Sea to Sea Training: Part 2

We're always up for a good challenge and something new. This event definitely fit into that category. Last weekend a group of us went to the mountains to participate in a road race. We had tried hard to train for the event, but nothing could prepare us for the change in altitude and mountainous terrain. The race was suppose to be 15 kilometers, but when we got there they told us they had changed it t0 11 kilometers. Oh don't let me fail to mention that the race started at 6:00am! And so we have our first picture of the morning; all bright eyed and cheery. The 11 km was just the fun run portion of the race. Other runners were competing in a 40km or 80km race. Who in their right mind does a double marathon! One of the race rules is if you don't finish in 12 hours you will be disqualified. There were runners from other countries who came to participate in this race. The terrain was challenging; first 3 to 4 km were uphill, it was muddy, and rocky. The great part was that we had two short rain showers, the weather was cool, and the views were amazing. The race took us through a coffee plantation with spectacular views of the mountains.
Here are a bunch of us at the end of the race. Every participant got a medal as they crossed the finish line. We're all winners!

One thing I've learned to love about running and biking is that there's alot of time to think and to listen. In my last newsletter I mentioned our weakness in being good listeners. The open road is a great place to start being a good listener. Come down and ride anytime!

Fourth Grade Photo Gallery

It's time for a look inside the fourth grade classroom. I've been very proud of my energetic students. They have made so much progress in such a short period of time. They have also recieved many compliments on their good behavior from others around the school which is a huge step for them.

Their first assignment of the year was to draw a 'hieroglyphic' based on a chapter in the Bible and then present it to the class. Here they are in front of their Egyptian wall.

Urim picks up peanuts with chopsticks in Science class.
Ramiro tests to see if pliers are a better tool to use.
Jennifer uses chopsticks to pull raisins out of water.
It's chapel time! My students prepared the poem Shoe Talk by Shel Silverstien. Ramiro, the boy in the chair, is acting it out.
Jonathan paints a tree on his group's flower pot. Genid and Andrea painting in art class.
Anna getting her group's pot ready to have a plant in it.