February Fun!

February seems so far away, but I realized I never posted some of the pictures I have from some fun actives from February.

Carnival: Here in Ecuador, there is a holiday celebrated the weekend before Lent called Carnival. Although I am sure there is more to the holiday, people enjoy throwing water (and other not so fun material like oil based paint, eggs, flour, and anything else you could think of) on friends and strangers as well. Each year the school has a 1/2 celebration before a long weekend holiday. I personally think it is the best day of the school year. The day always includes fun water games for the students, and it ends with an all out water war. (Yes, students get to douse their teachers- and vice-versa!)

Lauren's Birthday/Valentines Day: Lauren's (my roommate) birthday was on the 13th so we decided to take both of our classes to the popular restaurant in town for dinner. On Valentine's night, we babysat for friends so they could go out to dinner.

Who can push the ping pong ball across the court with the squirt bottle fastest?

No the're not competitive at all :)

Getting instructions for the next group game.

Large, water version of capture the flag
notice Olivia's (girl in the green shirt) face as she runs back to her home base. 

One of the games involved throwing water balloons at your teacher! Thats me cowering as the water balloon came  hurdling towards me.

Group Picture  (We noticed the principal had somehow remained dry throughout the water war. )

Because we were Nanki's dates for Valentines, he brought us both flowers and a card.

January in Review- Graduate School, Mismatched Day and More!

January was an extremely busy month. For one thing, I started back to school at the end of the month. I am getting my master's degree online. It is a year long program, so it is a LOT of work. However, I know that it will be worth it in the end. We had mismatched day and it was very fun and the kids loved it. I have to admit I was really excited as well. Last semester I started a Bible study at my house for girls in 4th- 6th grade. I have really enjoyed studying I John with these girls every week.

All my books for school. This only gets me through June. My carry-on suitcase weight 56lbs because of the books.

Bible Study Girls

And of course we had to take a silly shot!

 Enjoy the photos of mismatched day!

The 5th and 6th grade class in all their mismatched glory. (1 of my students was absent that day)

Back to School

Christmas Vacation was very relaxing and enjoyable. I was able to spend time with my family and I could not have enjoyed it more. However, I have to admit that I was excited to start back to school. I think that the kids were excited as well!

Great News: New Computers for NSMS

Great News:

The new computers are here!!! We are so excited to announce that we now have new computers. Now we have a computer lab with 10 working computers.

The kids were so excited to use the computers. They each have their own username and passwords. (They were all excited to create their own passwords.)

As you can see, we are still waiting on the chairs to be made and be delivered, but doesn't the lab look great!

Now we just have to figure out what to do with the few working dinosaurs that the school has.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this dream a reality for the school. 

Art Show

During the month of April both the older and younger art classes  focused different styles of art. At the end of the month we had an art show Friday. The kids each worked hard on their art project over the month and then displayed the art projects. The students and teachers voted on their favorite projects. I thought you might like to see some of the projects.

1st Place
Art  by  a 13 year old

2nd Place
Art by a 9 year old

2nd grader worked on making doll clothes 

2nd grader worked on
 art about the Fruit of the Spirit

1st grader and her birds

1st grade drawing about the beach

Pink Panther in Shell

Rainbow  Explosion 

We even had some students create
3D art like this wind chime made
out of supplies found in the
 junk pile behind the hospital.

7th grade Mountain View

So Proud of my 1st and 2nd Graders!!

On Monday, during chapel my 1st and 2nd graders quoted Psalm 34 (22 verses) from memory. I was so proud of them. They were so excited and they did such a beautiful job. I recorded just for you guys :)

Psalm 34 1st and 2nd Grade (2) from Jennifer Kendrick on Vimeo.

School Pictures

A wonderful family here in Shell does the school's pictures every year. They do a wonderful job.

My 1st and 2nd grade class

School wide photo

And of course our serious photo

 We have testing next week so it should prove to be an interesting week.

Character Day

During the month of March, we had a Read-A-Thon. This was actually a lot of fun, and it was great to see the kids reading more and excited about the books they were finishing. The last day before Spring Break we had a fun Character Day. Each student (and teacher) came dressed as a favorite character. Everyone really got into it and there were a lot of great costumes.

I was Elizabeth from the Paper Bag Princess. If you have not read this children's book, it is about a princess who realizes that she doesn't need a prince to save her and tells the prince that although he has pretty hair and clothes, he is really just a bum.

Teachers on Character Day

All of the students and teachers dressed up in their costumes.

My Class- Junie B Jones, King Josiah from the Bible, Tiger from Winnie the Pooh, and Lucy from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Nate Saint Memorial School Song Video

We have a song that we sing at the school. We love to sing it for visitors because it talks about life in Shell. Well, the 5th-8th grade classes made a video of a special version of this song. It is hilarious, and I thought you guys might enjoy it.

Just think: If you come and visit us, we will sing this song for you in person. It even has motions :)

Nate Saint Memorial S Mar10 1038am from Jennifer Kendrick on Vimeo.

January and February 2013

Wow! I can't believe that I it has been so long since I have last posted. There has been so much going on here.

Short Update:
January
*School started back up

Mismatch Day

More Mismatch Day

My 1st and 2nd graders got to throw balls
 through the hoop for water balloons
 to be popped over my head. That water was so COLD.

February

We had a water games day that ended
 with a HUGE water fight.

Shari (5th-6th grade teacher) and I had the older
 students over for  nachos and a movie!

*The 3rd and 4th grade teacher had to return to the states. A parent volunteered to teach in the morning, but she is not able to teach in the afternoon. So now in the afternoon, I teach 1-4 grade science and social studies. Its one big class and we are doing the 3rd grade curriculum. It has been a challenge but over all I think that it is going very well.

We had a crazy hair Friday. Isn't Shari's hair just the best :)

These two are brother and sister. He has some of her hair as a mustache.

Evening of Thanks

This Friday evening we had a Thanksgiving program at the school. Each class had a special to time to perform. My first and second graders have spent a little over a month learning about the Pilgrims and their journey to the new land. We made a special portfolio project with everything we learned.

On Friday, my students held their portfolios while they shared their favorite part that we learned. Then they sang the Pilgrim Song. They were adorable. Each of them had a solo and they did such a wonderful job. I couldn't resist taking a video of  it and sharing it with you guys.

God has me HERE

As many of you know, my grandfather, Billy McCarty passed away this week. He has been ill for a very long time, and we know that he is with God now. However, as humans, his surviving family (wife, kids, grand-kids and great grand-kids) still miss him.

It has been hard being so far from my family during this time. I would give anything to be able to be there to hug my grandma and comfort her during this time.

However, God has made it very clear to me through this difficult time that I am where I am supposed to be. Although this knowledge does not take away all of the pain, it does bring me comfort in the fact that God has me where he wants me. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I thank God for the man my grandfather was. He loved his family and his country and was confident in his Savior. I am grateful for the christian heritage that he passed down to our family.

On a much lighter note:

Aren't they just the cutest?!?

For our Bible verses at school the 1st and 2nd graders have been memorizing Psalms 34. The writer of Psalms 34:4 tells us about how he called for God and how God delivered him from all of his fears. My little first grade boy came to school on Monday and told me that he sometimes has bad dreams and wakes up and calls for his mom. However, he told me that Sunday night instead of calling for his mom, he remembered the verse about being delivered from our fears. He prayed to God instead and went back to sleep.

How cool is that!! My little first grader seeing God working in his life. I love that I have the opportunity to teach these children about God.

Thank you guys for your prayers!