The Votes Have Been Counted

We recently had a special staff banquet for everyone who works at Santiago Christian School. Near the close of every school year the staff members vote for their colleagues who they feel have exhibited outstanding dedication and service to the students and school community throughout the school year. A wide number of awards are given to a variety of people: grounds crew members, cafeteria workers, office staff, and teachers. It was hard to vote for these awards because many people are so dedicated to the school and deserving of recognition.

Amy was honored to receive the Teacher of the Year Award for specials (art, music, PE, computer, and library) this year. The plaque reads: "In special recognition for: Outstanding service to students, dedication and love for the SCS community and for being a Christian example to all of us." Amy is grateful that God has given her the opportunity to serve the staff and students at Santiago Christian School.

Encouraging Words

Brian recently received a special note from one of the first graders. It said:

Dear Mr. Haket,
You are the best. I like you. You take ckar of us.
Love
(student's name) ,

Of course, this was written in first-grade fashion with lines slanting down the paper and a cute little drawing of something indiscernible at the bottom. Yes, he wrote the comma after his name rather than after the word love.

We never know the full impact we have on kids, but we pray that they will see God's love through us. It's encouraging to see a note such as this because we know Brian's care for the students is touching their lives.

Great Saying

The Dominicans use an interesting expression to refer to speed bumps which we recently learned from Luis, a taxi driver we frequently use. They call a speed bump "policia acostado," which literally means "policeman lying down." We think that's a great way to refer to speed bumps. They also assign ranks to them, depending on the size. For example, a "general" (this is also a Spanish word) is a larger speed bump than a "teniente" (a lieutenant).

Diego Columbus's House

We got to see Diego Columbus's house while we were in the Colonial Zone of the capital. Brian is standing outside the building in one picture. I'm sitting in a window seat thinking about the possibility of Columbus himself sitting there long ago.

Oldest Church in the New World

This weekend we got to see the oldest church in the New World. It's called Catedral Primada de America. Its foundation stone was laid by Diego Columbus, Christopher's firstborn son in 1510. It was completed in 1540.

Where is Christopher Columbus buried anyway?

This weekend we went to the capital to see some of the historic sites. One place we visited was the place where Christopher Columbus' remains are. You can see the black box in the photos above. It was interesting to us because when we were in Spain a few years ago, we saw Christopher Columbus' remains there too! Both countries claim to have his remains. Our tour guide this weekend assured us that the actual remains are here, and that Spain has his son's remains instead. We assume we've seen his resting place in one of the two spots!