Prishtina High School had its grand opening this past Tuesday. It was a formal occasion with parents, students and dignitaries mingling outside prior to the ribbon cutting. Our principal greeted everyone and the mayor of Prishtina spoke. The family who funded and built the striking five million euro building was praised for their generosity and commended for their many benevolent endeavors in Prishtina. People filed in and enjoyed a variety of hors d’oeurves, a string quartet played and many smiling faces explored the building and classrooms. Julia got to meet my coworkers and Melanie & Daniel got to hang out in daddy’s classroom (but they like the 5th floor PE area the best).
The building is indeed beautiful. It was good to finally fire the starting pistol; now we can begin teaching. The next three days went quickly. We are teaching in “orientation” mode for the first couple weeks. Students aren’t in their specific classes yet because we need to determine their abilities in each main subject area – so Sarah, the other math teacher, and I are teaching together and trying to determine where each student belongs: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry or Algebra II. This orientation is a perfect time for teachers to begin building relationships while teaching fundamental skills.
We presently have only 20 students, so we are also allowing time for procrastinators – we hope there are several. God is throwing us a curve ball when it comes to student numbers. Please pray for this. We will continue to teach no matter what happens and the staff and students are already very close – bonding doesn’t take long with small class sizes.
4 comments:
Building is beautiful! Locals are probably "feeling you out" first, thus the low enrollment. Give it some time and enjoy the "team building" with your staff!
-sam ;-)
Palmers,
Continued good thoughts as you progress on this journey, the school looks amazing and I anxiously await updates!
Missy and Family
There are many people praying. Regardless of the numbers He brings you this year, you will have done well in God's eyes. He has blessed you with a beautiful building. This will continue to spark the interest and then when the word gets out about the great teachers, especially the math teacher named Mr. Palmer, your numbers will multiply greatly!
The mulit-level school is wonderful! The news will spread quickly about the quality teachers and new facility - your numbers will increase as well! In the meantime, enjoy the teacher-student ratio and the difference you will be making in these student's lives.
The Gilbreaths
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