Spirit Week

Last week was spirit week at Leone High School. It pretty much felt like your standard spirit week in an American high school. Each day had a theme. There were games during lunch that classes competed in and then Friday was a big assembly with skits and so much more.

Here's a breakdown of the themed days:

Monday - Bob Marley Day. (Yes, this gave kids an excuse to wear marijuana paraphernalia.)



Tuesday - Elementary School Day (I should preface this by saying, all schools have school uniforms here. I shall write a post about that one day. So this day was all about reliving your childhood and wearing your [or your cousins] elementary school uniform.)



Wednesday - International Day (Each class was assigned an island in the South Pacific to dress up in traditional outfits.)

Thursday - Support your Troops Day (A lot of American Samoans join the military to help subsidize their education, provide a stable income for their families and to get off this island, so naturally a day to show their support was in order.)

Friday - Black or White Day a la Michael Jackson (Self Explanatory)

I apologize for not having any pictures for the rest of the week. I "lost" my camera so I wasn't able to take any.

Needless to say. It was hard to get a lot of instructional time in last week because of the energy throughout the whole school.

So, Friday we had an assembly. All the classes prepared Halloween skits. The teachers had to prepare skits to Michael Jackson's Thriller. Naturally, my fellow teachers chose me to portray Michael Jackson. But there were no rehearsals. So I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Friday comes along and another teacher and I speak briefly about a plan. And then we hit the stage.

Basically, my dramatic self took over. My nerves dropped and I just strutted around the stage trying to dance like Michael Jackson. The kids cheered, laughed and enjoyed the fact that I was making a fool of myself. I'm glad I did it, except the kids are STILL calling me Michael Jackson in class and in the hallways. Oy vey.

Rain Day?

We are in the middle of Spirit Week at Leone High School. Today's fun activity was class football games. During lunch break classes played each other to find out who had the toughest flag football playing kids. The juniors were knocked out by the freshmen in the first round so I can't say for sure who won.

Anyway, it started to POUR at the end of lunch. Since a lot of kids were out on the grass playing or watching football many of the kids were getting soaked. But of course they didn't move. Then the power went out. Which isn't too abnormal as it goes out enough for it not to be a big deal here. But then there was talk of canceling the rest of the day and letting kids go home.

Nope. The end of lunch bell rang and we were all set back to class. Well, then 5-7 minutes later the bell rang again, so ALL the kids and most of the teachers assumed that school was canceled and everyone could go home. Really. School gets canceled because of rain!?! Is this American Samoa's version of a Snow or Hurricane day?!!?

Of course, I could not be so lucky, as 5 minutes later all the kids returned to my class saying that the second bell was just a tardy bell and that classes were continuing.

So, I decided to give my kids a vocab quiz. I know, I'm so mean.

In the end, school was let out 15 minutes early. Why? Because it was raining again.

Mid Terms

Very important news coming in from Leone High School in American Samoa.

Midterms that were previously scheduled for this week were postponed until the first week of November. How come they weren't moved to next week you ask? Well next week is "Spirit" week at school and there is just no way that midterms could be held during all of that mayhem.

WHY were they postponed to begin with you ask?? Well our ONE AND ONLY xerox machine is out of TONER and our school does not have the money to replace it. Sad but true.

Yes you read that right, our midterms were postponed because we do not have any toner to print our tests.

Mind you, this is after I worked all weekend on creating my tests, coming up with multiple versions so my students wouldn't be able to cheat. After planning the first part of my week around review sessions. All of that went out the window at 745am this morning when I learned of the news. Good thing I had some back up lesson plans ready to go today.

Another truly Samoan experience.

Church (the Samoan Way)

Some of you may be surprised to read this, some of you may be happy to read this but I wanted to let you know that I have gone to church the past two Sundays here in American Samoa. The primary reason is that one of my students asked Brenden (my friend and fellow WorldTeach volunteer) and I to come to his church. He thought we might enjoy it because his pastor is a Palagi, therefore, the service is in English. What my student neglected to tell me, not that it really would have made a difference, is that he goes to a Baptist church.

Two weeks ago, after a night of fun, I was awoken by my student knocking at my door telling me that he and his pastor had arrived to take us to church. Since he had woken we up, I stumbled out of bed and threw on some clothes. I'm sure I didn't look too hot. Once we got to church, everyone was excited and pleased as punch that we were there. People introduced themselves, asked where we're from and told us that they we so happy that we joined them. Considering what I've heard about most Samoan services here, this was a pretty short service clocking in around just a hair over an hour. I was happy to have went and happy to see one of my students in a different light.

WELL, then last weekend happened and it was a whole other story. Last Sunday was White Sunday. White Sunday is a holiday in Samoa dedicated to kids. It's sorta like a version of Mother's Day for kids here. See in everyday life here in Samoa, kids do a lot of the work around the house, most of the cooking and cleaning and usually eat last. Their needs tend to be thought of after everyone else in their family. Well not on this day. On White Sunday, kids are served by their parents, they are given lavish gifts and are treated like kings and queens. And what starts it all off is the children leading the service that day including songs and prayers.

So again, Brenden and I are picked up by our student and his pastor and taken to church. Mind you this time our student arrives in a completely white outfit with a festive necklace and a traditional Tongan skirt to go with it. He looked awesome to say the least. Arriving at church for the second week in a row people were thrilled to see us back, I'm hoping they don't think I'm going to make it a regular habit though. Anyhoo, the service was lead by our student and his fellow youth. It was adorable. The little ones were so precious as they recited bible verses and the older ones were so sweet looking as they pledged themselves to God.

I'm glad I went. I'm glad I experienced the day that is White Sunday. I'm glad to have gone to a church in Samoa so I can understand a little bit more how religion has played such a large role in their lives. But I was still not converted. I believe in myself. I have faith in myself. I am not scared easily and I will not be made to believe that I am a constant sinner. What is the point? As long as I am happy with the way I lead my life, then there isn't anything anyone can do about it.

*I'm sorry if I offended anyone with this post. I understand that religion plays an important role in many lives. I do not mean undermine one's faith. I just know what works for me and what doesn't. LOVE TO ALL*

Aunu'u

Friday night I left the comforts of Tutuila to go visit my friend Veronica who lives on the small island of Aunu'u. Aunu'u is just off the coast of Tutuila and is accessible by a little boat that takes probably 10 minutes and costs $1. It is a small but beautiful island. You could probably walk the perimeter in under 2 hours, however, those 2 hours would be filled with gorgeous locales and stunning views of the ocean.



Going to Aunu'u was great to get away from the hubbub of the main island. Veronica and I spent the night talking, sitting on the sea wall and catching up. A very relaxing atmosphere. The whole island has a big village feel to it. There is one "road" (with only 5 vehicles on island) that goes around the whole island with lots of mini trails that cut through it which means you end up walking through someones property. But everyone knows everyone out there and no one seems to mind.



The bright spot of my visit was when Veronica took us to a place called Siena and Tigilau. I'll let the pictures show you why it was so amazing. It was a place that I could have sat at for hours, contemplating life and enjoying the natural beauty of the places that surround me. A place to go visit again.

What three things would YOU take with you to a deserted island?

So I had my most difficult class write a little essay about what three things they would take with them to a deserted island. A lot of my kids wrote that they would take, water, food and some sort of shelter. All relatively normal answers.

Only in Samoan would a kid give this answer.....

I would take water, why because if you work all day you will be thirsty. and the second one is food because your body need energy to work. the last thing it is litter, why? because if you need to cook food, you will NEED THE LITTER TO BURN TO MAKE A FIRE."

ONLY IN AMERICAN SAMOA!

Yes, people are burning their trash here all the time. Trash, leaves, grass. Dead people. Ha. just kidding. But who knows cause the smell is god awful.

Parent Teacher Conference

Last Thursday, we gave our student progress report cards in preparation for Parent Teacher Conference that was held that evening. Each class period came for 30 minutes so teachers could fill out a letter grade and write a couple of comments. It was a stressful day from the very beginning.

The night before I had calculated all of my students grades. I was surprised with how well most of them were doing. Also a little disappointed with how some students were progressing. And then came my really bad class. I have 22 students in this class and I gave 15 of them a failing grade. Most were not shocked at all. Some kids tried to get me to change their grades but after showing them their breakdown and their scores they realized that they deserved the grade they got. I think it was a wake up call for most. No one is going to skate by in my class and get an A for it. Not in Mr. Drew's class. No sir.

After a 2 hour break in which we were supposed to be "preparing" for the PTC the parents started to arrive. I don't think its done like this in the states, but the PTC was held in our "gym." Each department was placed around the gym sitting at tables. Parents picked up their kids progress reports from the counselors and then walked around and talked to any of their kids teachers. The parents asked why their child got the grade they did and some asked if there is anything their kid can improve on. I had heard that some parents would complain to the teacher and try to get their grade changed but that was not the case with me. For the most part, all of the parents were kind, civil and happy to meet me. I met about 25 parents out of the 121 students that I have.