Enjoy the photos!

Wendania in her pretty pink dress	The girls of the PreK4 class	The boys of PreK3 and PreK4 looking handsome!
Katy, Estefani and Heidi had fun shirts for the day.	The littlest ones: Rosita, Yiskeiry, Chinaida and Maria Estefani	Arturo rocking his polo shirt
Sweet Blaini	Peter is enthralled by the performance	Estaci had fun curls in her hair
Miguel Angel had a sweet hat and fancy pants	Merili with a pretty headband	Rebecca with her santa hat
Rosita had a beautiful dress on	Yiskeiry was a yellow bumble bee, complete with a flower in her hair	Luis Fernando rocking the sunglasses
Darling Frid had a fun dress on	Chinaida and Yunairys are all dressed up	Nikauri with her pretty red and blue dress
Profe Sarah with Manuela… this describes Manuela perfectly	Ayline looked like a present with the bow in her hair	Regina and Mari Leydy
Cousins Maria Estefani and Ana Wendy are all smiles	Camila and Ricardo with their dad	The purple club! Profe Narolin, Imani and Miranda with Ana Wendy and Aldiani
Sweet Ruth and Lucia are in matching white smocked dresses	Erickson loves his fancy football shirts and jeans	Carlos Alfredo, Raidi and Yeri all looking great
Alexander and Sariel in the traditional Dominican pose	Estaci, Aldiani and Heidi	Martin was looking smart in his button up shirt
Miguelina, Chinaida, and the Doctora!	Escarlet and Neifi were pretty in pink	Friends Wandy, Anthony and Isaac looking great
And in came the crowd! Willy, Wandy, Anthony, Isaac and Wilson, with Miguelina V in the background	Valentina, Escarlet and Neifi	Son, Daribelto, Yeri, Luigi, Martin and Andy posing for a photo

The PreK3 and PreK4 classes tend to just kick the ball back and forth to each other. Their “games” tend to be everyone crowding around the ball at once.

Michael kicking the ball with style	Aylin proving that girls can play soccer too	Wilner and Estefani race for the ball.
Renaldo waves his flag to "referee"	Carlos Miguel shoots… he scores!	Wilton kicks the ball across the yard.
Erickson and Sariel kick the ball back and forth.	Wilner goes after the ball.	Profe Miranda playing with Sariel, Wilton and Manuel
Alexander focuses on kicking the ball.

Our older kids in Kinder, 1st and Second grades are very competitive in their games. The kids love it when the staff gets out to play with them. We have games every day during recess, and everyone always wants to be the goalie (portero), so we rotate that spot between different people multiple times each game.

Ricardo, the "portero" won’t let any balls get by him.	Anthony kicks hard	Isaac goes for the ball.
Wilson and Ricardo watch as Daribelto protects the goal	Isaac, Anthony, Luigi, Daribelto, Estiven and Raidi chase after the ball.	Arturo, Raidi, Wilson and Anthony playing soccer.
Arturo stops the ball from entering the goal.	Profe Johan plabing with Memo and Wilsenci.	Daribelto and Andy race toward the goal, with Raidi and Luigi in pursuit.
Miguel Angel and Carlos Alfredo both aiming to kick the ball.	Gustavo proctecting the goal from the 2nd grade class.	Johan celebrates Bienvenido’s goal, as Miguel Angel sits in disbelief.
Miguel Angel kicking the ball away from the goal as Luis watches.

Enjoy the photos!

We worked HARD from Monday through Thursday. The team was composed of Doctor Merrillee and PA Darren, who performed checkups on all of our kids and saw their families as well. We also had Nurses JoAnn, Pam, Denise, Laura and Becky, Respiratory Therapist Tonya, Paramedic Tyler and PCA Tanda, who did triage with heights/weights/vital signs, assisted Darren and Merrillee and ran to the pharmacy when we needed more meds.

We started in the Office to get charts ready to go.	Anthony and Ricardo patiently waiting their turns.	Jen checks Neifi’s height to see how much she has grown
Andy is excited to see how much weight he has gained.	Jen checking Neifi’s pulse	Denise checking a blood pressure with Ricardo watching
Denise listens to Anthony’s heart	JoAnn listens to th elungs of a neighborhood kid	Tanda checks Manuela’s chart one last time before she goes back

In four days, we saw over 320 patients! This included our 80 students, their families, and others who live in the community that we were able to serve. Each student received a full physical exam The most common complaints included gripe (stuffy nose) and stomach problems. We dewormed all of our students and many of the other youngsters in the community.

Michael does the chicken dance to show all his joints and nerves are working well.	Michael showing Dr Merrillee his big smile
Julian our trnaslator showing Luis how to bend over for his scoliosis check	Wilner gets a good checkup!
Darren listening to Fani breathe.	Vanessa was focused on her deep breaths
One of our students gets a breathing treatment with Pam to help

We also took a trip out to Chichigua, a batey where many of our students come from, and were able to see over 50 patients there including younger siblings and other family members. We gave out antibiotics, asthma inhalers, vitamins, and a lot of love and support. The team selflessly poured out their hearts to serve those less fortunate than they were, and showed the love of Jesus to all who came to be seen.

We saw over 50 people in Chichigua!	Darren listens to one of our student’s mothers.
Doctor Merrillee checking a future Makarios student	This little one checks out well!

At the end of the four days, the First grade class made thank you notes for all the medical team, and had a fun presentation to give them out.

The first graders made thank you notes for the team.	Luigi gives Laura his note
Tyler with Son, Daribelto, Yeri and Mari Leydy	Thank you Medical Team!

We were so grateful to the medical team to come down. They provide such a service for our community, and we are thankful to have them.

Us with Darren and his wife Becky

Merrillee and Me

We started with a pile of shirts, pants and undies. By the end of the three days we spent passing out clothes, we had almost nothing left. Thanks to all who donated! Special thanks to those who donated specifically to buy pants! We were able to purchase the 26 pairs of pants we needed for the younger classes with what you provided!

Look at all the uniforms to give out!	The little ones are excited about new clothes.
Aylin, Rosita and Fani ready to try on shoes.	Lets see if these shoes fit.
Chinaida gets new shoes.	Wilsenci andCarlos are happy about their new clothes.

I don’t have many photos, because it was pretty nuts those few days. Suffice it to say, we had 80 kids visit the office in 3 days… and I never want to see that many in there that quickly again.

The second grade class recently had an Olympics competition! During recess throughout the week, they participated in various group games, culminating in a final competition on Friday afternoon.

The games were:
–Tug-of-War (sorry, no pictures)

–El pañuelo. The kids get in their two teams across from each other on the field. Each has a number 1-8. When their number is called, the race is on for the first person to reach Johan in the middle, who is holding a towel. They have to take the towel and try to get back to their own side without the other person tagging them. If they can, their team gets a point.

If your number is called, race to grab the towel	Ready, set….
Run! Wilsenci and Bernito race to the towel.	Luis and Scarlet celebrating a win.

–Plaquita: Almost like a game of cricket. Two kids stand on each end with bats, next to a bottle. To be “on base,” either their bat or a foot has to be touching the paper on the ground. There are two pitchers that stand behind the batters, and throw the ball from one side to the other for the batter to hit. If the ball is hit, or if isn’t caught, the batters try to run back and forth between the bases as many time as the can before the pitcher can get the ball and throw it to knock the bottle down on the other side while the players are off base. The players win if they are able to run back and forth 10 times without their bottle being knocked over. The pitchers win if they knock the bottle over while the players are off base.

Plaquita. Memo has the ball ready to throw, Bienvenido is standing with his bat on base, and Miguel Angel is coaching.	Eduardo is ready to hit the incoming ball.
Eduardo and Wilsenci run back and forth until someone gets the ball.	Carlos trying to throw Miguel out.

On Friday, the other classes came out after recess to watch the sack race, egg-on-spoon race, three legged race and balloon pop race.

The sack race involved heats, and the winners of each heat had to jump backwards at the end. Some of the guys got REALLY into it.

Sack race!

Jump! Wilsenci is in the lead, with Eduardo and Bienvenido right behind him.

This is hard work!

The egg and spoon race was made more difficult by having to hold the spoon in your mouth. Not so easy to do! They were using easter eggs filled with water.

Bienvenido is going the distance with his egg, but Franchesca is right behind!

Perla with a look of intense concentration.

The three legged race was not so successful. We rubber-banded the kids legs together, and then they were supposed to 3-legged walk down the course. However, they didn’t really understand the instructions, and instead hopped one legged with their connected legs raised between them. Pat and Johan had to demonstrate to set the record straight.

At the end, the teams were pretty close in points. It all came down to the balloon-pop race. Every kid was given a balloon, and then the teams had to one by one run down the course and sit on their balloons to pop them. The one problem: some of our kids don’t weigh enough to pop the balloons, and they tended to pop out of the side of the chairs.

Team 1 huddle. Neifi, Valentina, Miguel Angel and Perla are making sure no one is listening.	Team 2 is ready for action.
Grab your balloon!	Rachel and Bienvenido run to the other end of the field.
Sit o the balloon to pop it. Neify doesn’t weigh quite enough.	POP! Whoops! The balloon slid out from under Gustavo, but Memo is having more luck.

As it turns out, we’re all winners! Medals for everyone!

Enjoy the pictures!

We have 5 classes this year of 16 students each, for a total of 80 students. WOW!!!!!!

The PreK3 class is made up of mostly younger siblings of our students, plus a few others from Pancho and Tamarindo who were high on the wait list. Profe Yomo is the teacher of the class again this year, with Profe Narolin as her assistant. The kids have so much fun in there, and have really opened up since the first day of school.

The PreK4 class is mainly our kids from PreK3 last year, with a few new ones. Profe Bella is in charge this year, because she did such an excellent job as Lara’s assistant in the class last year. Profe Marnelia is her assistant. The kids are working on learning the letters, the sounds the letters make and their colors and numbers before going to kindergarten next year.

The Kindergarten class is lead by Profe Dena, who comes to us from California/Texas, and Profe Nicole, who worked with us last year as well. They are working on letter sounds and blends of syllables, so that they can eventually put those syllables together into words. It is SO exciting to see when these kids understand something, when that lightbulb goes off. Many of their parents don’t know how to read, and it’s fun to see these little guys learn.

First grade is headed by Profe Sarah, who is a fellow Longhorn, with Profe Belizeur and Profe Kelvin to assist her. Though they are all three new to Makarios this year, they have thrown themselves into their classes, and are really blessing their students. This class is learning to read small words, with the hope of fluent reading by the end of the year.

Our oldest kids are in second grade this year. They had Profe Johan last year, and he moved up with them to teach their second grade class this year, which has been such a blessing. Profe Genesis is assistant, and the kids are doing really well in that class.

So, those are our students, the reason for Makarios. We love them always, like them most days, and would lay down our lives for them in a heartbeat. And if I could bring them all home in my suitcase, I would.

We are still in need of 16 child sponsors, so if you would like to help with this, please email me at sponsorship.makarios@gmail.com.

Much love!

School started this year on September 21st. This may seem late to many people, but our new staff got into the country at the end of August/first of September after going to Mission Training. Then we had our 3 weeks of training/school prep (see yesterday’s blog) all to get ready for the first day of school!

This year, we have 5 classes of kids: PreK3, PreK4, Kinder, 1st and 2nd grades. Each class has 16 students. Our hope is that each year, the kids grow a grade so eventually we have a school that goes through 8th grade.

At public school here, no one usually goes to school the first week of school, because, if you ask someone, “well, no one else will be there…….” So it is really exciting to see our kids RUN up to school on the first day. They are SO excited to be here with us, that they showed up at 8am ready to play on the playground and meet their new teachers.

Yeri, Nelisa, Miguel Angel and Son excited to be at school!

After playing on the playground, we line up with the younger classes in the ranchito and the older ones in the front of the building to sing songs of praise to God and to pray for the day, and then they eat breakfast.

Enjoying the playground.

Johan leading song time for the older classes.

The PreK3 and PreK4 class ate breakfast, and then went to their rooms to get to know each other. The PreK3 class is mostly new 3 year old students, many of whom are younger siblings of older students. The PreK4 class is mostly the kids from PreK3 last year who moved up. After breakfast, the students go to morning meeting, where they have a greeting, read a story, and talk about the day ahead.

PreK 3 in their circle!	PreK 4 waiting to get into their new classroom!	Bella introducing the kids to their new animals in PreK 4!
Camila is the crab for the year!	PreK 4 learning about rules of the class (and Erickson can’t help but throw up his hang ten).	Profe Nicole reading a story for morning meeting to the Kindergarteners.

The First grade and Second grade classes are mostly kids from last year who moved up with their classes. All the kids had a ton of fun getting to know the new classmates, and playing fun games on the first day.

The first grade class participating in morning meeting with Profe Sarah.

Profe Sarah leading a fun game with the First graders.

The 2nd graders (Luis Fernando and Miguel Angel) greeting each other.

Perla and Memo shaking hands.

2nd graders in their first class.

During the first few days of school, the non-teaching staff was working to hand out uniforms and generally just try to keep the peace. We may have been tired at the end, but the smiles of the kids make it all worthwile.

Tune in tomorrow for pictures of our kids!

Scrubbing down walls.	A fresh coat of paint.	Paint.
About to repaint the logo.		Finished logo.
Prepping to paint the kitchen at the school.	The new paint in the kitchen	Raking the yard.
Lots of smoke.	Burning the pile of leaves.	A nice clean play area for the kids.

Andy braved the tinaco to get in and clean out the hard water deposits from the side, and we had a wonderful group of men from Water Missions International that installed a chlorinator so that the water in the school would be safe to drink, and so that we can provide clean water to the community around us.

Tight squeeze.	Cleaning out the tinaco (roof water tank)	Just a tiny bit of all the calcium that was lining the inside of the tinaco.
Friends from Water Missions Internation came to set a chlorinator at the school.	Final installation.	Julio ( on the left) and his assistant from Water Missions International based in Haiti.

The last group that was here from Pennsylvania and Texas built new desks for the second grade classrooms, repainted all our old tables and bookshelves, and pretty much got the school ready to go, so the teachers could come in and have classrooms ready to go! Thanks so much to all the groups who came down this summer to bless us with your hard work! We really appreciated it!

Beautiful work, guys.

New cafeteria tables too.

Made set of new desks for the second grade class.

After the new staff get here, we did a week of intro to the country stuff, and then started with Staff Training at the school. This consisted of some sitting and talking about the school year, some cleaning, and lots of prepping the rooms and lesson plans and such for the new year. Each teacher started from scratch putting things on their walls. To break up the days, we also learned some fun games to play with the kids and to get to know each other.

Teacher training with Jenni and Pat.	Learning games to play with the kids.	Honestly, we’re working!
Miranda in the library, showing off our fabulous new bookshelves.	Yosmery and Narolin next to the first day of school message for the PK3 class.	Empty PK3 classroom.
Marnelia and Bella are excited to start PreK 4.	A table and chairs made for 4 year olds. Sponsor one!	Dena and Nicole ready to start Kindergarten!
Belizeur, Sarah and Kelvin with a fun wall in the First grade class.	Johan and Genesis in front of the Second grade classroom.	Empty Second grade classroom.

Finally, one of the last things we had to do was talk to the parents before school started. We had a Parent-Teacher meeting about the expectations for the year, rules, how we are different from other schools in the DR, etc. It is always fun to talk to the parents, and to get them on board with our manner of teaching. They also got to meet their child’s teacher, meet our new Director Pat, and get any questions answered that they had.

Pat telling the parents about school policies.

The parents were very interested in what we are doing at Makarios.

And so, with all the prep done, the teachers trained, and the classrooms prepared, we were able to start school on September 21st! Stay tuned tomorrow for first day of school craziness!

Things that have happened in the last month and a half:

New Staff!
Staff training/School Prep! Blog coming Monday
Start of School! Blog coming Tuesday
New Students! Blog coming Wednesday
New Uniforms! Blog coming Thursday
Second Grade Olympics! Blog coming Friday

Josh and Jen Menold are our new Director of Operations/Host Couple here in the DR. They are in charge of all things Makarios here, along with being in charge of hosting groups when they come down. They have five children Tate, Belle, Ollie, Finley and Parlyn, who are all precious.

Patrick and Jenni are our new Principal and Curriculum Coordinators, respectively. Patrick is in charge of everything at the school, including discipline and expense reports, which used to be my job and I am SO glad to have passed off. Jenni makes sure the kids are learning what they should. They have three children, Gabe, Addie and Asher, with a little one on the way.

We have four new single gringa girls as well!
-Miranda is our new librarian/afterschool program/tutoring person
-Dena is our new Kindergarten Teacher
-Imani is teaching ESL in the villages and is the Outreach coordinator
-Sarah is teaching First grade!

Miranda and Dena moved in next door to us, and are fun neighbors to have. Sarah and Imani live one street over. We have had a lot of fun introducing them to the culture here, with trips on public transportation into Puerto Plata, Sosua and Cabarete to get to grocery stores, chuch, and the beach. I’ve also gotten them lost a time or two traipsing through the maze of the neighborhoods our students live in.

For our Dominican staff, we have Yosmery, Bella, Marnelia, Nicole and Johan staying on as teaching staff from last year, and Odilcia and Monica as our wonderful cocineras. We have four other new local staff members, Kelvin, Belizeur, Narolin and Genesis. It is so awesome to be able to have more local staff than gringo staff at the school, and it is great to see how the kids respond to the strong Christian male and female role models set in front of them.

It is so wonderful to have our new staff here! Since we have a Principal and no longer need the leadership team, I have taken a new role this year as Sponsorship Coordinator, which involves contacting sponsors with updates about their children, taking photos, blogging for the Mak webpage, and other fun stuff. We still need 18 sponsors for our kids, so if you are interested, send me an email at sponsorship.makarios@gmail.com I am also still the Health Care Administrator, taking care of the daily and long term medical care for our kids. We have a medical team coming next week, and a possible cholera outbreak in the area, so please keep the health care needs of our kids in your prayers.

Andy is still in charge of construction, maintenance, and doing whatever needs to be done to keep the school up and running. He has been pretty busy with school starting, and we’re hoping to get a new building at some point in the near future, so I imagine he will stay pretty busy.

OK, that’s enough for one day. Tune in tomorrow for the Staff Training/School Prep blog!