What a magical experience today was. On so many levels!

There was so much excitement and anticipation in the air this morning as all of the Great Shape volunteers gathered for breakfast and prepared for our first day in the schools. We boarded the buses and headed for the schools, many of us having never been to Jamaica or worked with Great Shape before.

The bus ride up the mountainside to get to Pell River Primary School could rival some of the roller-coasters at Busch Gardens if you asked some of the volunteers. As soon as we reached the driveway of the school, we could see the student, running to keep up with the bus and furiously waving at us newcomers. I immediately thought “Wow, this is going to be incredible.” Within the beauty of the mountainside, among the lush trees, and the glimpse of ocean on one side, lies Pell River. It looks as though it was meant to be in that spot and that spot was meant to have it there. I was overtaken by the beauty of the school, but it was short-lived as I was soon taken inside and saw the beauty of its pupils.

The children were so beyond thrilled to have us there teaching them, playing with them at break and lunch, reading stories with them, etc. For me the morning got off to a rocky start.  Just trying to get acclimated to how things are done there and the school schedule. But as the morning went on, I felt at home at Pell River Primary School. I fell into a groove with my students I had in my pullout groups. And the whole class instruction in the afternoon went so smoothly. I can already tell after today that by the end of the week, I won’t have a voice. The classrooms are deafening! But hopefully I can hold onto my voice long enough to finish the week. *Fingers crossed*.

My favorite moment today was at lunch time. I finished my meal as quickly as I could so that I could go play with the children in the yard. I decided to bring quite a few story books with me to the school and I am sure glad I did. I sat down in the grass with my books and began reading. Within 5 seconds, I had a crown of quiet children sitting around me and listening to my story. I finished the first book and began to read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. I had been told that many of the children here are up to 3 levels behind in literacy so I wasn’t expecting many of them to be able to read. As soon as I started reading the title of this book though, a group of the older students took over and read out loud the first 10 or 12 pages. They did it so confidently and with such enthusiasm. They helped each other when someone stumbled over a word and worked together, reading the book out loud to myself and the younger students. I was so excited to see the desire to read in all of the students and the thirst for learning. I knew at that moment that this week is going to be life changing. I was very lucky that my fellow teacher pulled out her phone and captured part of this moment on tape for me to share. Video