A Couple of Confessions and The First Days of School

Confession #1

Once upon a time in a land that is now far away, Willard’s brother, Steve, and his wife gave him an alarm clock for Christmas. Willard LOVES this clock because it shows the time on the ceiling. And because it has a battery back-up, it seemed like a smart idea to bring it with us. It turns out this is pretty smart because the electricity goes out here frequently. In fact it has gone out three times in the last week, anywhere from a few hours to a little over a day. On the first outage we went to bed happily knowing I could still get up in time for work. We were thrilled when the alarm clock rang and we realized the power had come back. I was tired but got myself ready and we were out the door. We drove ten minutes down the road oblivious to the fact that it was pitch dark; there was no sign of the sun beginning to merge anywhere. We get to Kathy’s and get ready to knock on her door when we realize there are no lights on in her place. Willard looks at his watch and it’s off; he asks me what mine says. I tell him mine was wrong by several hours and I had reset it before A Couple of Confessions and The First Days of School

I left. He thinks about this for a minute and decides we better go back home and check the computer for the time. It turns out that our lovely alarm clock sets itself back to its original time zone when the power comes back. The watches that said 1:00 a.m. were correct after all. It was a loooong day!

Confession #2

Last Sunday we went to Enemanit, a small island that is part of our atoll. The families that have property rights there have turned the beach into a park for picnicking and playing. The snorkeling is marvelous. One of the families has a vested interest in our school because one of the elders is a founding member and because several of their children attend Co-op. So annually, they generously invite our staff to come. They take us by boat, roast a pig on a spit, and let us enjoy a potluck, snorkel, and relax. We had a lovely time.

We had been told we could bring Mischief and I was happy because she had been crated quite a bit with all of the things we had been doing the week before. At the picnic she turned out to be a handful because there are pigs and chickens running all over the place and she wanted to chase them all. We were constantly yanking her back to us. Late in the afternoon it was time to go and we had everything packed and the dog in tow. As we made our way back to the boat we passed a volleyball game. Kids, adults, everyone was having a great time playing the game, and we stopped to watch the fun. Mischief was trying to run to and fro and I figured out that she was chasing the ball from side to side. It seemed harmless since we were on the sidelines, plus I thought it would wear her out for the boat and car rides home. So I gave her some length on her rope and everyone was entertained by the crazy dog that was running back and forth, back and forth. That was, until the ball was knocked out of bounds and Mischief was on it. She grabbed that ball and killed it for good. At first everyone was laughing hysterically until they all realized that she really had killed their ball. Then no one was laughing and I was mortified. The game was over, the net came down and we quickly got on the boat and came home. Needless to say, Willard went out and bought a new ball. What a way to introduce myself to them as their new principal.  I am glad they are a forgiving people! Mischief is now infamous and nobody asks anymore why she has her name!

On a side note, there were several other dogs on the island that were not leashed. They too, were interested in the pigs and chickens. At one point a black lab got too close to a sow’s piglets and the chase was on. I didn’t know a pig could move that fast!

The First Days of School

The first day at Co-op was a half day and went pretty smoothly. Students came back ready to go in their red shirts. The preschool children were adorable, but their teacher did Facebook that there were a lot of tears that day! The middle and high school students spent all morning in their homeroom classes doing the student handbook routine. At 9:00 we all broke for an “assembly.” The students all lined up outside according to their grades. Announcements were made and staff were introduced. Our music teacher, Yoora, played the electronic keyboard and everyone sang the national anthem. Then they went back to class until lunch. Lunch was served and they all went home.

It wasn’t until the second day that I actually taught class, because I don’t have homeroom responsibilities. I have 8 students in my Algebra 2 class and 13 in my College Seminar Class (not everyone has this sweet class-count, there are 26 students in Geometry and 23 in Algebra 1). But the amazing part of teaching was that they were all there ready to learn on the first day! They were not surprised and there were no complaints when books were passed out and 30 math problems were assigned. Their work was carefully written and during work time not one student had to be asked to get on task. You can hear a pin drop. I about died when one student had a cell phone out but it turned out he needs it for his electronic dictionary because he doesn’t speak or read English well. And it’s not just my classes – the geometry teacher said the same thing. We almost didn’t know what to do with all of that focus and learning! It was my favorite part of the day. After that it was back to trying to iron out a master schedule. The school is too small for much flexibility, but yet we need to find it because we have several transfer students who have not been on our small inflexible plan. There has been a lot of problem-solving and untangling of messes. It’s a huge learning curve for this green leader. My staff, though, is awesome and they seem as forgiving as the volleyball players. I am happy it’s Saturday morning though, and I have had a couple of hours of peace and quiet before I go back in and attack it all again.

Before I leave off, here are a couple of updates to previous blogs:

Tonica – it turns out her name is Donica – did in fact enroll as an 8^th grader! We are so happy to have her. The World Teach teacher we have worked in her school last year and is working to keep her overnight a couple of nights a week so she doesn’t have to take (and afford) the bus from the far end of the island. We hope she can keep coming.

The diabetes tubs – it looks like our friend Greg who works at Target can get 20 of them to us! Our science teacher has funded and built one and can’t wait to get the others! Yay Greg!

Our love to all,

Becky