School Days

I know many of you are getting ready to go back to school.  I don't have that issue because I've been teaching in school straight through your summer!  Kenya is on a year-round schedule with 10-11 weeks of school followed by 2-3 weeks off throughout the year.  And I actually really like it.

We start each morning with an assembly at the flag pole.  The students line up by class with their teachers and we sing the Kenyan National Anthem alternating between English and Kiswahili each morning.  I'm getting better at the Kiswahili, but I'm certainly not ready to do a solo.  We then have announcements, devotion and prayer and then we are off to class.

Everyday, I teach four periods of English, two each (reading and writing) to Class 5 and Class 6.  I've learned an awful lot of grammar since I've been here. After lunch I teach three classes of general music so that I see Classes 1-6 twice a week and 7-9 once a week.  As of this week, I also teach Class 8 a writing composition class once a week. 

The students all wear uniforms that are provided for them.  All schools in Kenya, whether public or private, use uniforms.  It's a practice leftover from the British, much like roundabouts.

The boys wear navy blue trousers, a white button down and a burgundy striped tie.  The girls wear a gray jumper with a white button down.  Both boys and girls wear black leather shoes and burgundy wool sweaters.

The students sit two to a desk.  Damaris (below) is the Assistant Prefect for class 5, and gets to wear a badge to match her station.  Most of us thought the badge read "Perfect" and wondered what was going on until we were trained.  Oops.

I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but Class 5 asked me to continue reading a story to them instead of going to recess today.  I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Smile on!