Field Trip

Here are some pictures from our recent fieldtrip with 7th-10th grades. We went to a city named Xela, visited the museum, theater and central park there. We also went to a theme park called Xetulul and we went to an Auto Safari (where you drive around and see wild animals. A good time was had by all!

Field Trip

Play Day!

Hey everyone! Last Friday we took the kids in grades Pre-K through 1st to a farm to play games. A good time was had by all!

Newsletter February 27, 2007

Hello everyone! I hope that all my New York friends are surviving the snow storms without too much trouble. I can’t say I miss the snow. :)

A New Year, A New Name

This year our school has decided to adopt a new name, “Colegio Mesón,” which coincides with the name of the overall ministry, Inn Ministries (Ministerios Mesón in Spanish). We have welcomed several new teachers and many new students. We are grateful to be able to expand our facilities to accommodate the increase in students. A new classroom has been built for Pre-Kinder and the wall between the old Pre-K and Kindergarten classes has been taken out to make one larger kindergarten room. New bathrooms are also being constructed.

Progress on the Well

We are praying that we will soon have a new well. The well that was drilled last year was ruined and the organization that arranged for it to be drilled made arrangements for a new contractor to come and drill a well. We are now in the middle of dry season and the need for water at the school is great, as there is very little rain and the old well is dry. Currently we have water delivered and the water is turned on at limited times during the day.

English Department Staff

This year we are blessed to have another full time English teacher working with us. Her name is Sarah McCracken, from Louisiana and she has committed to teach for the full year. Last year we had to switch some of our classes between several volunteers who came for several weeks or months and it was hard on the students to have to change students, so I am very thankful for the help. We also have Tina Schremmer who is teaching English to Pre-K and Kinder again this year. Sarah teaches 4^th to 9^th grade and I teach Preparatoria to 3^rd grade, and 10^th and 11^th grade. I am also excited to have the opportunity to be the guide teacher for the 10^th grade class this year.

Teacher Devotions

The spiritual development and discipleship of our teaching staff is an important component of our school ministry. This year to facilitate the goal of spiritual focus among staff, we have added teacher devotions before the start of the school day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. As always, we continue to have devotions with the students on Monday and Friday mornings during first period. It has been a great blessing to start the day praising the Lord with the other teachers and listening to the encouraging messages that the director, Carlos Maas, shares with us.

Leadership Training for Teachers

Last week our school hosted a leadership workshop for teachers and there were over 60 teachers in attendance, from our school and several schools in the community. The leadership workshop is based on a class called “A Million Leaders Around You” and will be continued monthly throughout the year. It is a bible-based workshop which encourages people to use their talents and influence to invest in the lives of others. I am looking forward to going to the next session. I liked how the speakers focused on how the concepts can be applied by teachers in relation to their co-workers, students and parents of their students.

In conclusion…

This year I have been reminded how great the needs of so many of our students are and the opportunity I have each day to show God’s love to them. I have seen how several of my students come to school carrying the burden of problems at home. We have been talking in our teachers meetings how many students come to school with an empty “love tank,” looking to be filled. I have been trying to remember this each day and take the extra effort to show love to the students in small ways, with a smile, a kind word, correcting them with patience, or even by praying with them when they feel sick or sad.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support!