The best thing about all of this is that I haven't regretted anything I've done while being here. My main reason for coming to Honduras was to volunteer my time and try to reach out and interact with as many families and children as possible, learn about their culture, and try different things, all while making great friends, and creating wonderful memories. Luckily, I feel like I was able to do just that! So, with that all said, I wanted to take the time to share pictures of all of my students with you, so you could see a few of the people that helped to make my experience here so amazing! I will miss each and every one of them so much!
These are my 2nd grade kiddos. They are all holding up books they created during our last few months of school. The most rewarding thing is realizing how far individual students have come since the beginning of the year, especially when I notice they have gained much more confidence in themselves. 
These are the students in my 7th grade Earth Science class.
These are the students in my 8th grade Life Science class.
These are the students in my 9th grade Physical Science class.Notice that in the past three pictures, the kids are all taller and bigger than me! I'm so glad I had a chance to teach these great kids. I learned a lot from them and about myself. They were fun to be around, and actually made me miss and remember being in High School myself. It was definitely hard at times, having to spend time trying to reteach myself Science concepts that I haven't thought about in forever, but it was all worth it!
This is Marieli. I have been tutoring her since November about 2-3 times each week. She is in first grade and attends a different bilingual school in town. Her parents are planning to move her to my school, Blanca Jeanette Kawas starting next year.
These are some of my students that I teach English classes to every Saturday night at the Cristian church near my house called Amor Viviente. These kids are so adorable! One different and challenging thing about teaching this class was that there was such a wide range of ages (4-13 years) and they all had knew different levels of English. However, it was nice to have the freedom to do different things with the kids, and forced me to think of creative ways to keep them interested! We played a lot of games, and I taught them different songs with funny movements to help build vocabulary.
Oh my adult English class!!!! I teach this class every Thursday night at the same church. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture with all the students in the class, a few left early and some weren't able to come that night, but this is most of them anyways! This class, by far, is one of the main reasons why my experience here in Tela has been so memorable and rewarding. I think the main reason these students have made such a great impact on me is because teaching adults is so far beyond anything I've ever considered doing! I think it's because of all these reservations and insecurities which I had at the beginning, that I learned the most about myself as a person, and as a teacher, needing to always push myself out of my comfort zone. Everyone that I've meet through this church and especially in my classes have become like a second family to me and they really helped to make Tela feel more like home to me. I looked foward to seeing them every Thursday night, and I will miss them so much!!
On June 12th, during our last class, the pastor and students prepared a dinner for us to enjoy together.
I wasn't prepared at all for the amount of crying that was coming later that night... Each one of them came up to the front of the room and said a special thank you and goodbye, coming up to hug me after, then the pastor presented me with a certificate, and everyone said a special prayer for me. Although they did make me cry like a baby...it was the sweetest and most thoughtful thing!
Tomorrow Sara and I are leaving for the island of Utila. If all goes as planned, we're taking scuba diving classes there, which takes about 4 days, and then spending a few last days on the beautiful beaches. On Thursday, June 19th we should be returning back to Tela, then we leave on Saturday, June 21st, to go back home for good!
I have a few more blogs to catch up on still, and those of you that know me well, know that I'll probably be finishing up my blog by the time I'm already back home in California! :) But I guess better late than never right?! Be sure to check back in to read my last few blogs. I'll see you all soon!!
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