School's Out for Summer

Well, yesterday officially marked my last day at the Aboom School. I finished working with the teachers last Thursday, but went back yesterday to have one final meeting with the teachers. All in all, I worked at the school for a little over six weeks. I am missing the students already, but know that life will continue both at the Aboom School and for me, although I'd like to think that we're both a little changed for the better.

On Thursday, I asked the final two teachers to lead a 30-minute music lesson completely independent of me. Of course, they did so beautifully, and I was able to just observe and take pictures and video. Each class has such a unique character, and making the transition from one to the other feels like stepping into two different worlds. The preschool class is fun, loud, and energetic. The students are totally at ease to be themselves, and they dance and play so creatively. On the other hand, the vocational class is a bit more reserved, but they are united. The sense of community between the students and with the teacher, Auntie Maggie, is so strong. She gently guides them through each activity, enabling each student to meet his or her potential, and each student's own personality shines through. I got some great videos and photos that I will use in my presentation at the AMTA National Conference in November.

After music, I gave all of the students silly bands and lollipops that I brought from home. Some of the students were actually afraid of the silly bands and others were chasing me around trying to grab more than one. One student put a lollipop in his mouth, made a disgusted face, and spit it out. I picked it up, rewrapped it, and put it in my free hand until I could get close to the trashcan. In the meantime, one of the girls with a particularly sweet tooth snuck up behind me and yanked the lone lollipop out of my hand. Before I could stop her, she had ripped off the paper and stuck it in her mouth. Midway through yanking it out of her mouth, I stopped, realizing that when you work with children, there are some things that you just can't get too upset about. I let her enjoy the rest of the lollipop and moved on.

When everyone had a silly band and lollipop, it was picture time. First, we took pictures of me with each classroom, teachers included. Next, we took pictures of me with Auntie Mary, the headmistress. After that, we gathered all of the teachers and teacher's aides and took a group picture. Then, at Auntie Mary's insistence, we filed all of the students and teachers outside to take one big group picture in front of the school.

Back inside, I hugged about three students a second as I waded into Mary's office to collect my bags. I think it increased to four students a second on my way out. I waved goodbye yet again and then headed out to check things off of my "To Do" list for our trip to Mole (see yesterday's post "Mole Mole Mole" to read about that!)

Yesterday I returned to the school for a final meeting with the teachers. Again, I took gifts and goodies with me. First of all, I finally got around to picking up a drum for the school. I was hesitant at first to buy a drum, and so I put it off. Then, once I could see where the program was going, I decided to just buy one nice djembe for them, which I did today. I also bought a beautiful orange and blue batiked bag to house it in. In addition, I took soaps and candies and postcards from OU for the teachers as a "thank you." Finally, I took four copies of the guidebook that I put together for the school, which explains (in detail) everything we talked about in our meetings, gives examples of activities to use, and suggestions for the future. I recorded any songs that I taught the teachers on my laptop and burned those to a CD. I made four copies to go along with the four guidebooks. Unfortunately, they weren't ready yet last Thursday, so I presented them today. I was humbled when Auntie Mary turned around and presented me with a laminated certificate of my own, which read, "Aboom School for Special Needs Certificate of Appreciation for Amy Dunlap. We express our sincere gratitude to you and for your volunteer service you rendered to us. You always make us happy anytime we have music. You always put a smile on our faces. We have nothing more to give than to say that we love you and we appreciate you. God richly bless you." And what they don't know is that he already has... by giving me the opportunity to get to work with and know them.