February Happenings

I think CISP likes to squeeze as much as possible into February. :S

The first on the list of happening was the CISP First Annual Dance-a-thon. We're hoping to get a new building soon, and we wanted the kids to have ownership over what they were raising money for, so we allowed them to submit ideas to our development team and then vote on what the money would go toward. When I asked my kiddos for ideas, they suggested everything from beds for naptime (what naptime?) to mirrors at every desk so they could fix their hair through out the day (one of my BOYS suggested this one-and um, no!) to electronic whiteboards (can we say HAPPY TEACHER!) to new books for the library (YAY!!!!). The idea that won was the idea of a student common room. So, from 9 am one Saturday morning until 9 pm that night, students danced, danced, danced the day away.


We had volunteers teach everything from square dancing to swing dancing to the fox trot to the waltz. I was there from 9 am until just after lunch. I went home for a few hours, and then came back around 7:45 to cheer the kids on for the last bit. (That's when we broke into the "Hokey-Pokey" and the Limbo!)

I wasn't sure how my fourth graders were going to do, but since one of my kiddos stayed for the entire day (quite the feat for a 4th grader!), and several others were there for a good bit, AND since they turned out to do a pretty decent job of raising money, we ended up tying for FIRST place! 7th grade raised the most money--but 4th grade raised the most per student! SO proud of the awesome job my kiddos did! 

The next event of February was Winter Banquet. Winter Banquet is basically CISP's version of prom--or if your Czech, the Senior Ball (as in an actually ball!). The banquet is for students in grades 6-12, and also for parents and teachers. I love the fact that elementary teachers are not only allowed to attend, but also ENCOURAGED to attend! The banquet is held at a hotel. We start off with a nice dinner and then move on to an evening of dancing. Basically, it's a time to look pretty and have fun. :)

With my two wonderful roommates

Amazing co-workers and good friend!

One of my lovely fellow elementary teachers

Next up in busy February was 100th Day. Adventure Buddy and I got to work together to plan this 100-Fill-Fun-Filled Day. Here's a peek at some of our activities:

Fourth Grade eagerly waits to write a Googol (1 with 100 zeros after it)

We had 100 stations--writing your name 10 times, adding 10 stickers, etc.

Yay! We've been in school 100 days AND our kids are 100 days smarter!

Elementary proudly shows off completed 100 station papers.

 The final February event was the field trip to the Czech Christian school we have been partnering with this year. Field trips in Prague are FUN! We don't have a bus, so we use PUBLIC transportation. I occasionally watch the show "19 Kids and Counting" and in one episode the Duggar family was in D.C. They were talking about how difficult was to ride the metro with the family, because it was hard to make sure everyone got on and off at the same time. I can sympathize-a lot! To get to this school, we first rode the tram. Then, we caught the metro, and finally we took the bus. We had fun joining the Czech school for chapel and a movie, followed by games in the gym, and finally lunch. It was a fun day!