2/22

Oo De Lally, Oo De Lally…

…golly, what a day! What a life-filled, beautiful day! Today was unique in many ways, but oh so full! Our 2nd grade friends joined us for the day, which worked out well since today was Career Day! After a few announcements, Faith opened our day with a beautiful prayer. Then I wished them a happy “Twosday”. They stared at me blankly while I said it again and asked if anyone knew why I was wishing them a happy “Twosday”. After a few guesses and writing the date on the board, they realized the unique date that is today: Tuesday, 2-22-22! I passed out a “Career Day” notes page (2nd graders have this in their binder, 3/4 have it in their Science notes section) and we prepared it by filling in the presenters for the day. Next, I introduced Miss Chelsea who is from South Africa. She covered all sorts of wonderful first-hand information about her home country complete with a beautiful accent. This included animals, climate, languages, religions and more! Luckily by recess it was quite dry outside so we went to the lot for animal races.

Upon our return, Dennis Larkin kicked off our Career Day presentations. He is both a Pastor and Missionary to Nigeria. He showed us where Nigeria is on the world map, spoke about his experiences there and in true missionary fashion demonstrated how he uses an evangelism cube to help share the gospel. He even prayed a salvation prayer with the students. If your student’s heart heard this for the first time today and they want to talk more about it, please feel free to send me a note. I would love to celebrate with them and help build some connections.

Krisandra Praytor, a local wedding photographer shared next. She showed the students examples of her photography and covered the skills and experience needed for the job. The students were able to see her camera and flash as she talked them through how light affects images and encouraged them to try their hand at photography at home. She gracefully answered many questions from the students including “do you make money?”, “is it hard?”, “how far have you travelled?”, and many more. Just before the rally, we read a wonderful book called “Emmanuel’s Dream,” which retells the true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah who grew up in Ghana. He was born with a deformed leg and, through hardship, went on to accomplish incredible feats.

We enjoyed the rally together before joining Mrs. Barker’s first grade class to hear from our local firefighter, Tim Boyer. The students each received a firefighter hat and were able to observe the many pieces of gear a firefighter must wear when going into a fire. He started with no gear so the students could see him and not be afraid and then introduced each piece until he looked and sounded much different, encouraging them that though he looks and sounds different, he is there to help. He gave the students tips for safety like making a plan, keeping the door closed, calling 9-1-1 and making noise. He also did a wonderful job at answering the many questions and obliging the students in a timed test at putting on all of his gear. He did so with record speed, coming in at under a minute and a half.

When we returned to the classroom, we began our Career Day reflection and illustration. We also enjoyed the delicious treats that “baker” Alyssa brought for us today.