Beware of Construction

In my interview for this position, Andy (our director) mentioned that the school was in the beginning stages of a 5Year Plan. He described with great enthusiasm the amazing changes the campus would be going through over this time period to expand and increase its capabilities. The campus he envisioned sounded beautiful, and I was excited to see it for myself.

Fast forward six months and I find myself standing on the AISJ campus. It is beautiful with its open courtyards, landscaped lawns, and sprawling buildings. Of course, in order to see these things, you have to be able to look past the piles of torn down stone walls, open ditches in the middle of pathways, the frames of new buildings, the lovely hum of jackhammers splitting stone, the chime of copious hammers slamming nails, and the clouds of stone dust filling the air around every corner. J

Now, don’t get me wrong – I am not upset that the campus is in shambles. I truly believe that once all of the construction is done, this campus will be incredible. However, it is hard not to stand somewhere amongst the whole “mess” and not laugh. School starts on Wednesday, August 10^th, and there are an abundance of construction workers drilling, hammering, carrying stone slabs on their heads, or sometimes even napping next to a picnic table in the courtyard.

I am incredibly impressed with the calm demeanor of all those in charge despite the fact that our campus is not even close to being finished. Even more than this, I am inspired by the adaptability of those teachers in the elementary school who as of today (8/6) still don’t have a classroom! The 3 Kindergarten classes are creating three classrooms within the confines of the library! The positive attitude these teachers and a handful of others who don’t have classrooms is motivational! It reminds me that it doesn’t matter what the room looks like – just the learning and community that takes place inside the 4 walls.

I’m one of the lucky ones down in the Elementary portion of campus – I have a classroom. It is a great size, furnished with desk space and chairs for my 15 students and lots of supplies! We have spent about three days in our rooms attempting to set up and arrive at that state all of us teachers dream of – “ready for day #1.” In the states, I take my time preparing. I have been spoiled, in that I have always had a full month to set up my classroom. Therefore, this fast track to the first day of school has increased my stress level just a bit! BUT – every time I find myself getting a little overwhelmed, I remember that I actually have a classroom to set up . . . it could be worse!