What do the duties of the day time janitor at the school include? On any given day jobs may include, but are not limited to: scorpion wrangler, bee keeper, snake hunter, garden waterer. Of course those are the jobs that take place before I unlock the school doors in the morning.
We do have a great cleaning lady that comes after the school day is over, so my biggest undertaking during school hours has been an exploding toilet, courtesy of a standard 1 student (3rd grader) trying to dispose of his excess rice and beans after lunch to avoid getting in trouble at home for wasting food. Rather traumatizing for me, as rice and beans are pretty much the food source around here and I've not been able to look at them the same way since.
The school day at the Casey Community School begins at 8am, give or take the amount of time needed for the school bus to run out of gas and get refueled, get unstuck from a vehicle eating pothole after rain, or any variety of other jungle maladies that reek havoc on punctuality in this part of the world.
When the students do invariably arrive, each school day is started with the raising of the Belize flag (and singing of the Belize anthem on Mondays and Fridays). After the flag is raised the students line up and are admitted to the school by class. As each student enters the school they are greeted by name and with a handshake by the teacher that is on duty for the week. This is a wonderful tradition that I will carry with me to any school that I may work at in the future - a wonderful way to start the day for the students and teachers.
Our assembly area, computer lab, school store, and so much more. |
Recently we had the pleasure of hosting a group of student nurses that gave a seminar on basic first aid and hygiene. |
Operating a school in the Belizean jungle is no easy feat. Even the
most basic school supplies are hard to come by, and the tropical jungle
environment has a way of reeking havoc on all things metal, electronic,
and paper. Oh, and don't even think about trying to use tape to keep things on the walls. The resourcefulness of the teachers at the school, past and
present, is truly inspiring.
Kinder |
The school also has a number of benefactors throughout Belize and in the
US and Canada that have helped to ensure that the classrooms have a
great selection of books, the students have supplies for arts and
crafts, and the teachers have plenty of stickers. We also have laptop computers and wireless internet. Pretty awesome for the kids!
My classroom |
Home to Standards 5 and 6 |
Our school day is basic, 8am-ish to 3pm-ish. We have 7 periods in the school day with morning and afternoon recess, and lunch in the middle. The current school make up is 44 students and 5 teachers. The classes are divided up with Infant 1 & 2 together, Standards 1 & 2 together, Standards 3 & 4 together, and Standards 5 & 6 together. Kinder is separate, but the Kinder and Infant teachers combine different combinations of their students for language arts, phonics, and math during the course of the school day.
Recess and lunch are deserving of their own post, so I'll keep this brief. In addition to your typical playground fare we have horses that love to share the students' snacks.
Our solitary basketball player. |
Soccer is king of the recess activities, at least for the boys. |
9am on October 17, 2012. Oh, and this is in the shade. |
More on the school to come...
AND back by popular demand:
The RANDOM ANIMAL SIGHTING of the week goes to the Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus or armored catfish, previously known to me as the Plecostomus. This guy was caught in a river in Gallon Jug. These are apparently an invasive species and environmental hazard. There is currently a $10 bounty in Gallon Jug for any of these fish caught, dead or alive.
Sean, I was so excited to find your blog today when I was Googling your school in search of your address. :) Great stories and even greater photos! I am so happy for you. Let me know if there's anything in particular your students need in the way of supplies, and I'll see what I can do. Hugs! Kristin
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