A Day in the Life

Here is a little play by play of what thrilling adventures my average day at school brings.  I feel like I could write a 4 volume series on what I have experienced so far (and to be honest, this post is going to be a long one, but definitely a good one for insight into my day to day life), but I have been so busy experiencing it that I can barely find the time to write about it.  No worries though, my loyal blog readers (at least I hope some people are reading this) – I have gone into “Super Michael Productive Mode” which has me already finishing out my lessons for the week before it even begins and I will be way ahead of the game from now on.  That is until my side projects of renovating the back porch, researching the current Chinese tourism development contraversy (more information to come) and coming up with ways to educate the people of Yap on the issue, and of course just basking in the beauty of this island – hop back to the top of my everchanging priorities list.  So – there should be some blog posts and letters coming your way!

6:00 AM – Alarm #1 rings its joyous tones.  Usually, the roosters have formed a nice little quartet just outside my window to so generously encourage me out of bed.

6:13 AM – If it was a late night, or if it happens to be pouring outside (the rain keeps the cock-a-doodle-doos to a dull roar), I let myself finish off my fantastically vivid dreams until Alarm #2 forces me into the reality that I am indeed waking up in the middle of a tropical rainforest and I really do need to get out of bed in order to educate the youth of Yap.

6:20 AM – By this point I am staring directly into the shower head with determination burning in my eyes as I will myself forward to endure those first painful seconds of icy rain before my body adjusts.  On a good day, I shave – mostly because the Junior girls actually point it out to me when I haven’t shaved (I know – who thought I could grow visible facial hair in just one day!)

6:30 AM – If I haven’t made my lunch yet, I throw together a PB & J sandwich, or maybe some tuna, or some delicious leftovers.  Rosemary and I share a doubledecker lunch box.  It is the greatest invention of all time, and saves us a lot of plastic baggies, which in turn saves the environment.

6:40 AM – I do a quick double check that I have everything I need and brush my teeth before heading out the door.  At this point, I decide if my button-up shirt and khaki shorts fit my mood for the day.  If they don’t – I trade it out for a nice polo (I have a total of 10 outfits for school- makes the decisions hard)

7:00 AM – I arrive at St. Mary’s Parish for the daily morning Mass.  I am accompanied by a couple Filipino women, a few Yapese women, and both Fr. Johns (one is saying the mass).  I won’t lie, I use this time to calm my mind for the day, to think over my lessons, to wonder how people back home are doing, to reflect on how I am doing, and sometimes I even get some great ideas for my religion class!  I also have the duty of escorting the dogs out of the church when they decide to wander in – I am hoping to move up to “reader” or “gift bearer” soon, but for now – “dog escorter” is fine by me.

7:35 AM -  The other volunteers – Caitlin, Rosemary, and Jane – arrive at the church and we pile in the priest’s car which is about as inappropriate for the terrain of the island as it is for a woman on Yap to show her thighs.  Fr. John Mulreany drives.  We have decided that our unofficial nickname is the “Taro Patch Kids,” at least until we come up with our official “Corps” name.

7:48 AM- We arrive at the gorgeous new campus of YCHS, and if we are on time, then we just beat the bus that carries a majority of the students.  If we are running late, we get stuck behind said bus.

7:52 AM – I head to the freshman building where I unlock the office and classroom.  I do a quick set-up of anything I need to do before opening up, and then I let the freshmen come swarming in to their desks.  The students are in charge of opening up all of the window covers (our windows are just wide-open to create better air flow).  I then chit chat with the freshmen as they prepare for the day.  This is such a great way to get in the mood for a fantastic day.

8:15 AM – I head over to the Junior Classroom with the freshmen for Morning Assembly.  This is a time for any announcements to the school, as well as a reflection or prayer led by one of the teachers.  We also offer up any intentions that anyone has for the day.  It is the perfect way to start the day focusing on why we are here.

8:30 AM – Everyone else heads off to their 1^st period classes and I head straight to the Junior Office to make any copies I need for the day as well as to go over my notes for my lessons for the day.  I ALWAYS need to spend about 10 minutes typing up Geometry Homework problems because our book is a review book and lacks many problems.  We also have a paper shortage (it is VERY expensive) – so I need to make tiny slips of problems that fit about 10 problem sets per page so I only need to print out 2 total.  It is quite the fun daily ritual.

9:15 AM - I relieve Rose from the Sophomore Class as I launch into my Geometry lesson.  We always begin with either a quiz or a problem of the day – this also allows me time to hand out their homework and quizzes from the day before.  I find it is a great way to keep track of whether or not they comprehended and absorbed the previous day’s lesson.  The Sophomores are a class with a lot of attitude and personality – but I am learning to play off of it to make the class fun.  The students were raised to hate math, and many lack basic math skills – so the range of abilities is shockingly wide, but I work individually with a few of the struggling students at the end of the day and it seems to be working out.

9:55 AM – I head out of the Sophomore room and relax for a bit before hopping right into grading Geometry homework and quizzes.  I do all of this sprawled out on the wrap-around veranda of the classroom.  It is so peaceful on our campus, and there is an absolutely breath-taking lake behind the buildings, unfortunately, it apparently dries up once we enter the Dry Season.  I usually review my other lessons for the day before working ahead on future days lesson plans.

10:45 AM – LUNCH TIME!  It may seem early, but by this point I am ready to eat whatever comes my way.  I quickly devour my lunch so that I can join the crowd of students that enjoy passing a volleyball around in a circle.  I hope to set-up a court, or at least a net, on campus soon.  The boys have an impressive amount of natural ability and could be phenomenal players with a little coaching. 

11:15 AM – One of my favorite times of the day – when I get to step in front of the Junior Class of 8 students and attempt to teach Chemistry.  I never realized how much I actually have picked up on the subject, and actually adore teaching this class.  I have already successfully pulled off our first lab day, and have many more to come!  I have also thrown fire balls at the class using some flash paper, and I really have them hooked on learning how many cool things there really are revolving around Chemistry.  I built in a system in this class called “Tangent Time” – it has a symbol and everything – that signifies when we can stop taking notes, and instead we go off into the deep recesses of my mind and I explain to the best of my ability how the world works.  When I don’t know the answer to something brought up in Tangent Time – I say what I know, then tell them we will come back to it next time – this has now led to me learning an obnoxious amount of information on the process of turning cement into concrete – which will be our next lab day near the new Senior Building Construction Site.

12:00 PM – I have the Juniors again for Silent Reading.  On lab days, we just have to quietly continue with our experiments.  On normal days, everyone gets out a book that we are reading for pleasure.  It is a great way for the students to work on their English skills, and a relaxing break in the day.  If they look exhausted, or are not feeling well, I tell them it is ok to put their head down and rest… I remember my high school days and I honestly have so much respect for the students for how hard they work.  The juniors are a small class, so I let them sprawl out wherever – inside and outside.  I have already almost finished my first book and am excited to keep reading!

12:45 PM – Recess break!  A quick 15 minutes of playing volleyball, socializing, and just in general getting out of the classroom.

1:00 PM – I call the freshmen in from recess to begin our Religion class.  I honestly do not know who thought it was a good idea to let me educate these children on the Catholic Faith – but I have been trying my best.  Sometimes I just like to talk about God, and faith, and questioning, and ALWAYS slip in some Ignatian Spirituality.  The students are very profound in their spirituality and I think I am learning just as much as they are.  The freshmen are quiet and shy, but I feel like I am very blessed to have them for homeroom as well as for religion.  I feel almost like a big brother guiding them.

1:45 PM – Final period of the day, and I try to take this as my relaxing time.  If I have religion reflections to grade, I read them – it is so heartwarming to hear what these students have to say about some very personal matters.  If I don’t have anything to grade – I sometimes just sit and look out at the lake, or take a walk around the campus (we have 22 acres total), or try to write letters to people, which always gets interrupted by something or other.  If I am too antsy, I do some manual labor around the campus – dig some drainage ditches, clean the bathrooms, anything to just stop using my mind for a bit.

2:30 PM – Recess break #2!  This is the official end of the school day, and on Fridays – the students head home at this time and we have a faculty meeting.  I need this break just as much as the students do at this point, and none of us seem to care how sweaty we get running around playing volleyball or frisbee.

2:45 PM – YCHS has a mandatory study hall period from 2:45 to 4:00 PM.  This has to do a lot with the schedule of the bus, but it also allows the students to work on their homework as well as ask teachers for individual help.  Many students don’t have home environments that they can do homework at easily, so it is a great opportunity for them.  As a math teacher – I find myself doing a lot of one on one or one on ten work with students who do not want to fall behind in their math courses.  We let the students spread out on the verandas and classrooms during this time to really separate it from the school day.  Soon this time will also be used for the after school clubs, activities, and sports.

4:00 PM -  Time to help the freshmen close up the building before I wave goodbye from the veranda and then lock up the building.  We squeeze 6 of us into the 5-person sedan for the short ride home, and the Taro Patch Kids get dropped off at our “stop” – which is designated by the speed bump that we can’t get over without scraping with all of us in the car.  We walk about a 1/3 of a mile to our humble home and get ready to do it all over again.

Grounded in the Catholic faith, Yap Catholic High School strives to educate students to achieve academic excellence, appreciate their culture, be good stewards of the environment, and live their faith in the service of God and others.

                                      -Yap Catholic High School Mission Statement