I finally made it to Devon Pen on Friday after a long week of running errands and tying up loose ends. As I have said before everything in Jamaica takes a lot longer than in the states. Jamaicans love to have everything stamped and to have many letters of referral before approving you for anything. But as for now most everything is done that needs to be done for awhile. I picked up my passport from immigration on Thursday so I have officially become an immigrant of Jamaica! Crazy huh?!
I had a teachers meeting on Friday at 10:00AM in Devon Pen where I met all the teachers and got a feel for what my school days will look like. I will take some pictures of the school soon and post them but haven’t had a chance yet. After waiting for about an hour to get on a bus Jared and I finally caught a cab up to our missions. I arrived just a little after 10 to the meeting. I met all the teachers which are only 4 teachers and a principal. Miss Burrell will be the acting principal this year…she hasn’t been officially approved as principal yet but to my understanding she will be at some point this year. She told me that she would like to see a lot of open communication between myself and the teachers. Miss Style, Miss Reed, Mr. Davis, and Miss Wilson are the four teachers I will be working with this year. It seems as though I will be doing a lot of work with literacy and reading in the school. When children finish sixth grade they must take the GSAT which is a placement test that students take. There score determines which high school they are eligible to go to…the better the score the better the high school. Many children in the school once they fall behind can’t seem to get back on track and leave school not being able to read. I think it is going to be a very interesting year in school. I think it will be completely different and a challenge to get used to the differences and similarities that I see in the states but I’m excited about this challenge.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at Aunt Daphe’s just hanging out. It’s amazing how I have found comfort in a home of a stranger.
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Hey Sarah, sounds like things are coming together for you. That's good! Yes, I'm sure it will be interesting, but despite the challenges I know you'll give everything you've got - just like you always do to help each child meet his/her full potential. I put "Three Cups of Tea" in the mail for you today. The man at the post office thought it should be there within two weeks. Keep an eye out for it - and enjoy! When the eyes of our hearts are open we can see the "Aunt Daphes" that God puts in our lives as a way of making His presence known. Peace be with you, Maria
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