Bug Plays and Dog Days

Since the beginning of the school year at the Casey Community School our students have been learning the songs for the musical BUGZ.  There are 5 songs total, all themed around bugs...an extremely relevant topic for Gallon Jug...though I was a bit conflicted about putting on bug spray during the play because the actual bugs were biting so badly during rehearsal at our indoor venue!

During the past two weeks students and teachers worked together to put the finishing touches on the musical.  On Wednesday singing, costume making, and production all came together when the Casey Community School students performed Bugz for the community.

Our soloists.

Army Ants marching.

Beautiful Butterflies

And the always difficult to photograph Fireflies

The play was wonderful, and students have already been asking if we will be able to do it again next school year.



Another recent 'project' at the Casey Community School has been a dog that took it upon himself to make the school his foster home. 

The dog started showing up at the school a few weeks ago, though his 'home' was a few miles away.  Initially we would return the dog at the end of the school day, but when the dog kept coming back, we were able to work out a deal with the dog's owner for the school to officially adopt the dog, who has taken up residence on the veranda. 

Last year was the first school year in a long time when a dog wasn't a fixture at the school.  I tried bringing Belikin down a few times to play with the kids, but she just ran back home (and still does). 

The new Casey Community School dog, Sully, likes to spend class time roaming the veranda, but loves running with the kids on the playground and field for recess.  Sully's self-appointed evening job seems to be night watchman.  We have not had our garbage dumped by raccoons a single time since he moved in.

Sully recently joined the Kinder and Infant 1 students when they went for a 'field trip' to the guava tree.

The kids also collected oranges to feed our other mascot, Ferdinand the bull.  He loves to camp out under the school's orange tree and snack.

And finally the POEM of the week:

A THANKSGIVING LAMENT by one of my Standard 5 students...

 

Thank you for the turkeys we can't kill in Gallon Jug,

How irritating, but good for them.                                  

A party we should make, for today it's a special day,      

Nothing done today. Looking in the                                

Kitchen. It's so empty!!                                                   

Feeling so sad.                                                               

U've got                                                                         

Luck, you can eat turkey and I'm glad.                            

 

                         

I think It's safe to say the Gallon Jug turkeys are glad too.

Teachable Moments

Gallon Jug is a fine mix of ranch and jungle, of modern and ancient.  We have the convenience of cellphones and wireless internet, in an environment where you are never out of walking distance of relics and reminders from the time of the Maya.  We have 'modern' roads that turn to impassible mush after a week's rainfall, and rivers that spring up (complete with crocodiles) overnight and in unexpected places, turning our nature preserve home into an island. 
Within this backdrop there are many 'teachable moments' in and out of school.  Though we have scarcely moved from fall to winter, already there are signs of spring, with trees and plants in full bloom, and baby animals starting to make appearances around Gallon Jug.
Three baby calves have been born in close proximity to the school in the last week.  One calf, named Milagro (Miracle), lost it's mother, and is being raised at the stables.

Children in Gallon Jug, and I think largely across Belize, grow up with a farm kid mentality.  They are explicitly aware of where the chicken and beef that makes it onto their dinner plates comes from.  This is an environment where even dogs aren't always viewed as pets, but also guardians the families live stock, and where concern for an animal's well-being can be secondary to usefulness and necessity.
All of these realities made being able to witness and participate in an act of compassion towards a baby cow, that has become more than livestock, both special and worthwhile.



In addition to the baby cows, the Kinders have also been studying tadpoles as they learn about the life cycle of frogs.  Over the past week they were able to watch as legs started appearing on the tadpoles, and baby frogs started to take form.

Weather Update

The rains have continued to dampen our school days.  This week the Standard 1 and 2 students came up with a clever solution to help lessen the amount of mud and muck tracked into the school.

The rain has yet to dampen our spirits, as we continue to be inundated with spectacular rainbows after every storm.

Garifuna Day 2013

Garifuna Day isn't officially until next Tuesday, but at the Casey Community School we decided to take time out today to celebrate Belize's 'Rasta' culture with singing and dancing and a dress down day.

Meandering to the Mangos 2

Standard 3 & 4 Poems

Standard 5 & 6 Poems

Meandering to the Mangos

If a list were compiled of the favorite spots of the Casey Community School students and teachers around Gallon Jug, near the top of most lists would be the mangal.  About a five minute walk from the school is Gallon Jug's 50 acres of mango plantation.  The mangos are used for the primary purpose of making Gallon Jug sauces.

This was a particularly good year for mangos, so we were able to get permission for the students in standards 3, 4, 5, and 6 to go to the mangal and pick enough mangos for all of the students at the Casey Community School to take home a mango.

 Mango picking presented an opportunity for teamwork and problem solving for the students. 

And a 'teachable moment' for the teachers, with students working on a 5 senses poetry project while at the mangal. 

Sports Update

Athletic practices are in full swing at the Casey Community School.  Boys and girls have been participating in weekly soccer and volleyball practices.

 

Additionally, this weekend Belikin and I had the chance to cheer on Meghan Houlihan, and the Keuka College woman's volleyball team, as they completed a 3 game sweep in their Senior Day match. 

Way to go Storm!!
http://keukastorm.com/2013/10/26/womens-volleyball-sweeps-on-senior-day/

Putting Up With the Rain

If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.  - Dolly Parton

My walk with Belikin this afternoon yielded a nice photo op of the school, and a quick google search yielded a pretty fitting rainbow quote to some up the last few weeks in Gallon Jug.
 
We are getting to the end of the hurricane/ rainy season, which has lived up to the rainy part.  There have been few rain free days of late, which has meant constant puddles on the playground and mud tracked into the school.  The kids have been pretty good about rolling with the weather related punches, but it has made things difficult at times for teachers, with additional activities needing to be plan when rain causes the cancellation of a recess or P.E. class.

The winter months, and the accompanying lovely weather are near, hopefully there wont be too much more rain to put up with, though I do like the rainbows.

Garden Update

The wet weather hasn't been all bad.  The Roots and Shoots garden is off to a great start.

All of our garden beds have been planted and producing.  The students have also been planning and planting additional growing plots.

Our mahogany nursery is looking great.  We had around a 50% success rate with our initial planting.  Students have been sprouting additional mahogany seeds to fill out the grow bags that haven't sprouted yet.  It wont be long and we will have 100 mahogany seedlings ready to be planted around Gallon Jug.

One garden issue that we are continuing to have is beating the birds to the cucumbers.   

There is a gardening adage in Belize that you know when cucumbers are ready to be picked because the birds have eaten them.  It has never been more true than in the school's garden this year.









It has been easy to get lulled in to a false sense of security because the birds literally wait until the day the cucumber would be picked to eat it.  So far their system has been flawless, as not a single cucumber has been picked for student consumption.  In stead we have been left with bits and pieces to add to the compost bin.  

So far we have tried 'hiding' the cucumbers from the birds under there own leaves and under palm leaves.  No luck. 

Monday we'll be hanging pie tins over the plant beds to see if that keeps them out. 

Any additional suggestions are welcome.