The Condensed Version of Three Months

It is beyond time for me to get back into blogging. So much has happened since I last wrote in this!

First, I took my students on an overnight field trip to the Koke'e Discovery Center.  It was an overwhelming undertaking at first, but with the guidance of Sister Hannah and the amazing support and assistance of my students' parents, not to mention, a great facilitator, Uncle Bill, it was a successful experience. The children learned about the native and invasive plant species of Kauai. They loved going on hikes, drinking hot chocolate, and playing together. I even joined them in a game of tag. I had to reinstate the "no tags back" rule because I needed a chance to rest as they all wanted to tag me. They tired me out and we had fun.

Exactly a week later was the annual Saint Theresa School Carnival. It is a huge ordeal. People come from all over the island for it. Each classroom made something for the silent auction, and I had my students do a melted crayon art project. It ended up being a labor of love. The best part was the buyer. She was on vacation and just loved it! The children were so touched that someone bought it because she liked it and not because a son or daughter made it. It was a big compliment. :) My other role was the face painting and tattoo booth. I can now do glitter tattoos in my sleep.

Soon after that, my classroom became a hula boot camp as we prepared for the May Day program. I was proud of my students' dedication to learn and master the routines. We had an excellent kumu (hula teacher), too.

The year ended quickly. I made it back for Sister Regina Rose's first profession, which was incredible. I was so happy to be there for it. That week I had a nice home visit with family and friends. It was good to see some people I hadn't seen in a long time. Following my home visit was Sister Rexann's reception, which was also awesome to attend.

Then was the week I look forward to all year....retreat. I had the pleasure of going to Monte Alverno Retreat Center. I loved it. They had a 14 Station "Spiritual Walk with St. Francis" outside. I loved reviewing the life of St. Francis along with the probing questions it asked. I also did the outdoor stations of the cross and the labyrinth walk. The theme was "Rebuilding Our World: It's up to Us Now" and it reminded me of the New Evangelization, as much of the retreat centered around contemplation and only from that deep level of prayer comes the rebuilding of our world. I loved the time for quiet with the Lord and felt truly blessed. I left the week feeling inspired to do that which is mine to do.

Immediately, I was thrust into what was "mine to do," at least on a practical level, for two weeks. I served on the newsletter crew for our General Chapter alongside Sister Ellen and Sister Jan. It was hard work but also rewarding. I learned so much about our Community and felt happy to be a part of it. All three of us were grateful that we didn't go into journalism, but I think we worked together well.

Now we are beginning our more "typical" temporary professed summer program. For instructions, we are viewing the "EPIC" Church History program, and we are about to help Sister Veronica with summer housekeeping tasks....windows, cars, etc.

Whew! Life can go so fast... I hope that you are all doing well and are enjoying your summer!

The Queen of the Cul-de-sac

My first time driving in Kauai, I knew something was up. I had just climbed into the driver's seat of our van and Sister Janet warned me: "Watch out for Kitty!"

Sure enough, I saw Kitty with enough time to swerve around her on the way to Morning Mass. Over the past several months, I have watched other vehicles do the same. Our neighborhood has an unwritten understanding that Kitty rules our road. We all drive ever so slowly while she lays in the middle of the street, barely paying attention the the likes of us. 

When I took this picture, she didn't flinch once. She pretended that I wasn't even there. 

One morning, I woke up to a terrible noise. I could tell that some animals were fighting outside, and it sounded scary. Sister Janet was already awake and witnessed the whole thing. She told me that a rooster tried to enter our property, and Kitty charged after her, leading to the fight. It almost goes without saying that Kitty won, and I haven't seen another rooster in our yard.

In other news, there's a ton of news: Teaching has been fun. I just finished a science unit with my students on Force and Motion. It culminated in a cooperative learning activity in which they worked in teams to build carnival rides out of (cleaned) rubbish from their homes. They needed to show me which simple machines they were putting together for their rides. Everyone did well and grew in their abilities to problem solve, compromise and work together on a project. Today, we dismantled the carnival, and we carried out six kitchen-size garbage bags to the dumpster.

We also just got back from Spring Break today. My dad and stepmom spent a week and a half with us, and we had a great time! The Sisters enjoyed having them around, too. Dad, Ginny and I did touristy things around the island: snorkeling, visiting the gardens, and going on a whale watching tour were among our favorite things. Actually, one of my students' parents had given tickets to us Sisters, so Sister Janet and I were already planning on going. We ended up getting separated from Dad and Ginny, but we had fun. The boat was rocky, but we had taken Dramamine, so we were able to enjoy it.

This is the best picture I could get of the whales.

Oh, and naturally, I am overjoyed about Pope Francis! I could write another blog entry just on that, and I probably will! He's a pope after my own heart. ¡Viva Papa!

Happy Valentine's Day, LAX!

I am currently at LAX (the Los Angeles Airport) waiting to board.

Things have been busy, but enjoyable. Catholic Schools Week was nice, and was worth the extra energy of the children. One of the activities was to beautify the area around the school, and I was fortunate to get to take my students along the beach. My little environmentalists and animal lovers were enthusiastic about this project!

Afterwards, we had a class discussion about the project. The children expressed their sadness that they couldn't get to all of the litter and they were worried about the sea creatures. We were able to turn it into a positive through the course of the discussion (they will never know how many lives they saved that day). 

I showed them the following video that showed me and other Sisters picking up litter alongside Lake Michigan and we talked about how people all over are concerned with keeping the beaches nice:

On Thursday of that week, we traveled to Lydgate Park and had Mass with the other Catholic school on the island (St. Catherine's). While the older grades played a variety of games in the field, my students spent the day on the Kamalani Playground. It is without a doubt the best playground I have ever seen! The children just ran and ran and ran all day. They had a blast! 

Earlier this week, we had another field trip, and we went to Lihue for the Hawaii Youth Symphony's "Listen and Learn Concert." Sister Carol Ann (who teaches music and religion) said that it was the best one she has ever been to, anywhere. The children had a great time, and I was proud that our students were well behaved and well prepared for the concert. The symphony had given us prep materials and CDs in order to prepare the children, and the concert built upon what we covered in class. The conductor was so good with the children, too. 

My substitute teacher will be beginning the school day in an hour, and I am praying that her two days go well. My teacher-friends were right: it is a lot easier to go to work than to plan for a sub. My students are in good hands, though. Their sub is a volunteer at our school and has been teaching art to my students on Wednesdays. She fantastic! 

She has taught them origami and now she is teaching them how to paint.

A couple of these paintings are finished....some are a work in progress.

I am headed to Wisconsin for the Initial Formation Weekend. I will join our other temporary professed Sister, our novice and our postulant for it. I am looking forward to being at the Motherhouse for the weekend. I promised my students I would take pictures of the snow for them, since I can't bring them with me, to all of our disappointment. I told them I would have loved to take them with me so that they could play outside while I was at my meetings. Except I am sure they will enjoy the St. Valentine's Day Party today! 

May you have a wonderful holiday today today, whether you are wearing black for Singles' Awareness Day or red/pink for Valentine's Day.

All Those Who Do Us Good

It seems that lately I have been writing in this blog monthly. Of course it isn't intended, but alas it is what it is. Anyway, with intentions of being a more prolific blogger, I am sharing with you some photos from the past month: 

We have a lot of benefactors at our local mission in Hawaii, and it is very humbling. They share with us because we serve the Lord. It is always a good personal examen every time we receive. Christmas was an opportunity to give back. We each prepared a baked good for our Christmas presents to them.

My contribution was "Merry Christmas Cookies." It is similar in appearance to sugar cookies, but it has a honey-lemon flavor with vanilla icing. I got the recipe from Sister Elaine, our Community's postulant directress.

We had a visit from Jolly Old St. Nick at Saint Theresa Convent! In this fruit basket was the best pineapple that I have ever eaten...seriously, it tasted like candy! 

Left to Right: Sister Janet, Sister Carol Ann, Sister Adrianna
Every mission has an annual visit from one of our Council Members. A couple weeks ago, we had an enjoyable visit from Sister Adrianna. We like to give them a chance to experience the beauty of Kauai. We took her on a Smith boat ride. A good time was had by all. Sister Carol Ann is doing the "shaka" in the picture. It means "hang loose."

Sister Hannah enjoyed the boat ride, too, as evidenced by the picture!

The music was beautiful! I wish I would have recorded it so I could still listen to it. The woman in the picture has an incredibly beautiful soprano voice!

On the way back to the dock, we had more entertainment....and hula lessons! I can't say I'm a pro after a two minute crash course, but it was fun!

Now we are back in school. I am enjoying it very much. I love the challenge of reaching all the students and their needs and having a small classroom helps. I am excited about what is going on at Saint Theresa School, too, and I am proud to be part of the staff. We are beginning a new anti-bullying program, and it is working! Phyllis Kunimura created it and we have the blessing of having her to train us and implement it in our school. I have used her six step resolution-empathy process with my students and it works! Seriously. Sister Janet has had the same results. I am not quick to endorse things like this, but seeing it before my eyes has been truly amazing. The children walk away from conflicts feeling good! You can see their shoulders relax. They are practicing both assertiveness and empathy, which will carry them well through life. The children love the program, too, which is important, because they are enthusiastic about going through the steps! The only modification that Sister Janet and I have made is to have the children say, "I accept your apology. Please don't do that again." This is in place of: "I don't like it when you do that. Please don't do that again." We are going to ask Phyllis if this is okay when she comes back for our next training and the school-wide kick-off of the program.

All in all, things are going well. I hope you are all having a great start to 2013!

My Heart is Now in Connecticut

This song is for all those affected by yesterday's tragedy:


Yesterday, December 14, 2012, was going to be a different kind of day. I had a lot of anticipation for it, since it was the last day of school before our Christmas break. I had minute-by-minute planned, as my students could see once they peered at the board for their schedule. I wanted it to be a fun day for them, and indeed it was.

By the time the school day started at 7:30 am Hawaii-time, 28 people would be killed in Connecticut, most of them being around the same age as my students. As for our class, the day began like any other. They swiftly entered in their math homework answers on their NEO 2 devices, we prayed the Morning Offering, said the Pledge of Allegiance, and then they took their spelling tests. Everyone was eager to get started on the day's events.

The first thing we did was make gingerbread houses. One of the families had donated kits for us so that we could enter a contest. The third graders did one while the fourth graders did another. The children had a great time, and the thing I feared did not happen: none of my children felt "left out" of the process. The only mishap was that the third grade's house collapsed beyond repair, but the children took it in stride.

Then we rehearsed our Nativity "Readers' Theatre," and the children gave a wonderful performance for Sister Janet's second graders, who now can't wait until they can do a play in third grade. It was cute, and my students showed their creativity, initiative, and ability to follow directions.

In the afternoon, after praying the 3rd Joyful Mystery: the Nativity, the children passed around papers with an outline picture of a gift on it. They were to write compliments for whomever's name was on the paper. I was grateful that we had spent time practicing how to pass the papers, because it went very smoothly. We then put the final "leaves" on our Jesse tree, ate our treats and passed around gifts.

My room parents were a big help for the day's activities. The children kept saying how much fun they were having, and it was great to watch them enjoy themselves. I went home, tired but happy.

Then I learned of the tragedy happening five thousand miles away, which ironically, didn't feel that far. I can't bear to think of that happening to my students, who feel like family. I love them all so much!

It is just so weird that the whole world seemed to stop in Newtown, CT, and things carried on like always over here, at least until someone turned on their computer or TV.

My heart and prayers are with those involved with the shooting. It is devastating.

~*~

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Fridays are my busiest day. As such, they go by really fast. We start the day with morning prayer and mass, and then we have a half hour before the first bell rings, at 7:30am. I have no prep period on Fridays, and I teach p.e. to my students. Today, it was kickball. Fridays are also when I send out my weekly newsletter and when lesson plans need to be emailed to our principal. I must confess I haven't had time to do mine yet, but it goes faster now that I have the hang of it. Also, I over plan, so some of it is already written from last week.

--- 2 ---

I teach 3rd/4th grade, so my students are still at the age where they make me things. For a while it was pictures of angels, then drawings of hibiscus flowers, and now it is origami roses. It's really cute. They are so funny, too. They are getting to the age where they want to be treated like adults but I enjoy that they still act like the kids that they are.

 

--- 3 ---

 

My stepmom, Ginny, dried some fall leaves and shipped them to me. I was amazed that she didn't have to use wax paper and iron them. They weren't crumbly or anything! On Halloween, my 3/4 graders went to the kindergarten room to do a science lesson and a leaf-rubbing art project with them. It was so much fun to watch the children ooh and ah over the leaves! A couple interesting observations several of them made were, "Ew, they smell bad," and "they smell like something that's decaying." I immediately grabbed a leaf and inhaled a wonderfully nostalgic scent. I told them, "This is what fall/autumn smells like if you go to the northern states in the mainland!" :)



--- 4 ---

I was very amused when I learned that this was the Halloween Fun Day activity I would be in charge of with one of the eighth graders. We somehow managed to keep it from turning into a water fight.

--- 5 ---

 

Sr. Janet, Mrs. Thompson, and I took the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on a field trip to the Na ‘Āina Kai Botanical Gardens, all the way up in Kilauea. It was a long bus ride, but the kids enjoyed being able to talk story with each other. The field trip ended up being perfect for their age group! They were engaged the whole day. There was a big maze for small groups to walk through together, lots of nature to explore and learn about from our tour guides, a museum-like display of the earliest Hawaiians, a Navajo village (to compare the two indigenous groups), lots of bronze sculptures that they were allowed to touch, and a really awesome playground. We enjoyed watching the fifth graders because we got to see them acting like children (in a good way). They didn't have the older grades to impress.

--- 6 ---

Veterans Day was more meaningful this year. Our school is near the PMRF Naval Base, so some of our students are in military families. I have witnessed the bravery, pride, and courage of these families who have given so much of themselves for our country. We had a big Veteran's Day celebration at the school, and the kids got to learn about some of the science behind rockets....followed by watching rockets go off! They also got to go inside a navy boat and a mobile crime lab. We had a special flag raising ceremony, and Taps was played.

Anticipating the rocket launch!

 

--- 7 ---

I am so grateful that the we, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, have this mission in Kekaha. The people here are so inspiring with their devotedness to our faith. I love to serve them and to learn from them!

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

A Busy October

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written in this! It's almost like it's been a whole month.... ;) I need to write in this more. Here's all that has happened in the last month, in no particular order:

1. I climbed Sleeping Giant twice. The first time was with Sr. Carol Ann and Sr. Hannah, and the second time was with the St. Theresa Parish Youth. Both were wonderful experiences! I love hiking in the wilderness!
2. We attended mini retreat for religious educators. Actually, tonight, Sr. Carol Ann, Sr. Janet and I attended a spiritual talk for music ministers. It was very nice!
3. Speaking of music ministry, I started cantoring at St. Theresa. I have now cantored 4 times. I am enjoying it.
4. Also, the Christian churches in West Kauai recently gathered for a Festival of Praise. The different choirs, music groups, and a keiki (children) dance group all contributed to a wonderful night of worship. Our choir sang "In This Place." One of our band members played a tenor saxophone for one of the verses and it was amazing! It was a Spirit-filled night, and I was edified by all the talent on this small part of the island.
5. This month, we had Fall Break, STAR Testing (reading and math tests that give us instant data of our students' progress), standardized testing, report cards, and parent-teacher conferences. As a first-year teacher, I am happy to have made it through my first round of all that. Everything went well.
6. One of my students had to move back to the Mainland. It's been really hard on the children. We gave her a nice going away party though, and we are keeping in touch with her.
7. St. Marianne was canonized! It is so wonderful how much attention this has been getting on the news. We've been educating the children about her (and learning about her ourselves!) Now Hawaii has two saints: Sts. Damien and Marianne of Molokai.

Now we are getting ready for Halloween. Each year, there is a door decorating contest, and yesterday my students worked on our door. I read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak to them, and then used the following watercolor lesson plan that I found on the internet: http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2008/01/wild-thing-watercolor-monster.html.

Their watercolor paintings turned out so cute! I am very proud of them! The students who finished early traced some letter-stencils that Sr. Charles Ann had given me and cut them out. A couple of them made trees. This afternoon, one of the moms helped me put everything on the door. The cool thing is that the kids did most of the work. They even voted on the title. They chose "Calling All the Monsters," named after a favorite Disney Channel song of theirs.

I watched the music video. It's kind of like a kids' version of "Thriller": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpoVbmx1qYU

Tomorrow is the "Trunk or Treat," and Wednesday is "Halloween Fun Day." I will write again about these activities!