Summer Time is Ending and School is Beginning

Go, Go, Go, No Time to Stop!

Summer is definitely a different pace and finding time to sit down and write has been quite difficult.
So brief run through of what summer is like for this Missionary Teacher:

School finished June 18th
During that time I packed up my apartment and moved everything to a friend's apartment that I will be living in until January.
June 21st-24th I flew to Vancouver and visited with friends and family on the coast. Got to go to Vancouver Island and visit with people I hadn't seen for years!

I spent more time visiting and making memories than I did taking pictures this year so less pictures to show.

For June and July I spent most of my time in the Okanagan and Sushswap, visiting and taking care of all the paperwork and appointments that are easier to do when you are in your home country: renewing passports, driver's licenses and dental appointments. Oh and of course shopping! I was able to pick up a hefty amount of books and supplies for school and filled a suitcase and a carry-on with books :)

The Robinson Clan Vernon Branch

While in Canada I got to celebrate birthdays, visit family and got to go up to Northern Alberta for the first time in 8 years to see some good old friends and visit my brother and his little family.

Top right hand corner of the red square is where Kyle & Cathy live!

Teta Kelly: The word for Aunt in Czech is Teta and it is much easier to say than Aunty when you are a year and a half so I am Teta Kelly. It was a short time but a wonderful time to get to know this little guy. I think one of the hardest parts of being overseas is being apart from family. I am thankful for skype and how it makes communication a little easier. Up until my visit I was just Teta in a box. Teta lived in the i-pad. Now for my nephew I am associated with planes ... any aeroplane spotted --> TETA?  Teta plane?

After my trip up north I flew back to Calgary and met up with my parents and some more friends before heading back home to Prague on August 2nd.

For the first time my mom joined me on her own. We left Dad to to work at Davisons and go visit Grandpa in Winnipeg. Mom did her own little trip to visit Aunt B in Poland and distant relatives in Germany before she joined me for 10 days in Prague. I was very thankful to have her extra pair of hands to help with classroom set up.  We were able to bring a suitcase full of books and supplies. 

We did take a day to go up to the northern part of Czech  Republic to see Czech Switzerland and do some hiking in the woods.

Many thanks to all who helped to contribute items and financial support, it is such a huge blessing to be able to get the things I need to make for a fun learning environment for the kids. 

I have been back working at school and getting things ready for the school year since the first week of August. This year \I will be wearing a number of new hats including Department head for the Elementary department, representative for elementary on our decision making team, as well as interm Member Care for TeachBeyond (until Ben returns from the States in January). 

It has been a very busy start to our new school year. Many new faces and many new kids! This fall I will be starting my  class with 9 kids in grade one! To say I am excited to have this many in a solid grade is an understatement! I was looking back at last years posts and my sorrow of an empty room;  that sorrow is no more! Our elementary numbers almost have tripled from last year with a current count of 31 students in grades one to five! Now this is still very small but for a school with less than 90 students this is great! We did end up putting kindergarten on hold for this year as we are still in need of a teacher. Please pray with us as we continue to pray for more teachers to come and serve.

God is faithful and I am blessed with the team I have this year and the fun that is ahead of us.

First day of school

First day of school was today and although it was only a half day it was a busy one. I had all 9 of my new recruits and I am very excited for this group of bright shining stars!

Still waiting on paperwork before I can post class photos. Please be praying for us as we start our new school year. It will be very different going back to teaching grade one and having twice as many students as I have become accustom to. The balance between English Language Learners and native English speakers is quite good, with only 4 out of the 9 being ELL. I do have one student with VERY little English. Please pray for Steven as he learns to communicate with his classmates and adjusts to being in an English speaking environment. Looking forward to our new school year and all that is in store for us!