Today was probably the busiest day we have had so far. It was a double school day which means that we had to setup a show in the morning at one school, and do the same thing in the afternoon. As Dorina and I talked through the times, we realized that we were going to be pushing it to make it happen. Normally we have been getting to our schools 2 hours before the show in order to setup, soon we will just start arriving and hour and half early. For our afternoon school we already had to hussle in order to make it an hour and half prior to their first show.
Before we even left the hotel room I wondered how the day would actually go. Partially because I knew I would be tired. For some weird reason I could not fall asleep last night, which is pretty random occurrence. I probably fell asleep around 1am knowing that my alarm was going off only 4 1/2 short hours later. Luckily I was pretty refreshed for most of the day!
Getting to our first show was interesting. As we were nearing what the GPS said was our school, we noticed that it was actually the high school we were pulling into, and I had just turned a little too early. We got on the road again and drove about a quarter of a mile then we saw another school. Like normal we thought this was the middle school we were looking for. Wrong! It was still part of the high school, just a different building, but this different building was where the GPS was telling us to go. So we continued to drive and ended up in a residential area. I don't think any of them planned to house 900 middle schoolers let alone fit our equipment in their homes! We drove back toward the high school and decided that we would ask where the school was at. There were two gentlemen in the parking lot directing so we stopped and asked them. They were like "Nope, this isn't the middle school!" I thought that was kind of funny, because it was obvious that it wasn't and we were asking for directions to it. They ended up giving us directions which was helpful but I was so afraid I was going to get lost. Thankfully after driving about 5-6 more miles (in a blinding sunrise) we found the middle school.
The setup and shows went great. The students were attentive and responsive which is always a highlight. The principal had some really good things to say to the students to address them personally and relate it to the video. This is always so important in order to helps students really claim responsibility for their actions within their own school. Today though it was hard for Dorina and I to remain patient. The longer he talked the longer it will take us to tear down and the less time we will have at our next school. This came to my mind a few times and then I was reminded that I needed to stay focused on the present school. These students needed to hear what the principal was saying, and I needed to trust that we would be fine. Obviously we in no way had shown our concern about leaving, it was just something roaming at the front of our minds. We knew our time frame was tight, but I knew that somehow we would make it happen. These are the days for which we had intense training right?
We left the first school at about 11:25 and it was supposed to take us about 10minutes to arrive at our afternoon location. About a mile after we pulled out of the school there was construction so we were slowed down a little. It was so easy to get frustrated and worried that things weren't going to get done in time. As I was waiting for the flagger to allow us to go, I just had this sense of God saying "Tiffany I got you, I got you, don't worry, things will be fine." That simple moment provided me much peace. We arrived at the next school at 11:40 and started unloading the van around 11:45. We ended up being done with setup, except for a few small details, by 12:35! It was wonderful! I was definitely worried that we would be running so close to our start time! God did have me! It wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it was going to be.
The shows at this school went fabulous as well. Again the principal was so good with words, tying together the goals of the school with the presentation. During our presentation at this school, the learning disabled class was sitting in the front row! I had such quick interactions with them but they touched my heart! Almost all of them waved at me. Some were with an overjoyed expression on their faces and some you could tell were a little more shy but they still wanted to be included. I wanted to just go sit and talk and be with them!
Overall I was personally super impressed with this school district and had the opportunity to share that with the superintendent as well. At both schools the principal started the presentation by saying "Show me listening." The kids automatically knew what he was talking about. I was impressed by how good the relationships looked between the students, teachers and administration. There was a lot of encouragement, affirmation, high fives, and simple hellos being offered between them. It was so genuine and so good. Several schools are like this I'm sure, but as an outsider it was amazing being able to see it so openly!
I am grateful for such a good day! Even with a lack of sleep, not being able to find our school, shortened time constraints, etc., things went exceptionally well! Thank you God for patience and a good attitude (and a nap when I got back to the hotel)!
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