Sunday, March 22, 2015

Consistency

Mauricio with the robot he designed
New School Year, New Staff, New Students, New Goals and above all JOY!

New Opportunities

We've done it once more... we've grown.   Our student body has grown from 144 last year to 207 at the start of the 2015 school year.   Yeah!  We are celebrating with the many new families that are joining the NCA family.   They have already jumped in and started getting involved in all sorts of different ways.  It is a joy to see both new and old working together to make the NCA community theirs.

New Roles

Two Kindergarteners waiting for their parents to pick
them up delighted me with their little reading voices
I am so thankful for some of the new roles that are being filled at school.   As we all know starting new things requires a few people to wear many hats until finances and experience come along and you are able to pass those hats/ roles along to others.   I'm delighted to have Annel, the sub-director moving out of the classroom and into the office full time.  She has been a tremendous help in managing all of the discipline and logistics of our secondary classes.   Consistency has been our focus this year in school wide procedures and expectations.

New Staff

Parent teacher conferences for secondary
Capturing the vision and mission of NCA is exciting and we are blessed to see God's hand of provision in 10 new staff joining us this year.  Join us in praying for them as they live and learn so many new things in the next few months

Nora- school counselor
David- Tech consultant
Martha- 2nd grade
Norlan- 3rd grade
Vilma- 4th grade
Freddy- HS Science
Yolanda- HS vocational classes
Felicia- Elem. English
Samantha- HS. English
Ulises- PE Assistant
Martha excited for our Celebration time

   New Goals

Do you notice something different here?
Consistency:  As I shared earlier  our focus this year is being consistent in our school-wide procedures and with discipline.   We are already seeing positive results from our efforts and that is very motivating.   However as we all know consistency is not something that you accomplish in one day but rather something you come back to every day all year long.   The importance of consistency
is paramount when setting high standards for what is expected both academically and behaviorally.   There is danger that comes from inconsistency.  This picture is a stop sign here in Matagalpa at a pretty major intersection.  There are three of them placed around town.   At first we thought that they were a joke put up by someone in town because it was not consistent with the international requirements for a stop-sign.  People ran the stop sign and did not respect as being placed by the local transportation office.  This stop sign is a perfect illustration of what can happen when we are not consistent.  Pray for the NCA Matagalpa staff, students and parents to strive for consistency.

New Home

In December my roommate Elisabeth moved out of my downtown apartment.  I was able to stay in the apartment for a few more months and God has miraculously provided a great place on the outskirts of town.   It has only been 3 weeks but I am loving watching the sunset from my porch.   God has provided in a wonderful way and I am so thankful for a calm, quiet place to call home here in Matagalpa.