Help my students!

This school year, I want to make sure my students have the books they need to succeed. So I've created a classroom project request on a 501(c)3 charity website called DonorsChoose.org.
  
I'm writing to ask for any donations possible for my students - no matter the size, it will help my kids. This week only, any donation you make to my project will be doubled! If you know anyone who is passionate about education, please pass this along. Your tax-deductible donation will have a direct impact on at least 30 students (and many more in the future), and you'll hear back from our class about your impact on our learning!

To learn more or donate:

1.     Visit my Teacher Page, www.donorschoose.org/alyssa.nobles
2.     Choose one of my projects, enter the amount of your donation, and click "Give"
3.     During check-out, enter the word INSPIRE where it says "Match or gift code", and your donation will be matched dollar for dollar.

The INSPIRE match code will double your donation for the next 7 days.

Please feel free to send me any questions you may have, and know that my students and I greatly appreciate your support.

Peace

This morning at church, our pastor spoke about the peace that Jesus provides.  The peace of knowing Him as our Lord and Savior and then a second peace that he gives us in all situations through knowing Him.  I am so grateful for peace and it is one thing I constantly feel.  Even on the days when I feel like I don't have the strength to get up and go another day.  And those days when my patience runs out and love is not obvious in my actions or words.  There are other days when preparing lesson plans feels hopeless because it never goes the way I want it or they just don't get it.  But amidst all these other feelings, I have peace.  And not just a peace that everything is going to be okay but that everything is already okay because it is all HIS hands.  He gives me peace about my decision to move to Mississippi.  He gives me peace about my finances.  He gives me peace about what the next year and a half will hold.  He gives me peace about all those other bad feelings I get because He has it all under control.  I never really have been much of a worrier and I know it is because of that peace that can only come from the Lord Almighty.  With the tragedy that happened in Connecticut, we have to trust in His will while clinging to His promises and His peace.  

"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:7

This week will be filled with holiday fun as we take 9 weeks tests and prepare for the 3rd/4th grade holiday concert on Thursday.  I am especially looking forward to doing some "Holidays around the World" activities throughout the week.  I cannot wait to be home next weekend though!

Best of friends!  We went to several holiday parties this weekend to help us get in the holiday spirit before heading to our  families next week.  Me to Georgia, Jenna to Ohio, Angie to Texas, and Amber to Tennessee!

10 things I am thankful for...

1. my Heavenly Father because without Him, who would I be and what purpose would I have?  Everything comes from Him and to Him alone belongs the glory and praise!

2. family!  I realize now how much I took advantage of living at home during college.  I have never been more homesick but am SO thankful for the encouragement and support of my family.

3. Christian home...after experiencing life outside of Rome and the Berry bubble, I am even more grateful for parents who raised me in the strength and love of Christ and holding me to biblical expectations.

4. friends...church friends, Berry friends, high school friends, TFA friends...I have been SO blessed by an abundance of friends no matter what stage of life.  And what is even better is that we have been able to keep in touch and stay close even with those that I do not see on a regular basis any more.  I still spend time with my church and high school friends when I'm at home and catch up on the phone or skype with my Berry friends!

5. church...I currently attend First Baptist Hazlehurst and am constantly amazed by their love and hospitality.  I am also overwhelmed by the continual support of CBC.

6. my job...although teaching 3rd graders in rural Mississippi is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, I am so grateful for a job with a salary that I can live off of.  I have met so many incredible people through it as well.

7. my third graders...all 23 of them!  I have to remind myself and my students often that the reason I teach in Hazlehurst, MS is for each and every one of them and the tiny bit of difference I hope to make in their lives.

8. opportunities...to travel, to spread the love of Christ, to enjoy other's company, to meet new people, to see beautiful wonders, to make new memories, to learn new things, to remember old times...we are all constantly blessed by a myriad of opportunities but often times miss them because we are too caught up with other less important things.

9. Berry College...not only did I meet some of my best friends and make some of my favorite memories there, I also learned A TON about teaching, friendships, leadership, and other random things that have made me into who I am today.  Experiencing it firsthand is not just a saying!

10.  the holidays...it was so wonderful to be at home this week for Thanksgiving and it was very hard to say goodbye this morning when I pulled out of the driveway.  But, with it being the holiday season, less than a month and I will be back in Rome!  Four weeks of teaching and difference making here I come! :)

A lesson about selfishness

It has been almost a month since my last post and I have been putting it off and putting it off because I have so much to do school wise.  But today, something happened that I could not let pass without sharing with you all.

As I said, I have been so busy and incredibly overwhelmed with the amount of work that teaching at Hazlehurst requires.  I am constantly being bombarded by something else to do and honestly I see no gain in most of the things people keep piling up for me to do.  I hear myself saying to myself and other teachers, why don't they just let us teach! Or wouldn't they at least give us a heads up about things instead of just giving it to us and telling us it has to be done by tomorrow.  Well, today was one of those days.  I checked my email to find an email from our team leader about our lesson plans and basically how we needed to be teaching this instead of what our plans said.  I was furious.  Because not only does that throw off EVERYTHING that I was planning to do this week but there was no guidance or resources provided to do what she wanted us to do.  I was going to make some copies but got so frustrated because I didn't even know what to copy for the week that I just left.  And I was so tempted to get in my car and drive to Georgia.  I was hit again with the doubt that me being in Hazlehurst, MS was actually accomplishing any good.

I then actually did come home to get away from school, make some dinner and try to sort through things before going back to school.  I was starting to calm down a little bit by the time I got home and then I get a text message from one of my student's parents saying that her child would not be at school tomorrow because their house had burned down last night and they had lost everything.  I immediately called her and she explained that she would go buy a uniform for her so she could come to school on Tuesday.  I talked to her for a little while and then hung up the phone and absolutely lost it.  I was sitting in my kitchen just weeping.  I was weeping for this girl's family but more so I was weeping over my own selfishness.

How ridiculous that I was so concerned with myself and the things that I was having to do when a little girl in my class no longer has a house or any of her belongings?!?!  I sought forgiveness, restoration, peace, and purpose that I had lost.  I am not here for myself.  I have been put here for the sole reason of bringing glory to the name of the ONE who can restore our broken and empty souls.  Yes, it is hard.  He never said it wouldn't be hard but it is NOT about me and He promises to be there the whole way.  Thank you Lord for opening my eyes to my own selfishness.  Please pray for my student and her family.

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others,that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Wedding post...finally!

Yes, I know it has been three weeks but I figured it was time to finally post about my weekend in Birmingham/Rome!  The bridesmaid lunch, rehearsal, dinner, all the prep. before the wedding, pictures, ceremony, and reception all seem like a fantasy now!  It could not have been more perfect and I am SO blessed to have gotten to spend time with all of these beautiful people!  Thank you Taylor and Josh for letting me be a part of your special day! Love you guys!

Some of the bridesmaids at the super cute bridesmaid lunch Mackenzie and Taylor's aunt did.  Mackenzie even surprised Taylor with by playing/singing a song from Wicked on her guitar! So precious!

Don't know where'd I'd be without these lovely ladies!  Fab Four since 4th grade!

Beautiful ceremony centered around the love of Christ.

Love this of everyone!  Brittany did great with the signs!

Another favorite of the entire wedding party with the barns behind us!

One of my favorites with the girls.

The bride and I!!!

With our boots!

Absolutely stunning bride!

Love this family SO much!

Not only was the wedding a blast but I got to see another best friend and the family as well!

Pinterest perfect reception.

After we sent them off to Hawaii with a shower of rose pedals, I booked it to Rome to spend a little over 12 hours at home.  Hung out with Carrie on the mountain for a while, went to church and had lunch with the family, and then even got to enjoy some Berry College soccer!  Cannot wait to be back for Mountain Day and actually get to talk to people and catch up!  Only a few more days!!! This week we have 9 weeks testing.  Pray for my kids as they take these tests and that they would use the test taking strategies and things they have learned in class.  I am very nervous that they are going to take these tests and show that they haven't learned a thing since August 6!  :/  Should be an interesting week since our schedules are thrown off with the testing but I'm glad it is a short one!  Hope to see most of you next weekend!!

Routines and blessings

Life in Mississippi is slowly but surely getting into a routine.  And if you know me, I am a huge fan of routines!  Every day still brings a new struggle at school but love has been so much more evident in my classroom and we are working on bringing in a sense of urgency as we learn everyday.  There is SO much to learn this year and we don't have a minute to waste.  When my kids really understand this concept, we will truly be on our way to achieving incredible things academically!

Last weekend I was blessed to be able to be apart of Taylor and Josh's wedding and it was hands down the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen!  Everything was absolutely perfect and it was so wonderful to see friends and celebrate with them.  I hope to share some pictures with you all soon! I also spent a little time (barely 12 hours) at home and at Berry.  As fantastic as my weekend was, I did miss Hazlehurst and worshipping at FBC.  Although First Baptist is very traditional and definitely not what I have been used to over the past 10 or so years, I really enjoy it.  The people at FBC are so welcoming, the worship is sincere and takes me back to old school Calvary (singing "No Other Name" today brought back SO many memories), and I love the pastor.  He is no Steve Andrews but I am always challenged and encouraged by the message.  The message today was so meaningful as he spoke on the feeding of the five thousand in Mark.  Incredibly applicable as I think about the Lord using me just as he did the disciples to work relentlessly for those who need Him most.  It can be such a tiring and overwhelming task but He has called each of us to work for His glory and all things are possible through Him.  First Baptist has definitely contributed to the sense of routine and consistency as I am finally getting settled and feeling at home in Hazlehurst.  I am continually amazed by the blessings the Lord has given me!  

Hurricane, Paycheck, and more!!

We survived the hurricane!  Isaac definitely made an appearance in Hazlehurst.  One that caused a 2-day hurrication from school, power outages across town, several downed trees, huge puddles, and one sleepless night for this girl.  I think the April 27th tornadoes/wind that knocked down trees all over Berry made me paranoid of trees falling.  I didn't sleep but like 45 minutes on Wednesday evening (on the bathroom floor none-the-less) due to all of the debris hitting the house from every direction!  Praise the Lord we had no leaks or fallen trees.  Just lots of branches and limbs around the yard that we will eventually pick up if it ever stops raining!  As scary as the whole hurricane experience was, it was SO nice to have a little weekend in the middle of the week!  And it was even nicer to go back for Friday and then have a three day weekend!

But wait, it gets even better! Not only do we have a three day weekend for Labor Day, we also got paid on Thursday! Again, PRAISE THE LORD! Angie and I went grocery shopping today and it was so nice to be able to buy real food instead of whatever $20 would buy us.  We are looking forward to a day of shopping on Monday to hit up all the big Labor Day sales and reward ourselves for a challenging first month of teaching.  Don't worry, I already made my budget so nothing too extreme for me!  Many of the things I plan on purchasing this weekend are for the wedding next weekend!  I am thrilled to get to be apart of Taylor Andrews and Josh Hines big day in just 7 days!  Not only will I only have a three day week because of it but I also get to see my best friends that I grew up with.  Since we started college, the time that Taylor, Becky, Chelcie, and I have had together has been very limited so I am super excited to spend two days with them!  (One more reason to celebrate next weekend- Becky just got engaged this weekend as well! Three down...I'm the only one to go!! HA) Since I'm already going to be in Birmingham, might as well drive the extra two hours home for some much needed family and Berry time.  If you cannot tell, I am VERY excited about next weekend and all of the tiresome fun that it will entail.

Before then though, I have three days of teaching and giving my all to my students.  During the hurricane, I was able to get ahead on some lesson planning and I am finally getting to the point where I actually feel like I know what I am doing.  We are getting into a regular schedule now that we have our reading curriculum and I have already seen improvements both in the quality of my students work as well as in their behaviors.  I'll finish this very excited and joyous post with something one of my students wrote on her science test this week:

Question: If you have a seed, what do you need to do to turn it into a plant?
Student's Answer: "I will have to give it soil, sunlight, water and air.  And I will give it some plant food to make it grow into a beautiful flower and people will take pictures and ask me how to plant a flower!"

Some days, I want to come home and cry or pack up and get out of here but then I am reminded of precious things like this that my students do and say and am reminded of the reason I am here.  Happy Labor Day everyone! Can't wait to update you on the exciting wedding/Rome weekend!

Loving Unconditionally

I decided to blog tonight as a way to de-stress and take my mind off the chaos that was today.  It wasn't the worst of worsts but I was very overwhelmed with our curriculum and feeling incapable of teaching my kids ALL they need to know to close the achievement gap (TFA puts a lot of pressure on us not to just be exceptional teachers but to be TRANSFORMATIONAL as that is what most of our kids need).  I know it is only week 3 and it will come but some days it just gets frustrating.  Thankfully, I know the ONE who IS capable of all things and who will give me the strength each and every day to be the teacher that my kids need.

I also wanted to reflect on some thoughts I had this weekend.  Friday night, I went to our high school football game.  There are about 4,000 people in Hazlehurst and I'm pretty sure every single one of them was at A high school football game.  Notice, I did not say OUR football game because all of the wealthy families were at the Copiah Academy game and not Hazlehurst.  While at the game, I realized why my children act the way they do.  I realize why they are so mean to one another and why they hit each other and why they call each other ugly names.  They do this because it is what they see around them and the environment they have lived in their entire lives.  It was so heartbreaking; I was faced with the reality that I had been trying to avoid all along: I am not here to teach my kids reading and writing and math.  I am not even here to teach them how to get along with one another.  I am here to LOVE and to LOVE unconditionally.

Reflecting on the environment that my kids live in, I was reminded of Rob Bell's book, "Jesus Wants to Save Christians".  Throughout the book, he summarizes the actions of the Israelites and how God delivers them and commands them to keep his commandments but then what do they do...they turn right around and begin doing the exact thing the Lord had delivered them from.  It is almost like a cycle where the Lord delivers them, tells them to obey, then turn the page and they are doing wicked things and disobeying God, but God continues to love them and have mercy on them.  He never gives up and continues to pour out his love even when they seemed unlovable.  And the same is true towards us today.  We all screw up and become self-righteous and sometimes we even think we have done something unforgivable.  But the Lord is merciful and loves us so much that he is always there with open arms.  Some days, I feel like I cannot love my kids.  At various moments throughout the day, I want to leave and let them fend for themselves and if they kill each other, oh well!  But then I am reminded of the Lord's never ending love for us.  And how undeserving we are.  My kids need LOVE.  And for many of them, I might be their only source of love.  I know that it will be a challenge and there will be days that I might not know HOW to love them.  But those are the times I am especially thankful for Christ in me.  The only way I can teach them is if I love them and hopefully through my example, they will learn to love one another as well.  The most important thing I cannot forget is that EVERY ounce of my love comes from the love of the FATHER.

Now I'm off to lesson plan and get everything ready for tomorrow.  Oh, and also figure out my grad school classes as those officially started today! YIKES! Please pray that I would love each and every one of my students whole-heartedly each and every day with love that only comes from above.  Pray also that they would be receptive of my love.  I'll leave you with "A Teacher's Prayer".  My housemate, Angie gave a copy of it to me right as school was starting and I need to write it on my clipboard so that I can be reminded of it constantly throughout the day!

A Teacher's Prayer

Lord, let me be just what they need.
If they need someone to trust, let me be trustworthy.
If they need sympathy, let me sympathize.
If they need love, (and they do need love), let me love, in full measure.
Let me not anger easily, Lord but let me be just.
Permit my justice to be tempered in your mercy.
When I stand before them, Lord, let me look strong and good and honest and loving.
And let me be as strong and good and honest and loving as I look to them.
Help me to counsel the anxious, crack the covering of the shy, temper the
rambunctious with a gentle attitude.
Permit me to teach only the truth.
Help me to inspire them so that learning will not cease at the classroom door.
Let the lessons they learn make their lives fruitful and happy.
And, Lord, let me bring them to You.
Teach them through me to love You. 

Finally, permit me to learn the lessons they teach.

Chaos

Chaos- a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order.

Chaos is the word that came to mind to describe the last two and a half weeks.  It has been a whirlwind of moving into a new house (after living out my car and sleeping on Jenna and Amber's floor for 5 days while they were fixing up the house), spending WAY too much money, cleaning and setting up my classroom, and attending training after training.  Some of those trainings included ReadWell for 2nd grade (p.s. I'm teaching 3rd grade), Positive Behavior Intervention Systems, district/state policies, SmartBoard, and Common Core Math curriculum.  O yeah, and at some point in there, I was preparing for the first day of school.  I prepared for the first day but then kinda forgot about the rest of the week until Monday night when I had no idea what I was going to do on Tuesday! Talk about learning a lesson.  I'm hoping to plan for the next TWO weeks over the course of this weekend.  

I made it though.  I survived my first week as a teacher.  And I only wondered what I had gotten myself into four or five times throughout the week! Ha ha! It is so much harder than I ever thought it would be but I also have no doubt in my mind that it is what I was born to do.  I love every single one of my 24 students (even the one that threw a chair on the first day...she's my mission this year and each day has gotten a little better).  We did a lot of culture building this week and I am SO ready to really get into the content next week.  We have so much to do and learn this year in order to reach our big goals and conquer mountains!  I'm including some pictures (my mom actually took all of them) of both my classroom and our house. Big shout out to my parents for driving over last weekend to bring my stuff and help me finish up my classroom.  Also HUGE thanks to Angie's parents!  They were here all last week and it was such a blessing to not have to worry about dinner or organizing the house or our plumbing issue.  They really took care of us and allowed us both to solely focus on school.  Thank you Lord for putting so many incredible people in my life.  

Angie and I in front of our house after church at First Baptist Hazlehurst!

My classroom before I cleaned, moved anything around, or did anything.

I spent a whole day cleaning out and reorganizing these shelves.

It was pretty boring...

We're climbing mountains in Room 508!

Behavior chart provided by the school but I added my own twist to it.

Of course I had to start with the BC!

Crazy to think that my kids are too young to even really know The Climb by Miley Cyrus.

Finally was able to hook up my projector to my laptop at the end of this week.  Technology has such an impact in a classroom!

Park Ranger and Positivity Regulator are definitely my favorite! Love seeing my kids encourage each other!

Still working on defining all these words for my kids.

Thanks to my Aunt Dee and mom for donating these "gear lockers".  Thank you notes from my kids for the "cages" as one calls them are coming soon!

Lots of changes

We finished up our First Eight Weeks Kick Off at Delta State last Wednesday and I took the opportunity of having a few days off to go home!  I spent some much needed time with my family, got a hair cut, hung out with my best friend Lisa in Atlanta (and did some shopping at IKEA), went to a wedding and got to see some of my closest friends from Berry, did some more shopping with Morgan in Rome, and then loaded up my car to head back to Mississippi!  I was in Georgia for less than a week and it was a very rushed few days with lots of people to see and things to do before officially moving.  Even amidst all of the craziness, it was still great just to be home for a few days and spend time with friends and family that have had such a deep impact on my life. 

I’ll post some pictures from the beautiful and super fun wedding of my good friend Trevor.  His now wife Kelsey battled and defeated leukemia this past year and their relationship is such an incredible representation of Christ’s love and the hope we have in the Lord as believers.  I really value my friendship with Trevor and am so excited for he and Kelsey as they begin their new life together.

In more recent news, I am now in Mississippi for good! The only bad part is that Angie and I cannot move into our house yet because they are still fixing a few things and painting.  We are hoping to be able to move in this weekend though!  In the meantime, I’ve been sleeping on some very generous friends’ floor in Byram. 

We started training on Wednesday with the Barksdale Reading Institute.  They work in four different schools in Mississippi and train and pay the administrators in those schools as well as train and provide coaching support for all of the teachers in Read Well.  So far, I have enjoyed it and am excited to implement it in my classroom!  Sitting in meetings/trainings, however, is not really my favorite thing to do.  Especially when there is so much work to be done in my classroom!  I know it is necessary and we start Hazlehurst training/pre-planning next week so there is time built in to work in our classrooms then. 

Hopefully by the next post I will have pictures to include of our new house (including the washer/dryer we just bought) and maybe even of my classroom!  There is lots of work to be done to prepare for the first day of school.  I cannot believe school starts in a week…where has the time gone!?!?! 

Thank you all for your prayers, support, and words of encouragement during the time of transition into this next season of life.  I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for me in Hazlehurst!

I can't believe he's married!!!

Crazy friend and one of the groomsmen, Will Reese!

Love this girl so much! 

My Story

Today started the first day of our four-day Orientation (also known as the First Eight Weeks Kick Off) where we are reflecting on the things we learned during our Institute experience and preparing for August and the first weeks of school.  The majority of our session today was about our story.  We talked about the character in our story (me), an inciting incident that motivates or moves us, the brutal facts or challenges we face or expect to face, and the vision of an ending.  It was very interesting as I realized that my story is basically a recreation of my life purpose that I formed when I was in Winshape.  They encouraged us to share our story through a letter or blog post so here goes…

I fell in love with Sonia at the orphanage during my 2nd trip.

I’m not sure at exactly what point it hit me but it was sometime during my second trip to Mexico.  The Lord opened my eyes to the need and despair of the children at the orphanage and the church where we held VBS.  Not only did He open my eyes but He also broke my heart.  My heart ached for the brown-eyed children who were born into a world of absolute poverty and who would very likely never see the world outside of Piedras Negras.  It was during that trip that I knew my life’s fulfillment would come through supporting and sharing the love of Christ with broken and hopeless children.

Some of the girls at the school in Nava, Mexico.

During my sophomore year of college I created my life purpose statement: "My life purpose is to love and encourage the children in the community where God has called, especially broken and orphaned Latinos, in order to develop in them a passion for education and to compel them to be full of hope, meaning, and purpose in the Lord."  It wasn't until my student teaching experience my senior year did I realize that the needs of the children in Rome, GA are in many cases the same as those beautiful brown-eyed children in Mexico that I had committed my life to serving.  It was then that I started looking into Teach for America.

One of the poorest neighborhoods in Piedras.

                                                                            When I was placed in the Mississippi Delta, I knew that I would face the realities of poverty and racism but I was not prepared for this.  During my summer school experience teaching Kindergarten in Belzoni, MS, I was shocked to see houses that made me think I was back in Mexico and to hear five year olds predict that "everyone is going to get shot" in a book with a picture of a family on the cover.  My purpose here became incredibly real to me over the last 5 weeks.  It is not to save these children from the failures of our history but instead it is to show them the love that comes only from our Savior and give them hope of who they can become.  

House down the street from my school in Belzoni, MS.

In just three weeks, I will begin teaching kids whom I was told not to assume have ever been to Jackson, 30 miles north of Hazlehurst.  I expect to have students not interested one bit in coming to school.  I know many of my students will be reading several years below grade-level and will get frustrated easily and want to give up.  I learned these lessons this summer; I had a number of kids who had never even been to school but already had negative connotations towards it.  I had parents who were very guarded and almost judgmental as we discussed the successes and failures of their children. Not only was I presented with the brutal facts of the situation and what I had to look forward to in August;  I also learned some ways to overcome them.  

A handful of my kids had rotten teeth, but all had beautiful smiles!

I had one student this summer who was a problem from day 1.  He was always in trouble and for the first two days of school, both he and I would leave school angry at one another (I taught the last hour of the day so of course he only left mad at me because I was the reason he didn't get a prize).  We had community night after the second night and of course this child and his mother showed up.  I was determined to share my frustration with his mother and ask what suggestions she might have for dealing with him.  Turns out she has some of the same problems at home.  Then I decided to actually talk to this child that I was struggling to love and just have a genuine, non-school related conversation.  Best decision I made all summer.  We formed a relationship which I realized we had not had.  Before, I was just the teacher and he was the kid who always needed to be in time out.  After our talk at community night, I was someone who wanted to hear about how much he loved dinosaurs and he knew that.  We talked about making right choices and thinking before getting angry over something he could have controlled.  He knew that I cared and that I believed he could do well.  Although he wasn't the perfect child the rest of the summer, he was definitely a different child than the one I had tried to ignore the first two days.  I learned about the power of relationships and the fact that before any learning can take place, a child needs to know that you care and believe in them.  It seems like common sense but for some reason it took this child to get it through to me.  Glad it happened this summer and not in October!        

Always have been a sucker for brown eyes.

While Institute opened my eyes to the issues that my kids and I will deal with every day, I also gained a lot of insight into how to combat those issues.  I definitely don't have all of the answers and know that there are plenty more challenges to come but I am so glad to have the support of TFA over the next two years.  Ultimately, it is my hope and desire that my students will leave my classroom feeling loved and valued, and with the knowledge they need in order to no longer be restricted by the injustices of our society.  It is so sad that my kids in the United States of America grow up with the same lack of opportunity as the kids that initially broke my heart in Mexico.

"One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education."    

4th of July and Hazlehurst!

I know this is a week late but for the Fourth of July, a bunch of us spent the day in Hazlehurst!  There are 18 new TFA teachers at Hazlehurst (K-8) and I think 15 of us were there for the Fourth.  We drove down Tuesday night and had a big slumber party!  Two of the girls at Hazlehurst already signed leases at an apartment complex in Byram, about 20 minutes north of Hazlehurst and so we all crashed on the floor. 

We got up Wednesday and I went with a couple of girls to drive around Hazlehurst and look for houses for rent.  We saw a lot of for sale signs and a lot of completely empty houses but none for rent.  We did get a good feel for the community and it was so fun to just so cool to drive around the area that I am going to be living and teaching in for the next 2 years!  Hazlehurst was having a big 4^th of July celebration sponsored by First Baptist Church at Lake Hazle.  They had free food and live music and other little games and activities for kids.  We met a lot of people who were so excited that we are coming!  Also got some numbers of people to call about housing in the area.  One of the second year corps members was there and she took us on a tour of the school after we left the celebration.  We didn’t get to go in the school but we looked in windows and asked her lots of questions.  We had to be at summer school really early the next morning so we left around 7 to drive back the 3 hours to Cleveland.

Thursday was when the real excitement happened!! My future roommate, Angie, had asked her mom to make a few calls to a lady she had talked to previously about housing in Hazlehurst since we’d be at school all day.  Around 11 am, Angie showed me a text message from her mom saying to praise the Lord because she found a 3 bedroom house for rent in the country part of Hazlehurst!  We are super excited and immediately tried looking it up online.  Unfortunately, the address is not the physical address so when we typed it in, it took us to a random field.  We weren’t able to actually see it until Saturday when we drove down.  The last renter was evicted because they hadn’t paid rent in like a year so the house was kind of in a mess; but the guy who owns it said they were going to have it professionally cleaned and fixed up before we move in.  The only bad part is that they cannot legally change the locks and start doing anything until July 23^rd so that means we’ll be bumming floors off of people for probably a week.  It is also not furnished at all so we’ve been checking out Craig’s List a lot for couches, beds, TV’s, and washers/dryers. 

In addition to having a house now, Institute is winding down.  We only have two more days with the babies and then the Memphis, Nashville, Louisiana, and Alabama corps go back to their regions and we start our First Eight Weeks Kick Off on Sunday.  We only have four days of F8WKO and it will be full of brainstorming, vision writing, and planning for our classrooms in August.  Then, I am headed back to GA for a week before officially moving to Mississippi and starting my first year of teaching!!!   I am super excited about yet another transition but am also going to miss my Institute experience and all of the incredible people I have met.  Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement throughout this summer.  It has been such a learning experience and at times a challenge.  I know that it has truly helped prepare me for August and develop me into a transformational teacher!!

Our house! 2029 W. Gallatin Road, Hazlehurst, MS

This was from Google Earth and was taken when the original owner lived there.  The landscape does not look quite this nice right now but it will soon hopefully!  Angie took most of the pictures on the inside so maybe I can get them from her and post them later.