See you later, Gator! And if not Hakuna Matata.

I have taught these phrases to my students and I have to say I have been rubbing off on them! Everyday my 4th graders say goodbye to me individually with See you later Alligator! It truly brightens my name to here this phrase ring out in more than 5 different accents with smiles looking up at me! As for Hakuna Matata…. Those who have taught children or ever worked with them, know how many questions these students always ask about what comes next/what time is it?/etc. To help the students stay on task and prevent always asking questions like these, from the start I replied “Hakuna Matata, don’t worry about it.” Now my students not only stay more on task, but also will answer their own questions if they start with Hakuna Matata!

I wish that you all could meet my students for they are wonderful! Each one is so precious and special! They each have a piece of my heart. I just received a new student, today! She seems to be jumping right in, but it is a challenge to have her start almost a month after the rest of the students. Still several students have already taken her under their wing. As most of these students have been together since kindergarten, they could be a super tight group. But thankfully my students seem very inviting and welcoming her in. Having students come in and out of the classroom throughout the year is very common and often with little notice. This can be due to missionaries going on furlough, trips to their home country, etc. This is definitely an added challenge, for which I would greatly appreciate prayer.

(The pictures you see include their planet projects and presentation, group work, and other activities)

Firsts:

- First time going to a doctor in Paraguay (this was required for the Paraguay government to receive the needed paperwork to stay more permanently). While the information sheet was in Spanish (a little difficult), it was only a quarter of a page (a great blessing compared to US sheets)! (By the way this took nearly two hours for all of us (the new teachers) to get there, sign in, be seen, and return. All of these visits and needed paperwork is both very expensive and time consuming.

- First week of Art club! I have started an art club after school on Mondays (elementary) and Wednesday (junior high and high school). The first week I have about 8 on the first Monday with students from 3-5th. It was wonderful and a lot of fun to be able to get to know students I don’t have and to do art at a slower pace than during school. Wednesday, I had 6. I loved being able to have this time with the older students to develop the skill and interests that they enjoy. This Monday, I was surprised with 14 students and the new 6 students being pre-k to 1st! Ahhhhhhh! Thankfully I was blessed with an older student from the highschool showing up to sign up for Wednesday and was able to stay and use her service hours (required service project for ministry for each year)! It is great to have an extra set of hands. As the art club continues to be popular it has become the most popular club and I can only guess how many will show up tomorrow!

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for the previously mentioned prayer requests and for those mentioned above!