On April 4 our school had their annual science fair. This is quite a big deal here, as it counts as the entire final semester science grade for the kids, and many adults, visitors, and children from other schools come to see and hear the science experiments being presented. Each class is separated into different groups, each group responsible for their own experiment. I have 24 children, so I separated my kids into 6 groups, with 4 kids in each group. The kids worked so hard collecting the materials needed for their experiments, creating posters, practicing the experiment, and also practicing how to present their experiments and answer any questions in both English and Spanish.
We had a staff meeting a few weeks before the science fair to discuss upcoming events. To our surprise, we were informed that the science fair was going to be named after us, to honor all our hard work at the school. It was a complete shock, and at first Sara and I didn't know how to respond, we both thought we had heard them wrong! Apparently, each year, the science fair is named after a teacher or member of the faculty.
That Friday morning Sara and I walked up to the school to find huge banners and posters announcing the science fair, and our names appeared on all of them! All of the kids wore white coats (like lab coats), with a laminated name badge showing their name and the name of their experiment, mine and Sara's names were printed on those too! It was again shocking at for us to see our names everywhere, we weren't expecting that, but it was an honor! The funny thing was, that on all the posters, name badges, and everything. my name was spelled wrong (without the H), but I didn't have the heart to say anything, seeing as how so much time and money was already put into creating these, that I didn't think it really mattered anyways, it's just one letter!
The science fair was held from 7am-12 noon. At about 8:30 the school gathered together outside where Sara and I had the honor of cutting the ribbon to symbolize the official beginning of the science fair. In the picture below, is Vanessa, and Maurico. They are the son and daughter of Graciella, the founder of the school, and they both also work at the school.
After the opening ceremony, all the children went off to their classrooms where all the posters and experiments were set up. The kids stayed in the classroom, as visitors moved from room to room, looking and listening to each group present their experiment.
2) This second group (Elsa, Mevis, Mike, and Diego) had the trusty "Colorful Celery Experiment" that we all know and love. Unfortunately, their experiment didn't pan out as we had all hoped, the celery spoiled and died rather quickly, not even having a chance to soak up the colored water, we even went though 2 different sets of celery. We couldn't tell if it was because of the humidity and heat, or if it was because of the food coloring.
3) This third group (Guillermo, Nahomy, Michelle, and Kenneth) had an experiment called " The Hot Air Eggsperiment." In this experiment the kids showed what how temperature changes air pressure. They placed a plastic bottle in hot water first, then after, in ice water, then they put a pealed, hard boiled egg over the opening of the bottle. Because of the change in air pressure, the egg gets sucked into the bottle. Many of the kids enjoyed watching this experiment, cheering and clapping when the egg got pulled inside the bottle!
4) This forth group (Claudia, Christopher, Fernando, and Aiyln) had an experiment called "On the Level." In this experiment, they put honey, colored water, and vegetable oil into a large, clear, plastic container. The liquids settled into 3 different layers. Then they placed various objects into the container such as dried pasta, small toys, and metal screws, to see which objects floated or sank between the different layers of liquid.
5) The fifth group (Ashley, Loany, Carlos, and Winston) had an experiment called "Bottle Volcano." The poured hot, red water in a small jar, then placed the small jar into a large jar with cold water. The red water rises out of the jar, and settles on the top.
6) The sixth group (Cristian, Marlon, Nahomy and Carolay- last 2 students were absent) had an experiment called "It Floats." In this experiment they tested different objects to see which float and sink, and how we you change the shape of objects to make them float or sink. They tested out different toys and objects, then they used clay and after, aluminum foil, first placing rolled up balls of each into the water, observing what happened, then flattening it out and lying it on top of the water to see if it changed the result. 
The pictures below show my kids performing each experiment and explaining the procedures and results to visiting students and teachers from different schools.
Towards the end of the science fair, everyone gathered outside to announce the groups with the winning experiments. One group of my students won the first place prize between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. I just wish all of the kids could have won some sort of prize to take home, they all worked so hard! 
Also at the closing assembly, Sara and I were presented each a plaque honoring the work we've done for the school and the students over than past year. It was such a nice gift and such an honor.
FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATION:
On April 18 our schoool celebrated Father's Day. We were technically a month or so behind schedule, real Father's Day in Honduras had already passed, but better late than never right? So on that Friday, we ended our classes 2 hours early, at 3:00 and spent the last 2 hours of the day on our celebration. 
The day before, the kids were sent home woth invitations inviting each father to attend the celebration the foloowing day. The school presented a gift to honor one chosen father. The picture below shows Graciella, the founder of the school giving him the present.
Every class chose one father to present a gift to. The father/uncle/grandfather/ and in some cases, a mom, was called up to the front to receive the gift. We chose which father was going to receive each gift, though a lottery. The kids each brought in money to put towards the gift. Below shows a picture of my student, Michelle, giving our class present to her Grandfather.
Each class also had to choose a song, dance, poem, or some sort of performance to present to the fathers and to the rest of the school. I didn't get a chance to take an actual picture of my kids performing their song, called "Daddy-O," but the picture below shows then anxiously waiting to perform their song. 
Sara's class presented an acrostic poem.
About a week before we celebrated Father's Day at our school, all of the teachers from work went out to a nice Father's Day dinner. All of the women teachers pitched in money to treat the men teachers out to dinner. We ate a restaurant in town, right along hte beach, called "Charley's." The restaurant is actually owned by the parents of a student that attends our school. It was nice to spend time with everyone outside of work.
The funny and rather ironic thing was that, out of all the teachers at our school who are men, the only one that attended the dinner who was technically a father, was Carlos. Some of the money we pitched in went towards buying him a gift. Ms. Pacheco, our computer teacher, who has the most awesome, funny and silly attitude is in the picture below. She posed for pictures as she stood up, said a few things about Carlos, and later presented him with the gift.
I'M A SCIENCE TEACHER?!:
A few weeks ago I was confronted by Graciella, and the high school principal. They desperately needed someone to teach 7th, 8th, and 9th grade science (Earth, Physical, and Life Science) for the remainder of the year. Kim, a volunteer from Belgium, that had been at the school teaching these classes for the past 3 years, quit back in February. They had found someone to replace her for a few months, then that teacher had to leave, and then the last teacher they had found to replace the previous one was fired because of some conflicts that had come up between him, the students, and the school.
With only about 2 months of school left, the kids were left without a teacher. They were having a lot of trouble finding a someone fluent in English to take over the classes, so they asked Sara and I to help out. There was a huge list of reasons I wanted to say no: I would be teaching junior high students (one thing I could never see myself doing), and I would be teaching Science (yet another thing I could never see myself doing)! I was never really a fan of Science, and I hadn't taken a science class in about 5 years and would literally have to reteach myself everything before being able to teach these kids. I already had other commitments outside of school that were taking up a lot of time, like tutoring kids both in my class and from another school, and teaching adult and children English classes at that nearby church I had written about in a previous blog. And then there was the added fact that resources are so low, meaning it would be extremely difficult to do experiments, such a huge part in learning science, and I wouldn't have any access to other materials to help teach the content. I also couldn't get past the thought that I didn't feel as though I could be a good science teacher to these poor kids, who have already been through 3 other teachers.
In the end after debating back and forth numerous times, I decided to take over the classes. Although completely out of my comfort zone, I decided just to jump in and try the best I could to teach the kids what I can. In the end, I knew if they were coming to me for help, they really were stuck in a bind, so I just decided to suck up my own insecurities and dilemmas about teaching junior high science, and try my best! After all, I knew volunteering was ultimately what I wanted to come here to do, so I really couldn't bring myself to say no. Who ever thought I'd be a science teacher?! The first few classes have gone pretty well. Luckily, Sara was able to help me out in finding a website to download science videos from, and I've been taking in my laptop to show the videos in class, which has helped out a lot. I guess we'll just have to see how the next two months go!
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