A couple of weeks ago I was in the Skagit Valley for a ten day teacher training. I was part of a team of 6 educators, professors, and administrators who had been working on our certification project for Project GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design), which is a synthesis of best practices for students learning English. It was an exhausting six days of coaching and teaching, but was very successful, and I am pleased to say our team is now certified as Official Tier III GLAD Trainers for within the agencies we serve (ex. I can train teachers in the Burlington-Edison School District). The highlight of the trip was seeing dear friends and family on the weekend and evenings after the training.
I returned to the village after 10 days, and after getting back into a routine outside of village life, and it took me a few days to re-enter the village routine. The day after I returned, my co-crafts coordinator Susannah left the village (we had been sharing the position during the summer, and she taught me much of what I know about weaving.) The next day I went down to the Craft Cave just hoping nothing would go wrong with the looms- the most difficult part of this job is trouble-shooting, mostly because I just don’t have much experience yet. I was still in “education” mode, fresh out of the GLAD training. And as you probably guessed, something did go wrong. One of the brakes broke on the “Peggy” loom and this was trouble I had yet to “shoot.” But with the help of Brennan and another craft-caver named Lori, we were able to not only fix it, but it’s in better shape than it was before. I was reminded that the greatest part of my job is being a willing learner.
Returning to the village just as my teacher friends were starting to get their classes revved up for the first day of school was a little bittersweet. Fortunately for me, the first day of school at Holden is a BIG DEAL. Although we live within a few hundred yards of each other, on the first day of school, one of the Holden busses drives up Chalet Hill to pick up the school children, and anyone else who can manage to get onto the bus. The goals are: a) get on the bus, and b) hold up the bus so it can’t get to school on time by creating a scene.
Brennan dressed in climbing gear, stepped in front of the bus, and took one solid step at a time, falling dramatically, as if he were about to summit. I dressed up with the Laundry crew (which is also located in the basement of Agape, where we live) and we blocked off Chalet Hill with a clothesline.
Other memorable “roadblocks”- a few people set up a game of Settlers of Catan in the middle of the road, and walked onto the bus in search of “brick,” and village Directors dressed up in white HAZ-MAT suits and were frantically trying to protect their two students (ages 16 and 12) from germs (hand sanitizer), mosquitos (bug spray), and the like. Their kids could hardly make it onto the bus with their parents’ hovering. Our friends Brian and Natalie staged a “hold up” as the Banana Bandits, and demanded the writing utensils of all the students if they were not granted a ride on the bus. It was hilarious!
Brennan and I also found out that the village asks staff to volunteer at Holden School, whether teaching Spanish or Biology or Sewing or Yoga, any village staff with skills in these areas can volunteer to teach. We don’t know what our roles will be yet but look forward to teaching in a different way than we are used to.
Also, our family is growing. NO, I am NOT pregnant!!!! We are sponsoring a boarding student from Minnesota this year, and we are her “family” here away from family. Alisha is a senior in high school and is rumored to be in the running for Class President (…she’s the only senior…) ☺
So as my colleagues and family begin school outside of the village, we are celebrating here in our own quirky ways. I love it.
