New School Year

Hey Everyone! 

It has been a whirlwind of school stuff since the beginning of August! I am loving my job at Alliance Academy International. I am crazy busy, it being my first year at the school and all. However, I love the community at the school. My coworkers are great, and I feel supported to do my best.

I can't even tell you how great my class is. I have 17 kids in the class, and they are all super sweet. 

It is so great being able to teach fifth grade again. It is so fun teaching multiplication instead of Algebra II.

I mentioned to several of you guys that my prayer was that I would be able to work with high school girls in some way even though I would be a fifth-grade teacher. 

I am thrilled to tell you that God more than answered that prayer. I will be working in a program called Guardians. The basic gist of the program is that adults mentor the high school seniors and juniors called the Vanguard. The Vanguard mentors the 9th and 10th graders called apprentices. Together the vanguard and the Apprentices lead either middle school or 4th-6th grade small groups on Wednesday afternoons. The Vanguard and Apprentices have applied and we start meeting with them on Wednesday! Someday soon, I will have 1 or 2 vanguard students to mentor.

I have attached some pictures of my classroom below. These pictures were the day before Open House when I met all the parents of my students. 

Ecuador Year 6

Hey everyone!

I am all moved into my apartment, and I am adjusting slowly to the altitude. Quito is at over 9,000 ft. I wanted to post to let you know some good news and then let you know about a prayer request.

I officially found out that I will be teaching 5th grade next year! WooHoo! I am so excited for this next school year. I start orientation for new teachers on Monday, August 7th. I am sure that I will have much more to say about the school after I start meeting the other staff members. :)

I have an appointment to renew my Ecuadorian visa on Wednesday at 12:30pm. The process to renew visas has changed, and everyone is a little unsure about how to go about it. I ask that you pray for a smooth process from meeting up with the lawyer to getting the paperwork filed with the Ecuadorian government. If all goes as planned, the government will take my paperwork, payment, and passport, and return the passport to me in a couple months.

Oh! I almost forgot Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas)!!!!  We had our 2nd anual Christmas in July this weekend. It was a lot of fun from purchasing gifts to cooking Christmas snack food.

Thanks everyone for praying for me here in Quito!

Updates

Hey Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I posted anything.

I am having gall bladder removal surgery on Thursday. I have been feeling ill for about two months, but it took a while for a sure diagnosis. Then scheduling a date for the surgery took a little while as well. I will be heading to Quito for the surgery and will be there for at least 8 days for recovery. I should be back in Shell just in time for the last 2 1/2 weeks of school! Thanks for your prayers :)

In March, the NSMS school board made the decision to close the school due to extremely low projected enrollment for next year. The school has been serving missionary families for 51 years. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this ministry for the last five years.

I have accepted a position to teach upper elementary grades (4th-6th) at the Alliance Academy in Quito. (http://www.alliance.k12.ec) I do not have an exact grade level assignment yet.

• My missionary status with Reach Beyond will remain the same. I will still be a missionary teacher raising support. (In other words, I will not receive payment from this school either.)
• Alliance is an Preschool- 12th grade international school in the Quito, capital of Ecuador. The school has a mix of students. There are international business families who enroll their children in AAI. (There is also a small student boarding program associated with the school.) Other students are from affluent Ecuadorian families that want their children to receive a US based education and to learn English. There are also many missionaries in Quito that send their children to AAI.
• I will have a class size of about 25 students. (I am so excited to have a full class!) I will teach completely in English, but the majority of the students will be learning English as their second (or third) language.
• Many of the families associated with AAI are not Christ followers or even church attenders. However, because they want the high quality education that AAI provides, they sign a form that says they know that their children will be learning about Christ, salvation, and Christian values. I am thrilled with this new opportunity to be able to share Christ with parents and students alike.

I will be moving out of my apartment here in Shell and going to Quito at the beginning of June. I will be sharing an apartment with 3 other teachers from AAI. Living in Quito will be a huge adjustment. There are over 2,500,000 people living in Quito. (There are roughly 8,000 in Shell). I have felt so safe walking the streets of Shell these last 5 years. Quito will be a whole new ball game when it comes to security.

All in all, I am VERY excited about the changes, challenges, and new opportunities coming my way!