My friend Suzi loved the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. I never would have heard of him (yep, it's a him don't let the 'Maria' confuse you) if Suzi hadn't introduced me. She found a lot of inspiration in his words and I'm impressed with how often they echo my own thoughts, though in a more philosophical, artsy, and poetic way. So to quote a great poet and simultaneously honour a friend, Rilke wrote, “And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." I'm sure he was referring to midnight of January 1st, the party hat, streamer, and noise maker kind of New Year, but for me fall is the New Year. Well, here at Dakar Academy it's actually early August...but you know what I mean.
This is the beginning of my third year at DA, crazy isn't it?!? By now returning to the familiarity of my apartment, my classroom, my friends and colleagues is comforting at the end of a long journey. This year though, I am most excited about "things that have never been". Of course these things are likely to be anything unexpected, but I am also thrilled about several anticipated changes.
For the past two years I have been privileged to be a Mid-termer with the
Pentecostal
Assemblies
of
Canada, but alas, when I joined the program it was a 2 year position and I have expired my status. When I made my decision to return to DA in the spring I didn't want to leave the security and support of the PAOC so, with a few meetings and e-mails, I have been graciously accepted as the first
ever PAOC Global Professional. This means I'm a professional (teacher) employed overseas (in Senegal) that lives missionally and maintains a relationship to PAOC. I also hope to volunteer with local ministry opportunities.
It's not a secret that I spend most of my time with middle schoolers. Between teaching middle school, sponsoring the middle school senate, and sponsoring middle school youth group I sometimes find myself thinking and acting a little
too much like a middle schooler myself! Some people find 6th, 7th, and 8th grade to be a scary place, but it's my niche and it's for this reason that I accepted the role of overseeing our new 6th grade transition program. I have observed 5th graders struggle through the move up to 6th grade for a couple of years and so, together with the school counsellor and our administration, we are implementing a number of strategies to help our newest middle schoolers adapt to the challenges of multiple teachers and classes in a day. Between lockers with combination locks, moving around the campus each period, stretching their minds, and learning to help themselves, middle school is a BIG deal! In addition to facilitating various orientation opportunities, I am teaching a new 6th Grade Study Skills class for the first quarter. Even these first couple of weeks I'm loving the extra time to get to know, encourage, and support my class of young grasshoppers.
Finally, I have been most excited to have been asked to act as dorm relief for our on-campus girls dorm. The school itself accommodates the children of diplomates, non-profit organizations, business people, etc. but the dorm program is exclusively missionary kids from West Africa. Every Tuesday I get to hang out with a group of 16 exceptional young ladies between the ages of 12-18 so their dorm mom can have a night off. It's a fairly easy gig, they pretty much manage themselves. However, I love having the opportunity to hang out with the girls, get to know them, learn from them, and offer them some extra support along the way.
And so I look forward with anticipation to this new school year and all the things that have never been...yet!
