We are back! Curtis and I enjoyed some time together at the end of December. Then, at the beginning of January I went to Minnesota for two weeks as part of intensive classes for my Master's program. Since coming back to Colombia I have been busy. The beginning of the year is always busy for the Education Ministry as everything starts (and starts big) in January.
One of the goals of the Education Ministry is to visit all of the Lutheran schools at the beginning of the year and during the middle of the year. Because of my travel, I was only able to be in 3 of the 4 schools.
This year, we focused on looking at the mission and vision of IELCO and the role of the Lutheran schools in living into each of them. It is exciting to be at the schools as they start a new year (the school year here starts at the end of January/beginning of February), there are new teachers and renewed energy and excitement for the year ahead. This year was no different.
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| At the Lutheran School in Paz de Ariporo |
In the above picture the teachers each used a pipe-cleaner to form an object to describe what they were committing themselves to contributing for the year. This served as an ice-breaker activity and a way for us to get to know a little more of the dynamics of each team of teachers in each of the schools.
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| A group of the teachers from the Lutheran school in Sogamoso |
After studying the mission and vision, the teachers were asked to pick three values that they would commit to work on throughout the year with their students (each school picked their own three values). The idea of these values is that each school live more deeply into the mission and vision. At the same time each of the teachers have the chance to understand what it means to be working at a Lutheran school and the values and mission of the Lutheran church.
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| Zulma (left) and 3 of the teachers at the Lutheran school in El Cocuy |
What a great way to start the year! As you can see in the photos, the teachers are full of energy. I am looking forward to a great year ahead for each of these schools.
