New School Blog

Dear Friends and Family-

I am back, safe and sound here in Quepos, getting ready for the upcoming school year which starts on August 16th!

I wanted to let you know that I have started a new blog, where I will exclusively be posting updates regarding the school. You can check out this page at elpuentecr.blogspot.com

I will continue to be updating my own blog, which will include personal pictures and stories at aslenk.blogspot.com

Thank you all for your continual support and encouragement! I am excited to see where God takes us this year! Please continue to pray that his will is done and that we follow with joy!

Love, Anna

Back in Costa Rica

After a great month in the states with family and friends, I am back in Costa Rica. While I miss the cool Michigan summer weather (well, at least less muggy), it is good to be back. AND, I am especially excited becuase a close high school friend (Sarah Hamm) traveled back with me and will be spending the upcoming month here in Costa Rica. I am excited about the chance show her my world, and, I must admit, was thrilled to have an extra hand (and suitcase) with everything I had to tote back!

Gallo Pinto- I missed this typical Costa Rican breakfast! And got to share it with Sarah!

Sarah and I got to spend a few days in San Jose, visiting Michele, a close friend of mine. It was a great way to transition- back in the Spanish world, with a little bit of time to take advantage of all that San Jose has to offer (and a great trip to Pequeno Mundo- one of my favorite shopping centers- think Big Lots for clothes :) ).

Sarah and Michele- I love how my worlds collide!

AND we got to hang out with Judah! Michele's 3 month old son... He is growing so quickly!!

Tia Anna

I am not only taking full advantage of Sarah's company, but am putting her to work! We bought about 50 lbs of Tagua that needs to be strung into necklaces and bracelets by the end of the month, to be shown at our Jewelry Fundraiser in September! Just a preview of what is to come...

It was wonderful being back in Michigan, and thanks to all of you who called and made an effort to catch up with me while I there. It is great to be back here in Quepos, and I am excited about getting the upcoming school year started and seeing what God has in store.

Kindergarten graduation

Felicidades Ryan and Vielka!!

Last Thursday we celebrated Ryan and Vielka's graduation from Kindergarten! We are so proud of you guys! Great job!

Receiving the certificate from Teacher Dee


Vielka and mom enjoying Monkey Bread (their favorite treat!)

WHAT!?! I'm in 1st grade?!

Rainforest Group

Two years ago, this is how it all started. It is crazy to think about. I met Bill VanDyk when he was staying at the Villa Pelicano in Manuel Antonio. He was on his anual student Rainforest trip, and because Nicki and Logan Dykgraaf were on the trip, they stayed a few nights in Manuel Antonio...

Last year I had the chance to go on the trip with the group, and this year, the whole school was blessed by their visit. They came and spent time reading with our kids, learning songs in spanish, and praying for our school and kids. It was great to have them and see them catch the heart and vision of what we are trying to do.

Thank you for loving our kids and taking the time to connect with them! They will not forget you!


In the classroom... Singing songs in Spanish and showing off their English singing skills as well!

Bill... promising Nathan a Judy Bloom book :) He will hold you to it!



Above, Kai and below, Emily with thier reading partners!

Carnival!

For a end of the year celebration and fundraiser, we threw a small kids carnival for our kids! There were games, water fights, hotdogs, and lots of prizes! We had a great day (an answer to prayers!) and a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who helped us pull it off!




Diego by one of the favorite booths- the Pie Booth! Random people were "arrested" and had shaving cream "pies" thrown at their face... I, of course, did not escape...

After getting pied...

The girls ganging up on one of the mothers

Diego played sheriff... which included this spectacular stash and arresting innocent people (like myself) to get pied. I think I got him back though... I told the kids that every time they hit him with a water balloon I would give them each a ticket to spend on the games... thats how the water fight started... it was epic!

Below were some of the games we put together for the carnival!

The Duck Pond:

A carnival classic... each of the rubber ducks in the pond had a number on the bottom. Each number had a prize. The game kind of failed because the ducks kept tipping over, so the kids would look to see which prize they wanted and then would go look for that duck. But they had fun! Shortly after this picture was taken Ethan decided that he wanted to go swimming with the ducks too... and dove in!

The Dinosaur Dig

This game was for the younger kids... inside the sand box we kid about 50 small dinosaur eggs that had baby dinos inside. The kids dug in the sand to try to find them! Thanks to Diego for providing the "Jurassic Plant" and Janelle for her Paper Mache insight into making Dino Bones for decoration!

Paratrooper Drop:

For this game the kids went upstairs and picked out a toy paratrooper. They dropped it from the balcony and tried to get it into the red tub on the ground!

Look out below!!!

Fish Pond:

Here the kids threw a fishing pole over the board.

Someone behind the board would hook a fish that held a prize for the kid... the kids spent a lot of time in class making the fish to decorate it!

Face painting!

Johnny, of of the dads, offered to do the face painting and it was great!! The kids had everything from iguanas to stars to blow fish painted on their faces!

Sucker Tree:

Pick a sucker! if there is a color on the other side you win another!

This was a favorite...

Baseball Pitch:

Throw a strike! Johnny outlined this for us- it turned out great!

Bean Bag Turtle Toss...

Balloon Pop!

Throw a dart to pop a balloon... Also a crowd favorite

Can Knock Down

A few pictures of us getting ready....

the kids wanted to help... so they decided to paint rocks for the carnival with sidewalk chalk... great job guys!

Janelle working on the sucker tree... one of the many long work nights preparing...

Janelle Visits

Thanks Janelle!

Janelle Sievert, resource room and curriculum director at Zeeland Christian, came down to spend a week helping us organize our curriculum, train teachers, and do year end assessments. It was a joy to have her! Our kids fell in love with her at once! It was a huge blessing to have someone helping us organize and "finish well"... Can't wait to have you back Janelle!

The kids made a thank you book for Janelle with all their handprints :)

Group Hug!!

India

Friday Culture Day:India

Last week, for our culture day, we talked about the people and culture in India. Aleasha, who traveled to India through YWAM (Youth With A Mission) shared a little bit about the people, the language, the traditions, and the poverty she experienced while she was there. The kids had the chance to taste Chai- a typical hot tea drink that many Indians drink on a daily basis.

Ryan and Valeria looking at a picture of a student in India

Every Friday we take about 20 min. to talk about a different country. Because Quepos is filled with ex-pats, we often get guest speakers to come in and share about their home country and culture. I myself love the presentations, but love even more watching our students. They are fascinated by the pictures. They ask smart questions. They are engaged! They ask when we will learn Japanese, or share their desires to visit France to see the Eiffle Tower.

Students huddled around the computer to see pictures (a projector is on our wish list!)

Watching the students brings tears to my eyes. They look forward to Fridays. They know it is a day we talk about God's people all around the world. They locate all the countries we have talked about on the map, and they speak endearingly about the information they remember. They try to eat with chopsticks. They ask about the languages and clothing. They taste new foods and talk about how different isn't bad.

Christopher and Emily praying for children in India

Then at the end of each lesson, we go around the room and each student prays. They pray for the orphans in China. For the poverty in India. They thank God for Anacondas and piranas and they pray that they won't hurt anyone.

And they pray that all the kids in each country will know Jesus as their friend.

It is a little part of God's kingdom, and I am so humbled to see it in our students.

It is my continual prayer that these students will have an open heart for people around the world, able to embody the great commission-living a life that reflects the belief that their God gave his son for each and every person on earth and praying that people around the world would know the fullness of HIS love.

GO and make disciples of ALL nations...

Tropical Storm Hits Quepos

Last night a tropical storm swept through Quepos and hit most of the Central Pacific coast last night leaving most neighborhoods without power and closing many roads due to fallen trees and light posts. Because Quepos is below sea level, it is especially prone to flooding. Many homes were under water after hours of heavy rains.

Please pray for our community as they are predicting a storm of equal intensity to pass through in the next 48 hours. Homes have been ruined and we are just starting to dry out- pray that the rain holds off allowing the community to pick up again before it is hit again.




Power lines are down throughout the city. The road to Manuel Antonio beach is completely blocked by fallen trees and the whole mountain is without electricity.




Another fallen light post.




Fallen signs.


At the school, we are thankful that all we had was minimal flooding (even though water rose to about a foot outside of our doors!). We are in one of the few neighborhoods that still has power.

Below, you can see how high the water was in our school room (remember, we are in a new building and we still had this much water! imagine the homes that are older and have less protection)




Below, almost clean- just getting the last layer of water out of the classroom.



Below our library and reading corner out in the sun to dry. Disappointed that we may have lost quite a few books, but realize that this is minimal loss compared to many families and individuals in our community.



Thank you to my Costa Rican family and community here who has called and stopped by, concerned and checking in on me. We hope that we will be back in classes tomorrow if there is not another storm. Many of our students were without electricity and unable to leave their homes due to road blockages. Pray that everything gets cleared up safely and that no one was hurt!

Thank you Spruce Pine, NC Rotary!

Thank you Sprice Pine, NC Rotary for your donations that went towards buying dictionaries for our classroom! The 2nd graders are working on alphabetizing and learning about all the uses for a dictionary. (They love the pictures :) ) And a few of our kids have read the book FRINDLE... and are getting crazy ideas... calling Aleasha Mrs. Granger (the teacher in the book who is renown for her love of the dictionary and making her kids study vocabulary)

The Spruce Pine Rotary also donated maps, dictionaries and other classroom resources to the small school in Cerros! Below a group of Cerros students, some of our students, and the teacher in Cerros.

Reading Pairs

Every day we have a little down time after recess to sit and read. This is usually when the teacher reads aloud to the class. However, once in a while, the kids get together and read in pairs. They love it! It is one of those times when I am SO thankful to have a multi-age classroom! It is such a blessing to see the kids engaging in literature with their peers and with a joy for reading! They come in from recess now and ask "Can we read en parejas hoy?" (In pairs today!?!)