Soapy Bubbles

As I sit on my couch, listening to the distant singing and preaching of the Sunday evening evangelical church down the road, I can’t believe I have been here for two weeks now. Life has settled down a bit and I feel like I have finally finished moving in. My apartment has brand new peach colored curtains on the east facing bay window, which means I no longer have to wear sunglasses while eating breakfast in the morning. I have a new shelf above the sink so now I can distinguish between clean and dirty dishes. I even figured out where the Laundromat is (its called Soap Opera…) and had my laundry done. Yup, I finally live here.

The first week of classes at Holy Trinity went by in a blur. I am teaching five sections of science now. The initial plan was four, but the 7th grade teacher had to resign the first day of school for family reasons so I volunteered to pick it up. I am teaching Life Science to the 7th grade, Earth Science to the 8th grade, Physical Science to the 9th grade and Biology and Chemistry to the 10th grade. Not a lot of overlap there, but I am enjoying the variety.

The first two days of the week were orientation so I didn’t have any formal classes, just a lot of introductions and scrambling to make sure everyone had the right books. The books for 10th grade did not arrive until yesterday so I am very thankful to the Gray’s for providing me with such great resources. The math teacher volunteered to cover the 10th grade Physics class and was thrilled when I passed on the teacher’s edition to her. What a gift!

At Camp Hi-Rock, where I have worked in various positions for the past seven summers, we have a tradition in the youngest boys unit. On the second night of every session after campfire, we read the boys, “The Place You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. If you are not familiar with the title, it is a wonderful book about moving on to new places and the journey that comes with every transition. It is one of my favorite books, but I did not actually own the book until about 4 hours before I got on the plane in Newark. I spent about a half an hour on the cell phone with Mom as she found the nearest Barnes and Noble online. I tried to key it into the GPS while Will instructed me as to which buttons I should be pushing and kept us in the correct lane. The effort proved to be well worth it. After going through the class rules and expectations, I read the book to all four of the grades (I have it about memorized by now…) and they were thrilled. I hope they take the book’s message to heart as much as I have.

If last week was any indication of the future, the lab classes are going to be a lot of fun. In an effort to strengthen its science curriculum, Holy Trinity has constructed a science lab with the help of several mission teams over the last two years. My goal is to get every class in there at least once every two weeks. Because we don’t have much in terms of traditional science supplies, each week will pose a new challenge as I try to get everything together in time. Last week, I had two classes do a lab on bubble making to practice the scientific method. Using straws, I had them test whether soap solutions with salt, sugar, or just soap would make the biggest bumbles. It was the first time most of them had ever done a lab and the kids got really into it and had a lot of fun. The only two hiccups in the operation were the 9th grader who got a little ambitious and ended drinking a gulp of the solution and the 8th grade group who missed (ignored?) the instructions, blew bumbles into their cups of solution and inundated their work station and themselves in a wave of suds. It seems like the best learning opportunities come when things don’t go quite to plan. I think those students now appreciate soapy bubbles more than I ever will be able to.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18: 16-17