Report Cards
Friday, November 19, 2010
I am back and a little swamped but it's really good to be home.
Scorpio is back too. In fact, as I write this she is dropping a load of kids off at the park where there is a spring for them to bathe and wash their clothes. I just got back with the first little kid load of 6 and unders. The park was crowded with 4 busloads of teenage kids there for a picnic. We jumped out of the car, lathered up the babies with soap and shampoo, let them rinse and splash around for a while, put on clean clothes and headed back home. The great women I work with are still there doing a week's worth of laundry because we STILL don't have enough water to run this place.
School is back in session. In fact, the kids all got their first report cards yesterday. We asked parents, guardians and older siblings to come for an open house. Some of them did but a lot of them couldn't make it because they had to work or had other conflicts. *Next time we give report cards and host an open house/parent-teacher meetings, I will be sure to do this in the evening. Lesson learned. A good number of the older kids didn't have anyone who cared enough to come out and sign for their report card at all. It made me sad and gave me something to think about. One of the boys, K in the 5th grade placed third overall, which came as a big surprise to me because he's always so quiet in class. He lives in a rented room with 9 other people and no family. He washes dishes and helps with housework so that he can stay in Surkhet and have the opportunity to go to our school. When I watched him get up on stage and receive red tika on his forehead in the awards ceremony, he was beaming with joy and the only thing I could think about was how sad it was that he didn't have anyone in the audience to watch him in that moment. Yet somehow it's acceptable because he is a 13-year-old boy. Boys... they turn 12 or 13 and we expect them to be grown up and "tough." We tell them that they're "a man" now and not to cry or feel or show emotion. All that pressure must be hard, no? Another boy in the 5th grade works at a hotel in town and the owner came and complained yesterday that he's staying too late after school and not coming back in time to work. It left me speechless. Was I supposed to apologize? Tell my 12-year-old student to be sure he rushed straight home to go and be a servant? I know I spend a lot of time here rooting for the girls but I just wanted to say here while I think of it, my boy students have been good to me. They're respectful and helpful and set a good tone for our school. They give a good name for boys everywhere. I just love them dearly and I really do feel for the hardships they have to face sometimes.
In 6th class (my favorite... shhhh) the girls stole the show placing first, second, third and fourth. Go Big N, K, D, and S!! 6th class is sweet, funny, competitive, entertaining to teach, and extremely talented. You should have seen them all going back and forth with each other about how the girls trumped the boys, which I have to say was a big surprise, even for me.
But, back to our little assembly...we gave prizes for the kids who did the best on their exams. Then everyone got measured for their school shoes for winter with our cobbler in one of the classrooms. There were parents signing report cards and talking with teachers, siblings running around everywhere, kids reviewing their exams to see what they got wrong, and then the school assembly. Things were a little chaotic but I got a lot of insight on what we can do better next time. The main lesson for me continues to be... not trying to do too many things at once. Next time in the little awards ceremony I also want to include categories like, "Most Improved," "Best Attendance," "Good class participation," and "Coming to School Clean," (you'd be surprised by how hard that last one is.) Of course, I didn't think about any of this until right smack in the middle of the assembly, while the kids were up on stage. Good thing I have this blog to remind me for next time :)
That's all for now. It's the weekend and I need to rest, but lastly, I want to share a blog that I am absolutely loving right now by a friend of mine, Marianne Elliot, who I recently met at the European Summit and feel lucky to know. In her last few posts, she's been talking about "The Girl Effect." I just love her writing and the time and thought she's put into presenting this full-faceted issue, which in my opinion we can not talk enough about! Please take the time to check it out when you can.
Happy Weekend Everyone! Love, Maggie