. It's hard to know that he wasn't ready for 4th or 5th grades, and that there is no way he's ready for 6th grade, but with the help of his parents on all homework, and with some school survival skills and test-taking strategies, he has once again squeaked by. I just think it's unfortunate when parents are blinded by pride to think that their son must continue on with his class when he could really benefit from a year of maturity and review...
A year under the Honduran sun have brought out more freckles than I ever thought possible. Perhaps, after this year, it is time to become a dainty southern belle who constantly seeks shade.
Time to read Proverbs (our latest endeavor in the Bible reading plan) and hopefully go to sleep. I think I've been sleepy for a couple of weeks now. I'm not sure that I'll ever catch up. :)
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