Last Week of School

Last week of school

The last week of each term here reminds me of the last few weeks of school in America.  Only we do in three times.  This year we were more productive than most previous year was we put off our testing week until the week before.  This is how it played out this year:

Monday there was no school as it was a national holiday-Mothers Day.  (Are you jealous?)

Tuesday was a day dedicated to teachers marking the examinations.  I worked with many students to write essays and draw pictures for Peace Corps’ 50^th Anniversary contest.  The winners get to attend our 50^th Anniversary/4^th of July Party in Apia.  I told my students that they will get to spend time with other Peace Corps and I would take them to McDonalds.  Since most of them have never gone to Apia, they have never even seen a McDonalds before.  It was a big selling point and many students did their best work.

Wednesday was cleaning day, also known to me as “Bring your machete to school day”.  School started early and students started showing up in their palagi clothes.  It was similar to a fashion show.  They were all wearing their best clothes I have seen.  It made me laugh as they were doing so much cleaning in those clothes.  Weeding the grass, moving rocks, cutting the grass, moving school furniture and more. 

Thursday was our sports day.  The school divides into 4 teams and they do different team games.  Relay races run supreme as there are traditional running races, coconut races, sack races, egg on spoon relay races, and a hysterical race that includes army crawling, hurdling, piggy back rides and boys helping dress females races.  They did other games with balls, and blindfolded search for oranges.   The kids always enjoy it and us teachers have fun laughing with the students.

Friday was similar to our prize giving, only the prizes were report cards.  Parents came in their best clothes, the hall was spotless.  Teachers gave speeches and called out the students to collect their report cards in the order they placed in the class.  People applauded when they heard their family members success.  A few students gave ulas full of candy for their teachers. 

In America, there is no vacation between terms, so teaching keeps continuing on.  It is very interesting to see the differences.