Our school year finally came to an end on June 10th. I think it's safe to say that the students weren't the only ones anxious for school to end; the teachers were just as excited. The end of the school year is always celebrated with a party. This party is a huge deal - it's a dress up event. One set of house parents is in charge of planning the program, doing the decorating, and the meal. The program consists of speeches from the principal, as well as other teachers. Students are recognized for their academic achievements and receive certificates for their grades. The program also includes several musical performances from the kindergartners, the primary students, and the secondary students. This
year, I decided to have my English students perform at the party. To be honest, it was a little more stressful than I had anticipated and I was sick of the songs by the time the party came. However, my goal in having them perform at the party was simply that they would have fun singing in English and have an opportunity to be up in front of other people. My primary students sang and danced to "The Y.M.C.A" and it was definitely a crowd pleaser! (To see their performance, check out the video posted on my facebook page.) They had the dance moves down. My secondary students sang "We Are the World For Haiti" - a remake of Michael Jackson's song that was done after the tragedy in Haiti.
The students have always really enjoyed the song and already knew most of the words. Their performance was more like a show choir number, with some of them having solos (and enjoying their 5 seconds of fame) and others singing in the chorus. I even sang with them - how nervewracking ...! While I know our performances were far from perfect, I am so proud of them and for all of the hard work they put into learning the songs. As I looked around at my Mexico family during the party, I couldn't help but feeling a strong sense of pride for all that these kids have accomplished. It really makes me emotional thinking about where they have come from and where they are now. Recently, I was reading Jeremiah with one of the girls and we came to 7:24 - "But they did not listen or pay attention ... They went backward and not forward." I'm so glad that our kids have chosen to go forwards, instead of backwards into the past, which holds a lot of pain.
Our school year finally came to an end on June 10th. I think it's safe to say that the students weren't the only ones anxious for school to end; the teachers were just as excited. The end of the school year is always celebrated with a party. This party is a huge deal - it's a dress up event. One set of house parents is in charge of planning the program, doing the decorating, and the meal. The program consists of speeches from the principal, as well as other teachers. Students are recognized for their academic achievements and receive certificates for their grades. The program also includes several musical performances from the kindergartners, the primary students, and the secondary students. This 
year, I decided to have my English students perform at the party. To be honest, it was a little more stressful than I had anticipated and I was sick of the songs by the time the party came. However, my goal in having them perform at the party was simply that they would have fun singing in English and have an opportunity to be up in front of other people. My primary students sang and danced to "The Y.M.C.A" and it was definitely a crowd pleaser! (To see their performance, check out the video posted on my facebook page.) They had the dance moves down. My secondary students sang "We Are the World For Haiti" - a remake of Michael Jackson's song that was done after the tragedy in Haiti. 
The students have always really enjoyed the song and already knew most of the words. Their performance was more like a show choir number, with some of them having solos (and enjoying their 5 seconds of fame) and others singing in the chorus. I even sang with them - how nervewracking ...! While I know our performances were far from perfect, I am so proud of them and for all of the hard work they put into learning the songs. As I looked around at my Mexico family during the party, I couldn't help but feeling a strong sense of pride for all that these kids have accomplished. It really makes me emotional thinking about where they have come from and where they are now. Recently, I was reading Jeremiah with one of the girls and we came to 7:24 - "But they did not listen or pay attention ... They went backward and not forward." I'm so glad that our kids have chosen to go forwards, instead of backwards into the past, which holds a lot of pain.
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