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.

Beach Blessing

This past weekend, I made a little surprise visit down to Ft. Walton Beach/Destin to see all of my friends at Summer Beach Project.  In case you are unfamiliar with SBP, it a group of college students with Campus Outreach who spend all summer living and working at the beach while doing evangelism training and really learning how to live and disciple as Christ did.  A lot of my closest friends from Berry went this summer so I couldn't help but take a quick weekend trip!!

It was such a blessing to see all my Berry friends and made me really miss college!  I kept it a secret from Rebecca even though she begged me to tell her when I was coming.  It worked out perfectly though and she loved the surprise!  I got to spend a lot of time with her, catch up with Alesa Hammaker (one of my Winshape friends who I love dearly), and hang out with almost all of the Dana Boys!  Several have graduated and I will likely not see them again for a while and the rest are still at Berry so I will get to see them when I visit next year.

I left Mississippi right after we got done with school on Friday (so like around 4:30) and got to Destin around 11pm.  They definitely don’t go to bed early at project so I hung out and met some of Rebecca's co-workers Friday night.  Slept in for a while on Saturday and then went to breakfast with Rebecca, Will, and Ben at IHOP.  Spent part of the afternoon on the beach with Rebecca and Alesa before they had to go to work.  After they left for work, I drove to Niceville to visit with Michael, Dana, and Sadie (sweet friends and former youth pastor) for a little while.  It's been over a year and a half since I have seen them and it was so good to catch up!  I worked on some lesson plans before going to dinner with a whole slew of the Dana boys at Joe's Crab Shack, where Rebecca works.  It was really neat to see the impact they are having in Destin this summer and how the Lord is growing and using them for his glory.  We hung out until late into the night again but managed to get up in time for Sunday School and church.  All of the Berry people go to the same church for the summer and they do their own Sunday school meeting.  After church, Rebecca, Alesa, and I got lunch at Tropical Smoothie and then I headed back to Mississippi around 1pm.

It was definitely hard to leave but I also had some work to do for Monday.  I made it back to Delta State around 8 and went straight to the copy center.  Finished my lesson plans and got in bed around 10.   I was so tired from this weekend but it was SOOOO worth it!  My trip made me so thankful for the relationships I had in college and the influence they had on my life.  I didn’t take any pictures unfortunately but my next update will be about the Fourth of July in Hazlehurst so look for some pictures with my next post!