European Championships

This past weekend our history team traveled down to Rome, Italy, for the International History Bee and Bowl European Championships! Back in March our team qualified to compete in this event. Last year they had a total of 12 teams that participated, and this year they had 36!! There were a lot of hard questions, but our kids did their best and had a lot of fun!

Our weekend consisted of traveling by plane, train, car, and metro! There were long hot days but our students were such good sports through it all. On Saturday, three of our students competed in the Bee (individual) portion of the event. One of these students came out as a semi-finalist in the Junior Varsity division! On Sunday our team participated in the Bowl (team) portion of the competition and placed 3rd out of 8 teams! We are so proud of the hard work they put in this year with extra studying on top of all their regular class work.

Our students had many opportunities during the weekend to share with other students about our school, why it exists, and how they are missionary kids. I'm not only proud of the way they played, but of the way they let their lights shine for Christ throughout the weekend!

Looking out the window as we landed in Rome!

A fun afternoon visit to the Colosseum!

Even Miss Custer (teacher) and Mr. Stewart (parent) played in a fun round!

These students love to read!

All ready to start a Bowl round!

Our winners!

Out of Character

Those of you that know me well know that I am fairly introverted. This past week has included more than one occasion where I have done things that seem "out of character"... in a good way!

This past Tuesday we held our annual "Chrysalis' Got Talent" night. This night included a variety of performances from skits to musical acts. A few other adults and I decided that we were going to put on a lip sync dance to a mashup of "Bye Bye Bye" and "I Want it That Way" to surprise the kids. Sunday afternoon we got together and spent a few hours watching and re-watching N'Sync and Backstreet Boys youtube videos to choreograph our dance just right. On Tuesday we got on stage, threw 50 glow sticks into the crowd and started our "moves" as the stage lights turned on. While it was definitely nothing like that of an N'Sync or Backstreet Boys concert, it was so fun to be a part of something that got the kids so excited. I think they enjoy seeing us being silly as much as we enjoy doing it!

Last night was another night that would have felt out of character to me 4 years ago but now feels like a new normal. Twice a year our middle school student council holds middle school wide parties - "Fall Party" and "Spring Party." Last night the staff dressed up as villains for the Disney-themed Spring Party. Can you spot me in the picture below? I dressed up as the witch from Snow White. It was fun to play life-sized memory with the students and to watch them dance and take pictures at the end of the evening.

I am thankful for these moments to do things "out of character" for our students as it shows them that we really do care about them. I know that God is using me not only within the walls of the middle school but also when I get to do crazy things and share life with these students.