Let’s take a look in the academy…

This week Mercy Ships Academy had an open house to give parents (and the rest of the crew) a chance to see what is happening in the classrooms.

This is always a fun time of games, quiz shows, and students showing off their best work.

Here’s Savannah’s demonstration of primary and secondary colors.

In her third grade class, they had made laminated globes with continents and oceans that were velcro-ed into place.  Savannah beat her best time of 30 seconds assemblying the whole Earth, beating our Canadian buddy, Jeff, by a couple of minutes!  Even her new classmate Caroline couldn’t help joining in the laughter.

Here’s Savannah and her teacher, Miss Rebekah.  Only complaint? 

Miss Rebekah is highly allergic to chocolate.  No packaging with chocolate in it can be opened in her presence.   Savannah will have to wait until she’s safely in the confines of our cabin before she has a chocolate snack.

In Kylie’s class they were having fun with their new technology: a document camera.  You can see Theo’s hand being projected onto the screen.  With a document camera you can analyze student work together as a class – just like an overhead projector, but it works on papers too, not just transparencies!  (and as a teacher, your hands don’t come home covered in vis-à-vis marker! Oh the things they create!)

Here’s Kylie with Miss Angie.  You may recognize Miss Angie as she was Savannah’s second grade teacher last year.  This year she moved up to the combined fourth and fifth grade.

In the “Big Room” we have the student library, in addition to their computer lab, and science lab.  Here we were checking out microscopic samples including an ant, an onion skin, and cells from the inside of Andre’s cheek.  The ant was terrifying!!

New to the school this year is a French program, being taught by a French-speaking Swiss woman who grew up in an Anglophone home (her parents spoke English).  She is teaching all grades starting with kindergarten French! The girls have come home rattling off poetry in French and practicing their verbs.  At the open house they hosted France’s Weakest Link and had a showdown with the parents of French trivia.  I was voted off third.

On the left is the preschool teacher, “next door neighbor,” and mom extraordinaire, Dara.  On the right is the new second grade teacher, Miss Amy.  Behind Kylie is our friend, Michelle, who is also teaching a drama class for the elementary students this year.  The little guy’s introduction is coming next.

This is Xavier.  He is the youngest child of Dara.  Here he has been practicing writing in the shaving cream on the desk.  He keeps the whole crew laughing.

This year the girls are both in a handbell choir, and Savannah is taking piano lessons. They have a student-run Bible club on Sundays. Kylie is still contemplating if she will take piano or not.  Ballet will be starting up again soon, as will running club, and Kylie doesn’t want to overcommit.

Stay tuned for more updates!