Spring Happenings

Spring Adventures

We have been on many adventures this quarter with many more to come. We have been learning about countries around the world and exploring places we have lived, visited and places we wish to visit.

Each sticky note on this map indicates somewhere our class associates as home.

One of the privileges of teaching in an international school is having students from many different countries and cultures.

We explored different countries including France, Egypt and Kenya, learning about the languages they speak, the foods they eat and famous landmarks to see.

 

Planting Seeds

Now we are learning about plants and growing our own pea plants. We experiment with what plants need to grow and discover the importance of them having what they need to grow healthy.

Every year we do this unit I am reminded of the parable of the seeds and the different types of soil the seeds can land in and our jobs as teachers as we plant and nurture the seeds of the gospel in our students' lives. We serve the Lord of the harvest. 

"He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Luke 10:2 

We are in desperate need of more workers to help serve us in the field. In faith we opened up our grade 1 and 2 enrolment  to more students which means a split class next year will not be possible and another primary school teacher is required. 

All over there is a shortage of teachers and finding teachers that want to enter into the mission field is even harder. We pray to the Lord of the harvest to provide workers and that the workers will hear and respond in faith. Please pray with us for the Lord's provision.

Springing Forward

 Happy 100th Day of School

We celebrated the 100th day of school on February 10th with our normal festivities. We hunted for numbers 1-100 throughout the building, played games racing to 100, collected 100 things and made pictures of what we might look like when we are 100. Fun was had by all.

 

Student Teacher

We were blessed to welcome a student teacher from the USA for 8 weeks. Her time here flew by very quickly and we were thankful for all her help, creativity and fun she brought into our classroom.

Praying for Teachers

It is that time of year again when we start looking to the next year and our staffing needs. We have a larger number of families interested in our school and our grade one program. We desperately want to split the grade one and two classes to accommodate this need. 

We have several needs including two elementary teachers grade 2 and 5, an elementary PE teacher, an elementary Music teacher, Highschool History and Science and Middle School teachers English, History and Science.

Please pray for these needs to be filled.

Our Building Needs

When the pandemic hit our plans for a new building were put on hold, along with the requirement to leave our current facility. Our contract for our current building has been renewed as city renovation plans have been put on hold due to the current circumstances. We are still seeking future accommodations and plans, as staying long term in our current facility is not a long term option. We are praying for other opportunities and seeking what the Lord has for us next.

Financial Support

Over the past year countries around the world have been experiencing inflation and the Czech Republic is no exception. My utilities and rent have both increased quite a lot along with the cost of living. My current flatmate will be leaving back to the States in June and so I am faced with many financial increases. I will be looking for a new flatmate but in the mean time I may be left to hold the full amount of rent on my own. I will be back in Canada this summer to share these needs and to raise the extra needed support. Thank you to all those who help contribute to make my ministry here possible.

Winter Wanderings Nov 2022 to Jan 2023

November Fun - Reading Day

My Favourite event of the school year is Reading Day! I'm way behind in documenting but we celebrated reading day in mid-November and I meant to post these way earlier.

For those who guessed it... I was Paddington Bear and I had SO much fun putting this costume together.

 Winter Adventures

2022 was a celebratory year for my family as my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary along with my mom's 70th birthday. To join in the celebrations I left at the end of the November for a long overdue visit to see my family, since I hadn't been back since the summer of 2020.

Lots of planning goes in to leaving for 3 weeks and I was blessed by an amazing team who covered for me. Before I left we did our traditional visit to the Christmas market and the kids had learned their Luke 2 verses.

 

The parents filled a crate of gifts for me and I was blessed beyond measure before I hopped on a plane to Canada for 5 weeks.

 

First Stop once back in Canada....

Tim Hortons!

 

Eggnog lattes, puppy snuggles, honey crisp apples, hockey games and nephews!
Joys of being home in Canada!

Happy 50th Anniversary

Christmas prep

Got to visit SA friends and watch my old school do their Christmas program!

Bethlehem Star

For many years my home church has been putting on a Nativity project called Bethlehem Star where we put up a huge circus-like tent and turn it and our gym into the streets of Bethlehem and share the gospel message of the coming of Christ.

My first weeks back I helped with setting up the tent and preparing for this big production that welcomed just over 4000 visitors.

My pictures don't do it justice as I was more caught up in helping than taking pictures this time around.

Family Celebrations

To celebrate Mom's 70th we rented a chalet in the mountains. Our luck would have it that this would be the week when it would hit -28C (not including windchill!) Needless to say I stayed indoors for most of our time and enjoyed the snow from the windows

Merry Christmas

I made gifts this year :)

My nephews are fishermen and wakeboarders and I wanted to get them new lifejackets but this was not the time of year to be looking for a lifejackets. So I made them some out of bubble wrap with the promise of replacing them if they didn't meet safety standards. The scarf and hat were a labour of love for Mom's birthday.

 

New Years Hello 2023

I returned to CZ at the end of December in time to ring in the new year and gear up for the next school semester.

Enjoyed celebrating the new year with some friends and watching the city get set on fire.

Back in the Classroom

We have been learning about liquids and solids and exploring God's amazing creation. What I love most about teaching grade one and two is their wonder for the world. What we find mundane and normal they find amazing and fascinating. How shaking a bottle with dish soap in it can make it foamy and how a candy seems to disappear in water. Mind blowing discoveries of what happens when you mix corn starch with water! Every new discovery causes me to marvel at our creator and how he intricately designed our world and everything in it.

We are now on Winter Break and I have gotten into enjoying stay-cations recently and exploring the city I live in more each time. Newest venture going to the top of the clock tower in Old Town. I don't know if I will ever tire of the beauty that is this city

Next week we will be celebrating our 100th day of school! How time flies! Looking forward to what the rest of this year has in store!