This past Saturday evening, the parents surprised the outgoing expatriate faculty with a grand farewell party. They wanted to show their appreciation for the staff’s dedication to their children. It was a very special evening for me. The parents went to great lengths to express their gratitude. They had Jay’s mega-BBQ truck and plenty of delicious food and drink. There were many speeches, tears, gifts, and thank yous for each staff member.

Shown above is the mariachi band and you can hear a bit from their set. There was much dancing and merriment long into the evening. They had a karaoke machine and the crowd was so uplifted of my version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” that they got out of their seats and begged me to stop! The students had a great time running in the gym and park, and riding the bicycles around the school.

I want to thank our community on behalf of the staff. Escuela Anaco is a special place and we’ll never forget your kindness and generosity. It has been very rewarding to work with the children and parents of our community. We leave much richer for the experience!

I uploaded many photos from the evening. You can see all of them in my flickr.com account.

The office will be open today from 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM for parents wishing to pick up report cards.

Happy Birthday to Anthony M. today!

Saturday’s Accomplishments: Thanks to the teachers for helping out Saturday morning. We cleaned out storage room #19 and the AV room behind the stage.

Teacher Check Out: Most of the expatriate staff will be flying out tomorrow. Before they go, they will need to have their classroom and home cleaned a secured, their mailbox cleaned, summer contact information, and the keys labeled and returned. We do a final payroll later this week.