Submitted by Rachel Narcho on the 2018 spring semester program in the Cayman Islands sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development…
This first week has been very exciting! I landed, made my way to the residences, and was picked up to have a tour of the school and meet the staff. Ms. Nimmi, the vice principal, gave me a tour of the school. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. I went home, and then I went grocery shopping. I soon came to realize this was a smart move because most stores are closed on Sundays! I enjoyed exploring Seven Mile Beach, and got prepared for my first week of teaching!
As I walked the hallways of campus, I was still in awe of how open and beautiful it was. There were no closed hallways since they all opened up to the outdoors. There were four courtyards, a swimming pool, a field, a playground and a special playground for the early childhood students. There is an IT tech lab, two art rooms, an MPR and the ARC for cafeteria, gym and musical performances.
In the first week, we had the 100th day of school, International day and night, and our Minecraft presentations. The first day that I came to school was the 100th day of school. Our first grade class created fruitloop necklaces counting by tens, until they reached 100. Wednesday was International day and night, where teachers and students came dressed in their country’s colors or dress. The day was set aside to celebrate the cultural differences of the students at CIS. Friday was Minecraft presentations in our class. Students had learned about the key components to a safe and effective community. The students in our class had worked very hard over the weeks leading up to presentations to create communities on Minecraft in groups that represented these safe communities. They created voice-over presentations to showcase to their parents on Friday. Parents and guardians came in to see the presentations and they were pretty amazing!
That concluded my first week, and was I tired! I went home, realized I was nearly out of food, and went exploring for local restaurants to get a taste of the Caribbean. I found myself at a little hole in the wall place called Chicken Chicken with the best jerk chicken for miles. My clinical educator had given me some recommendations for things to do and beaches to see. The Super Bowl was on Sunday night, and I found myself at a local outdoor pub to catch the game. You can take the girl out of the States, but can’t take the States out of the girl… FLY EAGLES FLY! I headed home after the game because I had an early morning…week two was about to begin of my study abroad adventure!