This was going to be our last day at SCSDB and I woke up dreading it. Not only was I feeling a bit sick, I was getting more and more upset as I kept thinking about the journey back to Kansas. Determined to make it a great day, I set aside those sad feelings and got ready to meet the day’s challenges.
Today was filled up with many different performances! The kids performed their play once again for classes that were unable to see it the first time. Cory felt sick and threw up before the play started; but as they say, the show must go on! After the play, the kids practiced doing some Braille. Yanni is up to the point where she can type her alphabet in Braille and Elijah can read Braille. Destinee and Landon were working on making good impressions on the Braille paper. I am surprised that Cory has not worked with Braille. With a condition that will eventually make him blind, he is learning to read, write, and do math with pencil and paper. Maybe it is wrong to teach him Braille thinking that he will become blind and that it is better for him to practice skills that seeing people learn? I am not sure what the best strategy for his situation is.
A student from Converse College visited to give us a violin concert. Mr. Neff had to sit in the back with Cory in case his illness was contagious while I sat with the rest of the class up front. It was different for me to have to care for Destinee. Usually, Mr. Neff would focus more on Destinee because she is more difficult to work with while I played with the other students. I had to smile a lot during the concert since most of my class was falling asleep. I do not blame them though since the violin music was making me sleepy as well! Des, covered in her blanket, would whisper to me every once in a while that she was going to fall asleep. I threatened to tickle her if she did. It was so sweet to see her smile and giggle as I tickled her to keep her awake. I was always a bit scared to work with Des but she really is just a sweetheart.
Instead of doing laps on the track, Mr. Neff suggested we walked on the Braille Trail since it was my last day. The weather was so nice as we walked toward the horse field! Along the way, the kids were talking about their favorite cartoons and saying the funniest things. Little Briana, who has a Grandma Cindy who lives in Wichita, Kansas (where I’m from!), told me that she prayed for me. The walk was so peaceful and full of happy memories.
Cory’s parents came to pick him up early from school. Before he left, they gave me my 
surprise—a canvas bag with the students’ painted handprints on it! Curious as to when they managed to find time to do this project when I was not around, I asked Cory and he gave me a clue that they did it when I was outside. Everyone in the classroom yelled at Cory to stop talking or that he would mess up their secret. I eventually figured it out and the class’s immediate reaction to blame Cory for ruining the surprise was so hilarious. I gave all of them Jayhawk stickers and listed my email address on the back. I knew that they were already pen pals with students at another local school, so I figured they could have a pen pal from Kansas, too!
After the school music program, where Mr. Neff’s class played drums while other classes sang songs or played different instruments, we went over to the bus lobby. I said my goodbyes to Landon, Elijah, Yanni, and Mr. Neff. It was definitely a very sad ending to the school day, but Yanni made me laugh when she told me, “Bye! See you never!” I told Des 
that I would visit her at her dorm later that evening.
When we got back to the Close Family House, some of the girls suggested that we go to Greensville, SC, since many of the teachers told us about a concert there. Downtown Greensville reminded me a lot of Mass Street in Lawrence where there were lots of little shops and restaurants selling diverse foods. I was not sure when Des’s bedtime was, so I rushed back to SCSDB only to find that the elementary kids had already gone to bed. Des’s RA woke her up so that I could say goodbye to her.
Everyone that we met at SCSDB was very friendly and welcoming to us. Our whole group did not want to leave and some of us were already talking about returning. I know that I will visit them again someday since I have an uncle in Atlanta and it’s only a short three-hour drive to SCSDB. The reunion will come and I cannot wait until it does!
No comments:
Post a Comment