Nearing the end

Our second to last morning started off with a hardy breakfast of hot dogs, scrambled eggs, and other delicacies. During breakfast we discussed our upcoming lessons.

The lessons for the day started promptly at 9:30. Megan played Scrabble with her kids and then had them practice their song for the Friday presentation. Amy and her class made props for the program and played a ‘clothing race’ type game where several kids from each side had to dig into a basket of clothing and dress up one of their teammates. Amanda went over the names of different objects that can be found in a school classroom. Erica taught her students about the four seasons. Lori took her class on a walk and taught her kids the English words for the things they saw. Vanessa went over the names for different jobs and public places in English, and then played Zingo with her students. Joanna, Jordan, and Mark’s group had their kids draw an imaginary friend and give details about him/her, and then taught their students about opposites. Shelby’s class learned about the states in America and wrote about which state they wanted to visit and why, and then wrapped the lessons up with a game of UNO. During the 4th hour, we had our last presentation of the session, where Erica, Shelby, and Megan talked to us about their hometowns, their families, and their lives. The kids sat very quietly, listened, and yelled with excitement when an interesting photograph appeared.

 We all gathered in the beautiful dining room a few minutes later, and were welcomed by the aroma of delicious szczaw soup. The second course was a breaded fish with potatoes and sauerkraut, accompanied by our beloved juices. During lunch we discussed the day’s lessons and which activity worked best. After lunch, teachers gathered in their designated work room and created their lesson plans for the next day and worked on their final presentations, as others played games with the kids. Next on the schedule was dinner, which consisted of delicious stuffed cabbage and cold cuts. The activity for the evening was camp weddings. It was a lot of fun to see kids dress up and pretend their wedding. It was especially fun for them to see some of the teachers participate. Following the wedding festivities, several counselors and teachers played a Polish Wedding game, which was so much fun, that everyone was screaming with laughter. After the evening activities, the teachers worked more on the following day’s lessons as the kids went directly to their rooms.

We were all reflective and sad that our journey at Reymontowka was about to end.

Journal prepared by Jordan