Thanksgiving Fest

"I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High."

Psalm 7:17

Thanksgiving Fest happens at CSK every year in between German, Canadian, and American thanksgiving. It's a fun morning at our school where the parents put on fun thanksgiving activities for the students to participate in. 

Last year I was sick and missed this day at school and so it was great to be able to enjoy this day with the students. We had so many wonderful parent volunteers who organized the entire program. 

We started our day with a whole school lesson on the American thanksgiving story as told so beautifully by Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Sally, etc. After the historical film by the Peanuts gang, the students were divided up into different groups to participate in the morning's events!

I compiled some of my favorite pictures from the day to capture a bit of what the day was like!

The kids are ready in their groups for the morning activities!

A fun relay game outside where the kids had to knock over the standing bottles. Thankful for great weather!

Students playing games inside.

Making cute, paper pumpkins

Her pumpkin looked great!

Decorating turkey cookies!

CB and a student color place mats before the meal is served.
(The place mats were a brilliant idea to keep the kids occupied before lunch!!)

Looking forward to trying some traditional American Thanksgiving food!

Sweet friends :)

The boys with their Thanksgiving lunch.

Special friends. 

One of the fun parts of the day was when multiple parents who were organizing activities or leading groups came up to me during the morning and said, "I don't know how you do this every day!" Of course I love my job, but it was great for the parents to get a glimpse into the busy life of a teacher and managing all our students! I told the parents that I am so thankful for all my students, but I certainly am tired at the end of every day!
   

Here are some of the many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

• Students who make me laugh and smile
• Wonderful co-workers
• New books in the library
• The first snow!
• My roommate, Amy
• FaceTime and Skype with friends and family in America
• Hot chocolate and cookies

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Martinstag

November 11th is a special day in most parts of the world. While many countries are celebrating Veteran's Day or Remembrance Day, here in Germany people are celebrating St. Martin's Day or Martinstag. 

St. Martin's Day is a day to remember St. Martin, a famous European Saint who became a monk and gave to the poor. He is known for giving his cloak to a beggar and saving him from the cold of night. That puts it quite simply, but is the story in summary!

St. Martin's Day continues to be celebrated in different ways. I got a taste of how it is celebrated in this part of Germany. This year was my first time participating in a lantern parade with parents and students from our community. In school this fall we made special lanterns with our students. Many of the students have these special handmade lanterns from Kindergarten as well and now have several lanterns they can use every year! 

We met in front of CSK where students and families sing traditional "St. Martin" songs before beginning the parade through the village. Then we began the parade!

I never finished my own lantern in our class and so a student lent me one of hers so that I could carry a lantern as well!

Then, throughout the parade we stopped at different points to sing many St. Martin's Day songs. We had practiced some in school and so I was familiar with many of the songs. Luckily, there were word sheets as well to help!

It was so fun to walk with many of my students and their families throughout the night. Here are some of my fun second grade girls with their handmade lanterns!

After the parade it was back to the front of the school for hot German sausage in rolls and warm punch. We tried to warm our hands in our lanterns and enjoyed time with students and teachers outside of school. 

It's always fun to learn new traditions and to share special memories with great kids and their families!

Einkehrtage- "Retreat"

Two weekends ago I had the chance to go on a retreat with the German teachers from our partner German school. As many of you know the school I work at Christian School Kandern (CSK) is a joint school program from Black Forest Academy and Freie Evangelische Schule (FES), a German school in the nearby town of Lörrach. The English speaking and German speaking schools have combined to make our lovely, bilingual school of CSK. 

The German school (FES) invited the English teachers of our school to come along on their annual retreat into the beauty of the Black Forest for a weekend of relaxation, conversation, and professional development. 

I didn't know what to expect going on the retreat, but was excited for a chance to meet new people and get to know the mission and vision of FES during the weekend. The theme of the weekend was "What does it mean to be called a Christian School?" The speakers and small group discussions times gave us opportunities to discuss ways in which we can be integrating faith into our school and into our classrooms in a way that is both authentic and meaningful. 

What is really neat is that this is a theme that BFA has been discussing in professional development times as well this fall and clearly is a message that is on the hearts of both schools. In addition, integrating faith into the classroom is a challenge that has been set before the teachers of these schools as they seek to show Christian character both inside and outside of the classroom. 

This weekend also gave me an inside to see the mission of FES. The school not only offers a quality education to students, but also reaches out to many students and their families in the area. They value the importance of serving their students and following the example of Christ as they teach and serve. The school reaches 100s of students in the nearby area at all grade levels and in all tracks of the German school system. This weekend also provided the opportunity for us "newcomers" to hear amazing stories of God's faithfulness as students and families have come to know God's love through the work of this school. 

It was so special to feel a part of this wonderful community and to understand even more fully the role that we (the teachers at CSK) have in their mission as well. Above is a picture of the many wonderful teachers at FES that was taken at the retreat. (I'm somewhere in the middle in the third/second row!)

On Friday evening there was a "Variety Show/ Talent Show" that the teachers look forward to each year. This year the theme was "The Wild West" and so the teachers of CSK decide to prepare a little something to show the rest of the FES teachers what our school is all about. We had so much fun coming up with a skit that included some of the unique attributes of our school: speaking two languages, cultural differences between Germany and America, some funny "kid" quotes, and of course all in a western setting! 
I was able to borrow some costumes from the BFA costume closet which added to the old saloon atmosphere. At the end of our skit we danced the "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and had a blast teaching everyone to dance along. :)

Not only was the retreat a wonderful time to enjoy the beauty of God's creation, continue to reflect upon my roll as a Christian teacher, and to be able to dress up in some Western gear, but it also was a great chance to connect with new and old German friends. It was great language practice too as the entire weekend was in German of course! I was so grateful for the chance to go on a hike, worship together, and to just "get away". It is such a blessing to work and serve with such wonderful people and to be connected with a school that truly values sharing Christ's love in such a real way. 

Here are the first, second, and third grade German and English teaching teams from our school. We stopped for a photo on the way down the mountain!

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus"

Philippians 2:1-5