Week Six: Back to School

November 22nd-November 26th 2010

Students returned to school on Monday, but it was not a typical school day. We gathered together for the morning assembly and briefly discussed the hurricane. We prayed like usual, but particularly focused on the hurricane victims. Students also commented on how thankful they were that more damage did not occur and that God protected them throughout this tragedy. Students were dismissed from the assembly and went back to their individual classrooms to debrief with their homeroom class.

In grade six, we started by having students share stories about their hurricane experience. It was very interesting to see how detailed their recollections were. One girl was somewhat broken up about the damage that was done to her house, but stated how quickly members of the community came to her family's aid. The roof on her house completely came off and several windows were broken. However, she still had a positive outlook on things and was thankful that her house is still standing. I thought it was very neat how many of these students were still able to see the light during such a devastating time.

The students watched a video about Hurricane Tomas that some of the teachers put together. Since most of the severe damage occurred in the Southern part of the island, students had not yet been completely exposed to it all. I thought the students were very receptive to the video, which helped to make our debriefing session even more beneficial. It was nice to see the students come together and console one another.

The remainder of the week was spent reviewing prior concepts that were taught before the hurricane. Principal Jean did not want the teachers to dive right into the curriculum again and introduce new topics. Teachers were asked to construct a plan for review so that they could determine where the students were at and what they remembered. The first term of the school year is usually the biggest teaching term. A lot of time was lost, however, it is important to make sure that the students did not forget what was already taught. New concepts will be introduced next week.