Back to School!

“Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.”


Forgive the Shakespeare, I just saw A Midsummer Night's Dream on Monday and am still on a Shakespeare kick.

School’s back in session! The kids were more than excited to get their break back in December and it’s sad for all of us to say goodbye to the summer holidays. Overall, I feel pretty darn lucky to get TWO summer breaks in one year. Sounds almost too good to be true, eh?

The last class started out the year in their old classroom which meant getting TONS of hugs from the kids I grew to love over three long months working hard and playing hard with them. When the newest bunch came in there was a weird feeling of “I’m going to love these children soon.” At that point I couldn’t even pronounce all their names (give Sibusiso, Umulo Kiara, Luqmaan, and Kuhle a try) and they were already getting pretty riley with first-day jitters.

By now it’s the third week of school and we’ve already started with the reading assessments and funny songs. Already I’m getting hugs and excited “Jen!”s when I come to the classroom. Handing out all the stickers in class and play with them at breaks has that side effect, it isn’t hard to win kids’ affection.

Here’s a picture of the teacher I work with, Mrs. Tshivhase! She’s a truly inspiring, strong woman single handedly raising her own family of four girls. Working with her has been a true inspiration in the dedication she shows to her students inside and outside of the classroom. Mrs. Tshivhase is a phenomenal teacher and already has me half convinced to become a teacher myself. This photo was taken by me for a book about South African teachers.