Make the most of your world.

carolinerussellfsm:

First of all, sorry for the lack of posts recently, but my laptop died a couple weeks ago and so I haven’t had much chance to sit down and do any typing! Thankfully the school computer has been more available recently, so here it goes!

Ten days ago we finally had our last day of classes, followed by awards day and graduation. My school is very small, and as we were graduating only two eighth graders the parents decided not to hold a full scale graduation, but rather be more casual and award diplomas as the main part of the awards ceremony.

Kelly gave a very nice speech about taking responsibility for your future and both eighth graders we swamped with leis made of yarn or candy, as has become custom in Yap.

We handed out academic awards for GPA and most improved (won by one of my third graders!) as well as awards for attendance and for participation in the island wide math competition. The teachers also recognized several members of the community for their contributions to the school throughout the year, both in leadership and for services like painting and facilities upgrade.

After the awards ceremony we all shared a potluck lunch, more on that later, and the students were invited to take part in activities like musical chairs, egg toss, and a spelling bee with small bags of candy as a prize. During the activities the students’ favorite part of the day was announced, the ice cream. Between the students and all the guests we managed to consume about nine gallons of ice cream! One of my students, Jeremiah, later remarked that maybe he should have stopped at four cones! The sugar high was useful at the conclusion of the day for getting the students to help clean up the decorations!

At the end of the day I was a little sunburned, but extremely proud of all the hard work my students put in, and so happy to see them show it off to the community.