First Day of Teaching: San Pablo Village

          Today was our first day teaching at San Pablo! The 45 minute van ride to the school was a very bumpy ride full of nerves and first day anxiety, but mostly a lot of excitement. Once we got to the schools, the students immediately began to rush to the vans, grabbing our hands and asking our names. The principal, Mr. Sho, walked all of us to our classrooms in the small school. I walked into our small classroom and immediately started meeting the students. I’m working with the Infant II students with Mrs. Melissa Sho. They were a bit shy at first, but they quickly warmed up to me. Then we went to the morning devotional, which they typically do on Monday mornings, but was done today because of yesterday’s holiday. At devotional, the students sang songs, and Mr. Sho had us introduce ourselves to the school. It finally hit me at that moment that I was actually teaching in Belize!
          It was ridiculously hot in the classrooms, so much so that even the teachers were feeling the effects of the heat. However, the heat was more than worth getting to know the students. I spent today getting to know the students and doing a pre-assessment activity to get to know their ability levels. I loved getting to spend the breaks, and hour long lunch, playing games with the students. I even spent the hour after school working with the students on some math concepts once we were finished for the day. We played games and got to know each other, and it was so much fun. 
          Today was only the first day, but my life has already been changed by these students. The students at San Pablo are so resilient, despite having so many things working against them. The students have so much enthusiasm and passion for learning, it makes me love teaching even more. I can’t wait to go tomorrow to work with the students again and continue to learn from such amazing teachers, who give so much to educate their students. I’m so excited to see what else I can learn and experience from this amazing place!

-Samantha Snyder Infant II