After-School English Updates!

2013 has begun full force and I can hardly believe that it is already February!  Since we got back after the holiday break we have been working to start fresh by re-organizing programs, including creating new ones and leaving others behind.  As life goes, nothing ever works out exactly as planned, so we have had to make various modifications to the goals we set before break.  Striking a balance between meeting the needs and requests of the community as well as using our knowledge and skills to best serve the community has been an interesting and sometimes trying process, but we are getting there. 

The after-school English classes have started up again, and although I will not be teaching that class this year since Julie is taking over, I went to the first class to introduce Julie as well as to cover rules and logistics.  It was wonderful to see the outcome; there were a total of about 30 students so we decided to split the class into two as we did last year including beginner’s and intermediate.  Seeing the eager faces of the students I taught was a wonderful reminder of how dedicated and inspiring these kids are.  There were a handful of new faces which is great since some of the primary students we had last year have now moved onto middle school.  Speaking of which, today I announced the new “before-school,” English class we will be starting for middle school students so that we can continue working with the students who have already taken classes with Manna for the past few years and have a good working base of the language.  It is essential for us to continue developing this skill within the group of determined students who we are already familiar with. 

It is exciting to have many new projects underway while continuing some old ones, which is certainly why the time is passing so quickly.  I look forward to seeing what shapes and forms these programs take throughout the quarter in this new year.

-Jess