End of School and Beginning of Summer

This summer will be very full. I am working with the 7 HCJB Global summer interns. These are college students from all over the U.S. Four students will be working at the hospital, and three students will be working with Community Development and Water Projects.

They all arrived in country yesterday. That means I was at the airport from 7:30pm until 2:30am meeting the different students. (bad weather in Miami caused many delays) We will be in Quito until Sunday doing regular orientation stuff. On Sunday we will attend the English Speaking Church here in Quito and then we will be headed back to Shell!

I will also be working at the school library. We are trying to create a labeling system that will make it easier for the students to pick books that are on their reading level.

 Our last day of school was June 5. This meant saying goodbye to many close friends. Two of our teachers and the principal will not be returning next year. Several families have returned to their home countries (United States, Sweden and South Korea). Needless to say, the end of the school year was bittersweet. For the end of the program the students sang the school song, The Shell Song. I thought you might like to see the video with all the cute motions.

Nate Saint Memorial School Shell Song 2012-2013 from Jennifer Kendrick on Vimeo.

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!