Year 2: Here we go!

Hello family and friends!

We are just over a month into our 2023 school year. Teachers returned to school on January 23rd and we had a busy start with meetings, trainings, and setting up classrooms. In my new role as the English Resource Teacher and P3 Bible Teacher I didn't have my own classroom to set up, but I had a chance to help all the English teachers in the school set up their rooms and create resources. I was also able to help the new English teachers in P6 and P7 write their plans for Term 1. 

Mr. Abuku (P6 English)

Students returned to school on February 6th and my schedule has been a whirlwind since then. My job as English Resource Teacher is to meet with each English teacher, help think of effective ways to teach lessons, help create resources for lessons, observe teaching, provide feedback, and co-teach whenever possible. I also teach Bible to three streams of Primary 3. It is a lot of fun to travel around the school and interact with all the different age levels, but also a lot of work. Our school is built on a hill, and I'm always running up and down the hill to different classrooms and meeting locations carrying my giant bag of supplies.

Ms. Zawedde (P3 English)

It's also been a challenge to learn the names of our 347 students, so I'm thankful for the teachers who have easy to read nametags for their students. (I think I have about half of the students memorized!) 

Ms. Akello (P2 English)

Please pray for me as I coach the English teachers at Amazima. They are so knowledgeable in the content the students need to learn, but have little experience with different teaching methods. In week 1 I sat in a class for 40 silent minutes as a teacher wrote on the board for students to copy. We've met about it, discussed activities that could have replaced the copying, and co-taught two lessons since then. My hope and prayer is that teachers would see better ways to present content, learn how to check for students' understanding throughout lessons, and feel equipped with useful strategies. I do not want them to feel like they will always need me for effective lessons, but that they are capable to create, prepare, and teach lessons themselves. I find myself wanting to jump in and do more than I should, but I'm constantly having to ask myself, "What would empower this teacher the most?" 

One of my priorities is also to spend as much time as possible with my former AEP students. The transition to mainstream has been challenging, but Brittany and I have tried to support them as much as possible. We've both tried to make ourselves available at lunch and recess to sit and talk to our former students, play games with them, or help with challenging schoolwork. I'm praying that as challenging as school is for these students, they will stick with it and be ready to take the PLE (Primary Leaving Exam) at the end of this year. We have had two former AEP students drop out of Amazima (Simon Peter & Peter). It is hard to let go and trust God when I feel like I know what it best for their lives, but God has been working on my heart through it all. Peter lives near school, and whenever I drive by him I want to stop the car, make him get in, and take him to school with me. Instead, I've stopped the car and had a couple of brief conversations with him - mostly just letting him know how much he is missed and prayed for. Even though the boys are no longer a part of Amazima, I know God is still at work and able to make something beautiful out of their stories.

Thank you so much to each one of you for praying for and supporting me. My time in the US was such an encouragement, and thank you for continuing to be a blessing in my life from afar. I'm so grateful for you!

💜 Jaci

My friends Doreen, Amy, Evarine, and their daughters
(Sofia & Jade) at Doreen's birthday celebration.