Of parties, conferences, and small towns

Hey everyone! Here is my next note. My teaching work really has gotten less stressful, so maybe next year I will actually write more than once a month! For now I have quite enough to tell you guys about. Let’s see, since my last entry, I’ve had a lot of company, and I am right in the middle of a much-needed weekend, after a rather busy three weeks full of said company, the end of third quarter, and parent-teacher conferences.

Some people can’t bear a party of pleasure. ~ John Willoughby

Why don’t my students like to have fun? That’s a rhetorical question, to which there are several answers that might be very depressing if I didn’t know Jesus loves them even more than I do. Anyway, we invited the Men’s Quartet from Bible School to sing at Emmanuel and Bethel, our sister church in Faith. We also planned a Saturday night youth event at the Landmark Hall downtown, and invited Bethel, the youth groups from the Baptist, UCC, and Catholic churches, and lots of random people. I made invite cards and posters, and kept a stack on my desk and in my room, occasionally remembering to actually hand one to somebody. I know free food is a decent motivation for a lot of teenagers, so I figured we might have at least a few E.A.G.L.E. Center kids. I did prepare to be disappointed, and I prayed a lot that God would remind me that He had things under control.


We had six kids, I guess: two from Emmanuel, two from the Baptist church, one from Bethel, and one from Firesteel. The guys got here about 3:00, right as I got out of the shower and was getting ready to start dishes and clean the mess I had made making frybread. They just sat in my living room for about an hour while I finished cleaning and getting ready, and they enjoyed my mirrors I have on my ceiling a lot. Emma LaPlante had come with them to surprise her family, and it was really fun to have her along. That night we played a few ice breakers and group games, and I finally got to play Signs! Most of us took a while to get the hang of it, and it was great to watch some that took longer than others. : ) We ate pizza and had lots of desserts. Lots of desserts. I still have some of them in my cupboard, but I guess it’s been only a week. After that the guys sang a few of their songs (“Silent Night” and “In that Great Gettin’ Up Mornin’”), David shared his testimony, and then we sang some worship songs, which was lovely. I wish I could play guitar! It would be so nice to have worship music at youth group. Hmmm, Amanda can play guitar…


Then I took Michael and Isaac home to my little house, fed them ice cream cake in honor of my brother’s twentieth birthday, and set them up for the night. I love having company in my own house so much! I’d love to have more visitors (hint, hint). I would even make you breakfast, like I did for Michael and Isaac the next morning: scrambled eggs and apple pannekoeken. The boys sang for church, with a very Lentish, Easterish repertoire. Then I got a picture with my little brother, and they sped off to Bethel to sing before they headed home to Bible School.

Hey Miss Osthus, where’s your stunt double? ~ Richard

That very night, my sister arrived to stay with me! It was so wonderful to have her here for the beginning of her spring break. She got there pretty late on Sunday night, and I should have warned her before she drove into my snowbank that has been in front of my house since Christmas. We shared a little bit of ice cream cake before we went to sleep, and then she went with me to school the next day. Everyone thought she was my twin. Dr. Birkeland told the junior high during class meeting at the beginning of the day that there were two Miss Osthuses in the building. Dr. Birkeland took a keen interest in what Julia thought of the school, and sat with us for a bit at the end of lunch to get her impressions. She pretty much told Julia she’d hire her for social studies if she applied after graduation, to which Heather responded that she wasn’t gone yet! We also sat at lunch with Alex, a super cool kid who has been at the EC for like a month and a half. I knew that he plays guitar, like Julia does, so I started them talking guitar, though I know nothing about them. I guess he got a kick out of it, because his mom told me at parent-teacher conferences that he had mentioned it.

Then that night, guess what we did? We had a Bollywood party, complete with curried rice, chickpeas, sambosas (from Somalia, but kind of close), and Bride and Prejudice. Now, what do you know about Bollywood movies? I’m hardly an expert on the topic, but with a Pakistani nanny family and a Nanu who likes to watch Indian soap operas, I have a little bit of experience. Bollywood movies are strange, but they grow on you. They are Indian, and the name comes from Bombay, the former name for Mumbai. As you can probably tell, it is India’s version of Hollywood. A movie is not Bollywood unless it is a musical full of song and dance numbers, and usually it will be in Hindi, with a ton of English words thrown in from when India was colonized by England. The characters typically swear in English, which is pretty interesting to me. Slumdog Millionaire was just a taste of Bollywood, but really didn’t have enough music. Bride and Prejudice is closer, though they almost exclusively speak English, since it was directed by a British Indian woman. It is also based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of the best stories ever, so it was enjoyable working out the parallels between the stories. Amanda came over, too, and we had a great time. The reason I should have stopped Julia from driving into my snowbank was that she, like the Men’s Quartet, got her car stuck in the ice on Tuesday morning, but thankfully, one of my neighbors came over to rescue her after I left for school. Then she left to return to Minnesota. As you can see from Richard’s quote, a few of my students became rather fond of her in the short time she was with us!

My creation!

Never mind, we got it off the Pillsbury website, but I made it and it turned out really well! For my weekly movie night with Nicole and Amanda this past week I made Chicken-Bacon-Ranch pizza. I think Nicole and Amanda both liked it a lot, because they both had seconds, though they were very little second helpings. For once, I did not take seconds, but left the last slice in the fridge as leftovers, which worked out OK. We watched Freaky Friday, since our next NetFlix disc hadn’t arrived yet, and that is a movie that I always enjoy, and that neither of my friends had seen.


Oops, I missed the memo instructing me to complain about parent-teacher conferences

And here we are again: I am still a geek, and I still really enjoy parent-teacher conferences. We have only two each school year, and our first one was in the middle of September, back before I really knew anyone here. I really enjoyed that one, to the amusement of my co-workers, but I figured this one would not be as an enjoyable. We are now a few weeks into our fourth quarter of the school year, and some of our seniors are going to have a “mighty close shave” in their efforts to obtain their diplomas. Because of that, I expected that some parents and kids might be a bit irritable or anxious, which would dampen the general enthusiasm for the afternoon.

One family made me especially concerned. Two of their children are at the EAGLE Center right now, and both of them are trying to finish up make-up work. The younger one actually skipped school one day and told her mom that she was afraid Miss Osthus would just give her more work to do! Hardly logical, since staying home would just lead to more make-up work, but since we had a late start that day she wouldn’t have even had English with me. Her mom called the counselor, though, and she talked with me, and I called her mom right away to sort through things. Two days later, I typed up a list of everything she had left to finish up the grade that she was currently in, so that she couldn’t accuse me of giving her extra work, and then she and I met with the principal to settle what she had left. On the other hand, her older brother is trying to finish up to three grades in some subjects so that he can graduate this semester, and he still has a ways left to go. I know he can do it, but he doesn’t really like coming to school every day, and actually has probably never been to school this year more than three days in a row. That won’t cut it, so every time I see him in town I bug him to keep coming to school. They both came to conferences with their mom, and I was able to lay everything out for all three of them so that they knew exactly what to expect. Everything went just fine, and they really are great kids, though I still don’t know if either of them will muster up the motivation to finish everything they want to finish.

Every other family was a delight, and I know I’m cheesy, but they really were. I believe parental involvement is crucial to any kid’s success, so it is wonderful to be busy at PT conferences. Our stream of traffic was decent. I personally missed catching one parent who was there, so I might try to call him this week, especially since his daughter is a senior and has a lot of work left to do. Heather reminded me last week how important it is this time of year that every parent know how much work their students have done, so I am trying to get better at sending out letters and making phone calls. Next year I am sure I will be much more on top of that, but that’s one of those things that no one really taught me how to do, since everyone handles it differently. Unfortunately my default response to tasks that I don’t really understand when I am stressed and busy (this whole year), is to just not do it. It is now time to pick up the pace on those fun chores. But you don’t get cookies for sending letters like you do for parent-teacher conferences. I also went to the parent forum and got fried chicken for supper, which was a treat. Coupled with the Shamrock Shakes we had that morning, it was a very good day! I’m starting to feel more at home here, and I feel it no more than when I walk into the crowded cafeteria and see people smiling and waving at me. I love my students and their families! I just pray I can love them better.



What more can I do here? OK, the short list!

On that note, as it is finally feeling a bit like spring, though we still have plenty of snow, I’ve been thinking lately about summer and beyond, and wondering what God really wants me to do here to make more of a difference that I already am. I ask “What more can I do?” not feeling like I’m doing that much yet, but just honestly wondering what God will call me into next. I drive through some of the shoddier neighborhoods and wonder what people there really need, besides the obvious Sunday School answer (JESUS!) Do they need help fixing their houses? Do they need babysitting? Do they need lawn care? Do they need friends? I’m hardly an expert in many of these topics, but I can give anything that God has given me.

That being thought through, today I decided that I needed to spend time just trying some things out and seeing what God wants. Yesterday when I was grocery shopping I remembered that I had been planning on just buying a little something that I could give to one of the guys on Main Street, so I finally bought granola bars. I’ll keep them in my back seat until I need them. Then today, under inspiration from my mother, I decided to head out and pick up some popcans on my way back from the school. It was so beautiful today, and right about the first day of spring, I’d say it was about time! God’s timing is perfect, though. Once I got home, I decided I still needed a longer walk, so I put on my gardening gloves and took two plastics bags with me, one for recyclables and one for garbage. Since we had so much snow and now it is finally starting to melt, there is plenty of garbage that has recently been exposed by the receding snow. What I didn’t necessarily count on was picking up a few “cling-ons,” little kids that had been walking and decided they wanted to help me.

Memphis, who occasionally had to stop to take dips from his little bucket of chocolate frosting, and Michael, who is a third time second grader and kept threatening to shoot Memphis with his BB gun, were my most constant companions. We filled up about five bags with trash and recyclables, and that was just on my street and the street around the corner. We actually left a lot. One of these days when the weather is nice again (which it is not supposed to be tomorrow), I may have to go walking again. As of this past Sunday we really did have this much snow in the park, by the way—I am totally not making it up! I really do need to just wander around here more—I learned that a few of my students actually live super close to me. Knowing where people live just makes me feel so much more at home! The low point of my cleaning adventure probably came when both Memphis and I feel in the mud, but maybe he liked that part, I don’t know. I fell right on my knee cap and my jeans definitely need to be washed now.

Speaking of which: ta-da! My dryer is now ready to be used, and even turns on. Thank you to Corey, Heather’s boyfriend, who checked on my electrical wiring job to make sure it was OK. Unfortunately, the washer still is not in use, because Corey helped me to determine that there really is something wrong with one of my hoses, and the problem doesn’t just lie in my wet noodle grip. Man, I should have had Corey open my applesauce while he was here… Anyway, I guess I know my first stop next time I’m close to a Menard’s.

Once again, please pray…



Please keep praying for my youth group. Two of the kids from the Baptist church came to our youth group last week, since they haven’t really been able to get a regular youth group started yet. We’ve talked about just combining on Wednesday nights, but we’ll see. This week we are going to a youth rally in Faith, which I am getting excited for. Katie might spend the night with me, depending on what time we get back to town, which I think would be fun, though her mom warned me that she’s not a morning person. I don’t guess I really am, either, but I will make her a mouth-watering breakfast that smells so good she won’t be able to stay in bed. : ) Please pray that Jesus would set our hearts on fire and get us more and more excited to share the good news with those around us.

Four of my students lost dads last week, three of them in the same family. Please the pray for the Antonio family and the Estes family. One was sudden, and the other was somewhat more expected, but I’m sure both were painful. Just pray for comfort and peace, and pray that God might use me in some way to bring hope. Maybe it’s just living in a small town, but I’ve never heard of so many funerals in such a small space of time. It’s so interesting how moving to a different-sized town shrinks and widens your circle at the same time! My great-aunt Adelle also passed away last week, so if you could pray for my family, that would be great.

Also pray for my trip that I plan to take to my alma mater this weekend to hang out with friends. Pray that I would glorify God and bless my friends while I’m there, and that I would be kept safe on the road. I have some pretty special friends that I need to see and talk with about pretty important things, and it might take some extra wisdom. Sorry, don’t mean to be vague, but I just don’t know what the weekend will be like yet! I guess I should see if I can stop in Sisseton on the way back and meet up with my grandma and my uncles, but my uncles are probably pretty much slaves to their calves at the moment, though they hadn’t gotten any last time I talked to them. I guess I’ll call and check one of these days.

That’s all for now! I love you all! Christina

Freedom, failure, and frustrations

"How come you’re so happy all the time?”

I have often gotten that question, starting when I was going to community college and would come in on test day with a smile from ear to ear. I obviously kind of stick out on the reservation and at the E.A.G.L.E. Center, not just because of my blonde hair but also because of my joy. That being said, I have been interrogated on the existence of my smile a ridiculous number of times just in the last month. The reason for this might be a mixture of wondering when in the world I’ll lose it, since I didn’t ever let myself get too ruffled last semester, and noticing how grouchy other adults in their lives are, probably due to the ridiculous weather and our power outage. Life has been kind of tough here this semester.

At the beginning of the school year, I was often accused of being high or “cheesed up,” but I don’t get that as often anymore. Now they just ask why, as one of my students did last week, after warning that sooner later, I’ll snap and run screaming down Main Street. I feel kind of cheesy when I answer, and I remind myself that I still work in a public school, even though the setting and the relationships are automatically somewhat more intimate. What I typically say first is, “I have a lot to be joyful about.” When they ask what I've got, I usually get a little spunky, since maybe not everyone would agree that my life is to be envied all that much. I typically grin and say, “Oh, because I get to hang out with you,” but then I kind of look around and lower my voice a tiny bit (probably not enough), and say that Jesus loves me and I know that God is good. Very few of my kids get that, because very few of them know anything about Jesus. It's always ended there so far, but maybe tomorrow it won't!

I want to shine to my co-workers, too, and I was thinking about that a lot while I was at my parents’ house during the power outage we had at the end of January. On one hand, I want the light and grace I bring to my surroundings to not be about me. I kind of like the idea of my co-workers who were here last year saying to themselves that something is just different—that we work together better, that we care about our students better, and that is just a better place to be—but nothing that they can put a finger on. On the other hand, you know that saying that is credited to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words”? Words are always necessary, because otherwise people will just think you are genetically a ridiculously nice person, and it won’t mean anything. Because of that, I guess my co-workers need to know that something I have is what is different this year. Don’t get me wrong; actually, most of my co-workers are Christians. A few of them are especially committed to their faith. But I still know that I bring a joy to this place that people don’t see very often. I think joy is the thing that I tend to get the most judgmental about toward other Christians. If people don’t show the joy they have in their salvation, I tend to think they are pretty pathetic! : ) Sorry, I’m working on it. But seriously, when you are with Jesus, there is always something to smile about!

Failure


I am feeling like a tired homemaker as I sit here and try to hack out a paragraph or two at 11:28 PM on Wednesday night, with peanut butter cookie dough waiting to be baked in the fridge, Tyler’s art worksheets on my kitchen table, and lesson plans that need to be done before Monday. Since I will be spending my weekend either in the car, in a FLY committee meeting, or at the hardware store buying accessories for my new used washing machine, I’m not expecting to be very productive in anything else. Of course, I am kicking myself for not getting more done during President’s Day weekend, but I have just been hitting walls regularly this year when I reach my limit of productivity, and I reached my limit quite early that particular weekend.

The teacher-brain of forgetfulness is still with me as well, and I need to turn in my water meter read by tomorrow at 4:00 PM to avoid an obscene bill. I just recalled this about an hour ago. Imagine if I went to bed earlier! I might never have realized until it was too late. So there. I am also getting a cold, finally. I have been expecting one to come on for months, and here it is, though I am still in the sore throat and early runny nose stage. I hope it will not put a damper on my weekend in the Cities, or for that matter, my last two days of work for the week.

I just had another one of those many “Good grief, I’m an adult with a job” moments, and I decided once again that I’m pretty content where I am. However, I laughed today when I was talking with one of my co-teachers and found out that she and I had both been lured to the E.A.G.L.E. Center on somewhat false pretenses, because both of our jobs were just advertised as regular high school positions. We both found out at our interviews that we were applying for the alternative learning center. But to tell the truth, I think this is where I belong—not necessarily in Eagle Butte, specifically, but in an alternative program. I figured out pretty quickly that my time tutoring football players in Morris and my homeschool background prepared me for the EC pretty well.

Anyway, because I know I’m where I belong, though I have dirty dishes on my counter, my cookies didn’t quite make it into the oven, and Tyler’s art worksheets are still lying on my kitchen table, I know that I could never be a failure.

“Well, what you could do better… how do you do this?”

I’ve probably complained a little bit about our burden of professional development in our district, and I have just one thing that has been preying on my mind lately. I absolutely love the trainers and consultants I get to work with, but I would really appreciate having someone come in who is not an elementary teacher, has taught in an inner-city setting with gangs, or has actually worked at an alternative learning center. I figure they are all easy on me because I am a first year teacher, and I love the affirmation and encouragement, but often when I have an observation all I hear is, “Wow, I couldn’t do this. You are amazing.” That isn't always really helpful, though I really am a sucker for encouragement. I suppose it might be more productive to talk with my principal about this than to just write it on my blog, but I guess I don’t really want more professional development than I already have, either! The sweet ladies that do come to observe us have been coming to our district for years, and they will probably be with us for many more years. Because of that, it is probably in my best interest, for sanity’s sake, to not express my desire for different (meaning additional) trainers at this point. Of course, I could go looking for a conference to attend that might be helpful instead of saying no to every opportunity I get, but I figure during my first year of teaching I can say no.

Keep Praying!

Let’s see… please keep praying for my students, for families in the Eagle Butte area that have lost loved ones, as we have had a whole bunch of funerals lately, and for the heart of this town and this reservation. Pray also for the women and girls who attended the women’s retreat in Rapid City last weekend, that God would continue to bring His words and teaching to their minds. I went with Barb Berndt, her two daughters, and two of their friends, and one of the friends, Valera, asked Jesus into her heart for the first time! Praise God, but really be praying for her, because she will not have a lot of support from her family and friends in her new faith. Also, I shared the Bible study with the elementary girls, and I have no idea how much they were able to take in. They were very attentive... but now after working with kids who never listen attentive kids make me nervous. I am worried that I went over their heads or lost a lot of them. Please pray that the girls would remember the words God was speaking to them that day, even if they don't get have of what I said!



Also pray for the visit that the AFLBS men’s quartet will be making to EB on March 13th, that the team would have safe travel and that plans for the youth group activity on Saturday and the Sunday service would go well. I really want Saturday night to be an outreach, but I have been so slow in getting things organized that I don’t know what will happen. But God does. We will be inviting all the youth groups in town, putting up posters on Main Street, and inviting our sister church in Faith. Besides that, I think I’ll be OK inviting my students to it, or at least leaving invite cards on my desk. My brother Michael is on men’s quartet, by the way. That is part of the reason that I am so excited that they are coming! Let me know how I can pray for you, too, OK? I love you all! Christina Joy