Ending Year Two

Hello!

As of when I am writing this it is summer for Matthew and I! At a very cool 11 degrees C (about 52 F), we now have green and sun! We are headed toward the white nights (the lightest day is June 21) so there is a lot of sunshine now. This past year was, for me at least, very different than last year and just as much of a blessing. Our students and the whole community of the school gives so much to us and we adore being here.

As always, pray for the coming school year. We are starting to realize there isn't really a "normal" year at IA. :-) So far it looks like I will be teaching all of English for 7 - 12 (the upper three grades would be combined so it's not as big as it sounds) and Drama, which I have never taught before. Matt will be teaching Russian History, Ancient History, Medieval History, and World Geography. As always a lot of students will be gone but it seems that we will be gaining new students, which is a huge praise! Keep the school and board members in your prayers for this next year.

And on to the pictures! This week we only had three days of school and before officially being in summer vacation. Monday was a moving and field-tripping day, then Tuesday was Field Day. It was freezing cold for the time of year (though one of the Russian teachers told us the coldest it had ever been on that day was 1 degree C in the 1940's) but the students were running around and stayed plenty warm.

Three legged race

Wheelbarrow race

The teams were all a different color and were led by a 7th grader and an 8th grader. 

The end of the team has a tail the others are trying to grab. Here is a face off with blue, yellow, and red. 

Egg toss! In the very front that tiny Japanese girl was fascinated with her crushed egg. :-)

Tug of war! The black and white teams dominated this one.

Mr. Z announcing the winning teams. Red came in first and white came in second. Very fitting since our school colors are red and white!

 Graduation was yesterday afternoon. We had a "big" class of five students, but two students who had been with the school since kindergarten were also able to be there for graduation which was really fun for the students. They all gave speeches and they were very well spoken and touching. They asked their Bible teacher (and father to one of the boys) to give the charge to them. His charge was that they are a success if they love God through loving what they do.

The seniors with our headmaster.

One of the girls drew a picture of who is in her heart to show visually what was hard for her to say.

The siblings of the seniors sang a song with the seniors. 

The high school choir 

The whole school, K - 12, singing "This is my Father's World/He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"

It is very encouraging to see the school growing. If you look at this picture from last year (this song is a tradition) you can see how much bigger we are this year. 

Yearbooks were passed out and signed, picture were taken, hugs were given, and then a group of the teachers headed off to one of the only Mexican places in St. Pete: Tres Amigos! If you look you can see me peeking out from behind Matt. 

And that wraps up the school year for us! Our summer plans include my parents arriving in a few days and going to Sweden shortly after that! 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us through this year. Your prayers, emails, letters/cards, and donations are what strengthen us through each year!