It’s Finished!

Just a few short months since my students and I wrapped up our fundraising project, I’m happy to report that our Pencils of Promise School in Ghana has been completed! Thanks to the hard work of my Bulgarian high school students and the generosity of over 300 donors, eighty students and ten teachers have a brand new school in Ghana’s Volta region!

And now for the first time, I present to you the Adaklu Torda Pre-School and Primary School!

The photos of the children were taken during the school “inauguration day.” My understanding is that the students will be moving into the school very soon (if they haven’t already). The final touch on the school will be a dedication plaque written by my students that reads: “Dedicated to ordinary people who can make an extraordinary difference. -10A Class, Silistra, Bulgaria”

A huge thanks to all our generous donors from the US, Bulgaria, and around the world–this is your school too! I’ll post a picture of the dedication plaque when I receive it, and hope to get some photos of the students in action!

In case you missed it, here’s a short video directly from my students expressing their thanks!

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Curious how this all started? Check out the initial challenge I issued my students back in February. The blog has progress updates every step of the way!

Bulgaria: A Year in Summary

So it’s been about two months since I arrived back in the United States, which means I’ve had plenty of time to reflect back on my year in Bulgaria. The idea of summing up the most transformational year of my life in a single blog post seems absurd, but I’m going to give it my best shot. I tried to boil down my thoughts into a few key takeaways, which proved to be pretty challenging.

Coffee mug from my 8A and 9A classes…fitting for my year in conclusion post

Diversity produces the best learning experiences.

My time in Bulgaria kicked off with the Fulbright International Summer Institute (FISI). This two-week set of intensive courses covered a variety of topics including but not limited to politics, international relations, business, economics, law, education, science, and culture. The expense of this conference was not covered by my grant, so I had to think long and hard about whether it was worth going on my own dime. Ultimately, I decided that the allure of what sounded like an invigorating learning experience outweighed the cost, which turned out to be the right decision.

FISI friends take a break from class for a hike

While the content itself was interesting, what really made the experience worthwhile was the diversity of my classmates. Despite having attended an undergraduate university that boasts diversity, this learning experience was unlike any I had previously encountered: PhD students from Bulgaria sat next to members of disaster response teams from Pakistan; Businessmen from India debated with business students from the University of Michigan; Linguists from the U.S. not surprisingly viewed conflicts differently than Russian graduate students. The result was passionate, dynamic, and sometimes even a little heated discussion about topics like Ethnic Tensions in the European Union and International Conflict Resolution.

Last day of week 1 classes

Too often we view conflict as a bad thing. We’re taught to believe that conflict breeds animosity, and so it should be avoided at all costs. Especially after this experience, I tend to believe that quite the opposite is true. Conflict and diversity of thought can lead to a more thorough analysis of a complex situation, and if involved parties can remain focused and level-headed, it can be quite constructive. There were times when I felt compelled to step in and defend the United States and others when I found myself questioning previously held beliefs. Ultimately, these were two of the most eye-opening weeks of my life, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

FISI farewell party

Friendship comes in unexpected places.

For a whole year, my social life revolved almost entirely around my eccentric 60-year old neighbor whose English vocabulary was limited to “Deep Purple” and “Let it Be.” And I loved it. From the moment Krassy walked into my life (in his underwear, interestingly enough), he has treated me like family. Many of my fondest memories from Bulgaria involve Krassy: making rakia together, learning how to cook banitsa, road tripping to Serbia, and so many more. But I think the thing I’ll miss most is just daily life with Krassy. Whether we were eating dinner, practicing Bulgarian, watching a soccer game, or just aimlessly putzing around town, there was never a dull moment.

Buds

Simply put, my relationship with Krassy and Nadia was a big part of what made life in Silistra so enjoyable. Their generosity and friendship played a huge role in shaping my view of Bulgarian hospitality. What frightens me about that is that I was close to not pursuing this friendship at all. Early on, I was concerned about letting my social life revolve around someone that seemed different in every way possible. In fact, I even remember ignoring the doorbell a couple of times to avoid joining Krassy for dinner. People are wired to seek out people who are similar. While that can be easy and comfortable, it can also be incredibly limiting. I learned that friendship comes in many forms, and that sometimes the most rewarding friendships can come in the least expected places.

My second family

Challenge the status quo.

Many of you followed along or even participated in my 10A class’s fundraising campaign to build a school in Ghana with Pencils of Promise. Fortunately, the project was wildly successful, and my students significantly surpassed our $25,000 goal. Getting there wasn’t easy though. Had my class not been willing to challenge their preconceived notions about what is and isn’t possible in Bulgaria, this never would have happened. I applaud my students’ willingness to take a chance on accomplishing something big in an environment where there isn’t a culture of volunteerism and there’s a lingering “communist hangover” effect that sometimes thwarts progress.

10A – The class that built a school

For those who have been following our story, check out my latest update on the school build. We’re almost finished!

Get out of your comfort zone.

I’ve told many of you about the note my dad has on his desk reminding him to get out of his comfort zone. That’s something I have tried to incorporate into my own life as well, and it was a big motivator as I considered moving to Bulgaria. Over the past year, the best example I have of this came back in March. As someone who doesn’t love public speaking, I experienced a mixture of excitement and dread when an e-mail hit my inbox asking if I’d be willing to present at the annual Berlin Fulbright Seminar. My knee-jerk reaction was to reject the offer; it was just an e-mail after all, and saying “no” would be easy.

But I decided to sleep on it, and when I woke up the next morning, my attitude had changed. I knew that the discomfort I experienced when I pictured myself in front of 250 people wasn’t a good reason to avoid the situation entirely. In fact, that was exactly the reason I should be seeking it out.

Was I nervous leading up to the seminar? Absolutely.

Did I spend way too much time preparing and rehearsing? No doubt about it.

Presenting at annual Berlin Fulbright Seminar

But the presentation went well, and the enjoyment I had presenting and participating in the panel discussion following it far outweighed the slight anxiousness. I am a firm believer that the best way to grow and learn is by doing the things that make you uncomfortable.

Think from others’ perspectives.

Growing up in the United States, it’s easy to view America as the greatest force for good in the world. We see ourselves as global peacekeepers, promoters of freedom, and good samaritans. But what we often don’t realize is that much of the rest of the world doesn’t see us that way. In fact, there were times during my year abroad when even I started thinking that maybe America’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

I remember going to a concert in Silistra one of my first nights there, and meeting a couple of Bulgarians my age. “Friends!,” I had thought as I tried to use my Bulgarian (quite limited at the time) to strike up a conversation. After a few minutes, they wanted to introduce me to another friend of theirs who happened to be Russian. That sounded great, so I introduced myself to their third friend. However, as soon as he found out I was American, things changed quickly. He got aggressive and started shouting at me for reasons I didn’t understand. His friends and I tried to talk him down, but it was clear that he had some ingrained distaste for Americans, and my insistence that I was a decent human being wasn’t going to change that; I went home baffled, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

Perhaps I had been a bit naive, but this was an eye-opener for me–not everyone loves Americans. And in fact, many people have quite a strong distaste for us. I recently stumbled along the below map, which shows the most common responses by country to the question: “which country do you see as the greatest threat to world peace?”

Greatest threat to world peace

Prior to living abroad, I think I would have found this map surprising. That’s why I think the Fulbright mission to “enhance mutual understanding” is so vital, especially in the world today. It’s our responsibility to advocate for America to do the right thing, and be the global force for peace that we claim to be. When we see things like the current Syrian refugee crisis, we ought to be vocal about making sure America does its part. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be stepping up in a big way to help the millions of families being displaced by war and devastation. Not doing so will only further tarnish a reputation that’s already damaged in many parts of the world.

Laugh at yourself.

As a bit of a perfectionist, I hate making mistakes. Usually, I think that’s a good thing because it causes me to be intentional and thorough, but I had to take a different approach in Bulgaria. While trying to learn a new language and culture, you’re bound to make mistakes; I made many. Perhaps my favorite mistake came during one of my many cross-country journeys from Silistra to Sofia. With 20 minutes left of our bus’s coffee break in Ruse, I decided to strike up conversation with a shopkeeper. Things went well as I explained my background, profession, and reason for moving to Bulgaria (he was shocked by the last one). But when I told him that I knew two other Americans living and teaching in his hometown (what’s up Nora and Anthony!), he burst out laughing.

“Аз знам две други учители че живеят в Русе. Момичето има руса коса и се казва Нора и момчето се казва Антони. Той има картофи коса,” I repeated emphatically, trying to improve my pronunciation that I assumed he was laughing at. Here’s what I thought I said: “I know two other teachers who live here in Ruse. The girl has blonde hair and is named Nora, and the boy is named Anthony. He has brown hair.” Unfortunately, instead of saying кафява (kafyava), the word for brown, I used картофи (kartofi), the word for potatoes. “He has potato hair,” I had said. I wish this had been the sole mistake I made, but instead, it was one of dozens I made in that day alone. I learned early on that getting comfortable with making mistakes is essential for language acquisition, and learning in general. Fear of messing up and looking silly can cause one to avoid taking chances, which stifles learning. As I start business school, I’m trying to more fully embrace this mindset, as I expect there are many more mistakes to come as I grapple with new information.

The potential of (Bulgarian) youth.

When I first arrived in Bulgaria, I expected the English level of my students to be quite low. I thought I’d be up in front of the classroom teaching very basic vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence structure. What I found instead was a group of highly intelligent, capable, and passionate students whose English abilities far surpassed my expectations. I remember introducing myself during the first week of school, and explaining that I had previously been working for Target, a big retailer in the U.S. A bright-eyed senior sitting in the front row shot his hand up in the air, and before waiting for me to call on him belted out in perfect English: “What were the annual revenues of Target last year?”

Just like that, my previous lesson plans were out the window. My students were capable of having very mature, intellectual discussions about topics that really matter. Some of my favorite lesson topics that my students seemed to enjoy too were: crowdsourcing, literacy rates, and the Nobel Peace Prize.

The creativity of my students was further demonstrated in our Speech & Debate club. Debating complex topics like how to thwart the spread of ISIS, how to reduce the gender pay gap, and how to decrease social inequality is hard enough in your first language…my students were doing it in their second or sometimes third! These kids are impressive!

Kaloyan from my Speech & Debate team hard at work!

My takeaway is that despite the many problems that exist in Bulgarian education, young people can and will thrive when given the chance. I have trouble imagining that this isn’t the case in other parts of the world too. Education can unlock potential, and I’m frustrated by the fact that so many people don’t have access to the basic resources needed to learn. I’m thrilled that my 10A class was able to help tackle a small part of that problem in Ghana, but the fact remains that 250 Million children lack basic reading, writing, and math skills. Improved education is one of several avenues I will be exploring in business school as I seek to play a role in helping alleviate global poverty.

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The above takeaways are just a few of the thoughts that flooded my mind as I drove away from Silistra for the last time (on this trip at least). Looking for any excuse to further delay my departure, I pulled to the side of the road to soak in the beauty of Bulgaria one more time. While enjoying the vibrant yellow of Bulgarian sunflowers, I reflected on what had really made my experience so worthwhile: the people. And with that, I want to take a minute to say Thank You to the many people who made this past year possible and awesome.

First and foremost, thank you to my family, friends, and Lindsey for encouraging me to take advantage of this opportunity. Your support meant the world to me, and helped me get the most out of my time in Bulgaria.

Secondly, I want to thank Valentin and Alex, my friends from FISI who entertained my nonstop questions about all things Bulgaria. Your patience and willingness to share taught me so much about politics, history, sports (Само Левски!), and culture. I value our friendship, and look forward to future meetings!

Alex, me, Valentin

Thank you Iliana, Rada, and the rest of the Bulgarian Fulbright team for being there for me and my peers throughout the year. I greatly appreciate your commitment to making our time in Bulgaria as comfortable and productive as possible.

Next, I want to thank the Peyo Yavorov Foreign Languages High School Community. I felt at home at Peyo on day one, and really appreciate you welcoming me with open arms. An extra special thanks to Principal Atanasova and English teaching partners Kremena, Ani, Margarita, and Valentin. Working with each of you was an absolute pleasure, and I learned so much about how to be a better teacher. Valentin, thank you for your mentorship that extended beyond the classroom. I would have been lost in Silistra without your guidance.

Peyo Yavorov English Department

Students of Peyo Yavorov–you are what made my time in Bulgaria so special. While I didn’t advertise this blog at school, I know several of you tracked it down, and have been following along. Your engagement both inside and outside the classroom motivated me to be a better teacher. You have such bright futures, and I can’t wait to hear about the many great things you go on to accomplish. Please continue reaching out to me from time to time to let me know how things are going!

Some of my 8th and 9th graders on the last day of school!

Thank you to the many generous donors who helped my 10A class learn what it means to accomplish something monumental. Your commitment to the project (either financially or by helping spread the word) instilled a new sense of what’s possible in the minds of young people, which can be very powerful. I think my students say it better than I can.

A big shout out to the other Bulgarian Fulbrighters! It was a pleasure getting to know each of you over the past year. Our weekend getaways kept me sane, and I wish you the greatest of success in the future–keep in touch!

Bulgaria ETA friends

And last but not least, thank you, the readers, for your interest in and engagement with this blog. I appreciated your comments, e-mails, calls, and conversations. My goal for this blog was to help fulfill the Fulbright mission to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” My hope is that with nearly 10,000 views from 69 different countries, this blog has generated at least some interest and discussion about Bulgaria.

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For those of you interested in continuing to learn about Bulgaria, I highly recommend following my successor McKinley’s blog. He is living in my same apartment teaching many of the same students, and seems to be off to a great start! Most importantly, he’s already met Krassy, which guarantees another year of entertainment!

School Update #2

I was thrilled to receive an update from Pencils of Promise showing the progress on our school build project in Ghana! You can see in the pictures below that lots of work has been completed since my last update. I had fun sharing the pictures with my students on Facebook, and am excited that they’re finally seeing the results of all their effort.

I’d expect an update in the not-too-distant future letting us know the school has been completed, and I’ll be sure to post another update at that time. Thanks again for everyone who supported the project with your donations or by spreading the word! I just noticed yesterday that a couple more company match donations trickled in recently, putting our grand total at $28,780.

Tough Goodbyes

After an emotionally taxing day, packing up my apartment was not easy. I made some progress, but it didn’t take long for exhaustion to overwhelm me. Despite all I had to do, I allowed myself to fall asleep early, knowing that the next day would also be hectic.

Eight hours of sleep felt great. I woke up with more energy than I’d had in weeks, and finished up the majority of my packing quickly. At 11:30, I started the walk to school for the last time. Valentin, my mentor and friend, had told me that I had a final meeting with the principal at noon, and I didn’t want to be late. When I arrived, Valentin was waiting for me on the steps of the school with a big smile on his face. “I hope I’m not too casual,” I said as I walked up to him. I had packed most of my work clothes, and was donning my Silistra t-shirt from the day before.

“You’ll be fine,” he said. “Wait out here. Let me make sure the principal is ready.”

No more than 30 seconds later, Valentin bounced back down the front steps of the school, and ushered me inside. I expected we’d be going into the principal’s office, but instead he led me to the teachers’ lounge–“strange,” I thought.

When the door to the teacher’s lounge swung open, I immediately realized that there would be no official send-off meeting with the principal, as I had expected. Instead, the “meeting” was a guise for my going away celebration. As I walked in, I noticed that the large teachers’ table, usually overflowing with textbooks and grade books, was covered with a vast spread of Bulgarian dishes. Valentin called for the group’s attention, and shared some words about my role as a teacher at Peyo Yavorov Foreign Language High School.

Now I have to take a minute to talk about Valentin. He has popped up in my blog from time to time, but until this point, I think I’ve failed to communicate just how instrumental he was during my time in Bulgaria. Without Valentin, my life in Silistra would have been tough. In addition to showing me around town, Valentin taught me how to pay bills, lesson plan effectively, and navigate a foreign culture. He has been a great friend outside the classroom, and a great co-teacher and partner inside the classroom. An exceptional teacher, he not only teaches students English, but also instills important values, and does it all with a great sense of humor and a big smile on his face.

After Valentin spoke, the school principal said a few words, and presented me with a gift: a hand-carved wooden sculpture of two owls. At first, I was a bit perplexed, but as she started explaining, I began to understand. The owl is our school mascot, and the big owl with outstretched wings symbolized me, the teacher, watching over the baby owl, which represented my students. I felt honored to receive such a gift, and will treasure it for a long time.

School principal and me

Peyo Yavorov faculty and staff

English Department! (Margarita, Kremena, me, Aneta, Valentin)

A couple hours after the school celebration, it was time for another tough goodbye. Nadia had taken a day off of work to be in Silistra (she typically worked in Varna during the week), and she and Krassy had prepared a fantastic goodbye dinner. They invited Valentin as well, and it was fun for me to have them all together. I savored every bite of my shopska salad, knowing it might be my last one for some time, and even treated myself to an extra glass of rakia, fully aware that the plastic two-liter bottle from Krassy filled with the stuff wouldn’t fit into my already overflowing luggage.

Towards the end of dinner, after Valentin had left, I tried to articulate to Krassy and Nadia just how much their friendship meant to me. And to be honest, calling our relationship a “friendship” just doesn’t quite do it justice, because in reality, they treated me like family. I started off trying to express these feelings in Bulgarian, but quickly realized I didn’t have all the words I needed to fully express myself. Frustrated, I switched to English. I knew Krassy wouldn’t understand the words, but I made sure our watery eyes connected, and knew that he understood exactly what I was saying, despite the language barrier. All the time we spent together enhanced my Bulgaria experience, and it would not have been as meaningful or as enriching of a year without these friendships.

Fortunately, Krassy, Nadia, and I have been in touch over Skype! I got Krassy set up before I left, and have had lots of fun reconnecting with them. We’re still working on keeping our faces aligned with the camera, but are making progress! Of course, Krassy always wears his USA shirt for the call!

Skype call with Krassy and Nadia

Skype

Last Day of School

**This post immediately follows The Balkan Sprint post from July 28th. I recommend reading that post first for the full context of this one.**

After driving through the night in the “Balkan Sprint,” I arrived at my apartment utterly exhausted. Having just picked up my apartment keys from my mentor Valentin, I was excited to get a couple hours of sleep before heading into school a short while later. However, less than a minute after my head hit the pillow, my doorbell broke the silence with two quick bursts–“Krassy,” I thought to myself as I hopped up to get the door; he must have heard me come in.

“How are you my friend?,” Krassy inquired in his usual, fatherly tone. His damp hair and perky attitude signaled he’d just gotten out of the shower, and already had at least one morning coffee.

“I’m tired, Krassy. I want to sleep,” I replied in Bulgarian.

“Yea, Valentin called me and said that you drove here last night. You’re crazy,” he said with a smirk. Then immediately back to business: “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at his invitation. I was so tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open, much less make dinner plans. “We’ll talk later, Krassy, but tomorrow night might be better for me.”

“Okay. Nadia and I just need to know, so we know when to buy the lamb.”

“Let’s plan on tomorrow then,” I said as I started closing the door.

A “sleep well,” slipped through the crack of the door just before the latch clicked.

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I awoke to my alarm after what felt like two minutes. A quick glance at my watch confirmed that it had actually been closer to two hours. I rolled out of bed and willed myself into the shower. As I thought about the last day of school, my energy started to return; pure adrenaline would get me through the day.

Running on fumes, I decided to treat myself to a taxi. Before long, I’d be back in the U.S. where a 5 minute taxi ride would cost me $20 instead of 3 leva (less than $2)…might as well take advantage.

As I stepped into the taxi, my phone started ringing. “Where are you?” my mentor Valentin asked.

“I’m on my way!,” I replied. “I thought you said 10:00.”

“I did, but some students are here waiting for you.”

“I’ll be there shortly.”

“I’m going to miss him,” I thought to myself as I hung up the phone. “Always looking out for me.”

After hurriedly paying my cab driver, I rushed up the front stairs. Before I could even collect myself, I was ushered into a first-floor classroom where I found my entire 8A and 9A class waiting for me. Standing in a semi-circle with me in the middle, they started singing “Happy” by Pharell Williams. It was an obvious reference to one of my favorite lessons where we discussed what it meant to be truly happy (along with many synonyms and antonyms of the word). Eva, one of my stellar 9th grade students and an excellent singer was leading the group with a big smile on her face.

Eva leading the class in song

After the second chorus, the music suddenly stopped. Dayana, one of the best English speakers in my class was standing at the tip of the semi-circle, and addressed me on behalf of the class. She thanked me for being not just a teacher, but also a friend and an inspiration. Before the last word had escaped her lips, Nikolai, standing on the left side of the semi-circle spoke about one of our favorite lessons together, and how it had moved him. Then Ellie, off on the right side, thanked me for coaching her on our debate team, and giving her a newfound confidence. Everything after that was a blur as I felt my eyes start to well up. My eyes darted around the semi-circle from student to student as each shared a memory, triumph, or lesson learned during our time together. Somehow, they did it in a manner that seemed both random and well-orchestrated at the same time.

8A and 9A – Love these kids

Even as I type this, my eyes start to water up as I think back on the moment. That’s how much these kids mean to me. I like to think that it was the lack of sleep that made me more emotional than usual, but if I’m being honest, there was probably more to it than that.

Once the last student had shared, I was presented with several gifts: A t-shirt, calendar, and magnet from Silistra, and a Bulgaria coffee mug. I’ve worn the t-shirt proudly several times since then, and I can’t think of a way I’d rather start my morning than by drinking coffee from a Bulgaria mug and reflecting on this very moment. 9A also gave me a big thank you card on poster board with messages from each student and 8A wrote me a nice post card expressing their gratitude.

Poster board from 9A

Poster board from 9A

Post card from 8A

As I scanned the classroom, my watery eyes met several dozen other pairs of watery eyes as I thanked the students from 8A and 9A for an amazing year and a transformative experience. I thought the best way to express how much they meant to me was to tell them the story of my past 24 hours. I told them about my overwhelming sadness when I was all but certain I would miss the last day of school, and hoped that the story of my overnight “sprint” to make it back in time would adequately communicate how much they meant to me.

After our time together, we went out to the front of the school where we took the below picture. You can see my brand new Silistra shirt front and center!

8A and 9A and co-teachers Valentin, Kremena,Margarita, and Ani

After a number of individual goodbyes with students, I went back inside and collapsed on the bean bag in our school lobby, not sure exactly how I should be feeling. At right about the same time, I noticed the students of 10A all starting to trickle into nearby Room 103. “What were they up to?,” I wondered.

Shortly thereafter, the door to the room swung open, and I heard Frozen’s “Let it Go” blasting from the classroom speakers. It was at this point I determined that perhaps sleep deprivation had gotten the best of me, and that I was really losing it. But sure enough, the unmistakable sound of Elsa’s voice emanated from the classroom mixed with the voices of twenty-six 10th graders. Several students came over and shepherded me into the classroom where all of 10A was waiting. The song selection was of course the result of my less-than-stellar rendition of “Let it Go” at our fundraising talent show a couple of months prior. Despite my tendency to butcher that song, I couldn’t help but sing along.

With Elsa’s final words still reverberating in our ears, Miriyana and Mariella stepped forward and presented me with a beautiful flower. While the flower was a heartfelt gesture, what they presented me with next was 1,000 times more meaningful, and will be the souvenir I go back to again and again. It was a notebook with a personal entry from every student in the class reflecting on our time together. Not surprisingly, most of the entries focused on our fundraising project that successfully raised $28,500 to build a school in Ghana–I don’t think anyone who was involved will ever forget it! I included a picture of the message from Meli. She is very artistic and creative, and always has an interesting way of expressing herself–calling me an “alien” was no exception!

Flower from 10A

“To Michael from 10A”

Message from Meli

I told 10A how proud I was of them for raising such an impressive amount of money for the greater good, and promised to keep sending along updates about the progress of our school. Those kids are destined for greatness, and I can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things they will undoubtedly accomplish in the upcoming years.

After our group goodbye, I had a number of individual conversations with students who came up for a final (for now) few words or to take a picture. Conversations with Christian and Dorotea, two of my B.E.S.T. competitors, stand out in particular. They each made a special effort to get me one-on-one to share what they learned and express thanks. Ask any teacher–that means a lot. Christian is the one who wrote and performed a rap song as part of our school build campaign; I am so proud of how much he has grown and matured this year. Dorotea was one of the top students in my class, and really impressed me both inside the classroom and as part of my speech & debate team.

After an emotionally exhausting day, I walked home and fell fast asleep for several hours. When I woke up that evening, I continued the long packing process. Despite the long nap, I went to bed early that night, still drained from the previous 36 hours. I had a final meeting with my school principal the next day, as well as another round of emotional goodbyes with Krassy, Nadia, and Valentin. More on that next time!

Pencils of Promise: School Update!

Many of you followed my 10A class’s fundraising campaign to raise $25,000 in 25 school days with the goal of building a school in partnership with Pencils of Promise. At the conclusion of that campaign, we had raised $28,501, which we pledged towards building a school in Adaklu Torda, a community located in Ghana’s Volta region.

In case you missed it last time, below you will find a couple images of the current learning environment in Adaklu Torda. According to Hannah, one of my contacts from Pencils of Promise: “Kindergarten students [here] currently do not have a classroom of their own. The students attend classes under a tree and this makes the learning process very difficult. When the build is complete, there will be a 3 unit classroom that will replace the tree where the the kindergarten students currently learn. The community is friendly and the students are eager to learn. As a direct result of your support, Pencils of Promise now has the capacity to change the community and build a school for these students.”

I’m excited to report that some great progress has been made! A representative from Pencils of Promise recently sent me the below two sets of pictures of our school. The first three photos show the school’s foundation while the second three show that some significant progress has been made on the frame and structure as well! One thing that I love about this organization is that they select communities that are “deeply committed to their children’s education,” and are willing to demonstrate that commitment by contributing 20% of the build efforts through labor and materials. That’s right, community members not only collect materials, they also actually help build the school. This is a great way to instill a sense of community pride and ownership.

Foundation #1

Foundation #2

Foundation #3

Starting to look like a school!

Looking good!

Soon to be: Adaklu Torda Pre-School and Primary School

Thank you to the many readers who donated money and/or helped spread the word about this project! Thanks to you and the hard work of my 10A class, 78 students and 10 teachers in Ghana will have a place to learn and teach. I will share more pictures and updates as I receive them!

The Balkan Sprint

Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling in your stomach when you realized a mistake? Perhaps you slept through a crucial meeting or forgot to turn in an important assignment for school. Like most people, I’ve had this feeling a handful of times in my life, but perhaps none was as upsetting as the one I experienced a few weeks ago.

After a wonderful week in Croatia, I hopped off the bus in Kotor, Montenegro. Even though I had to shorten and change around the dates of my trip to fit my school’s exam schedule, I was having a great time. While strolling through sunny Kotor, halfheartedly looking for my hostel, but more just trying to soak in the city, my mind started to wander:  I couldn’t believe that my time in the Balkans was coming to an end. The previous 10 months had flown by, and I felt so fortunate to have learned so much.

I then started thinking ahead to the next couple of days. I’d go back to Silistra for the last day of school, have a goodbye dinner with my amazing neighbors Krassy and Nadia, and then head to Sofia for goodbyes with my friend Valentin and the Fulbright staff. Oh, and of course I had plans to get coffee with Diana, who had put me in touch with the school in Alfatar I had volunteered with a few months before. When was that meeting again? I glanced at my watch: June 29th. Wait a minute…June 29th?

That’s when it hit me. That gut-wrenching feeling when you know you’re right, but begging to be wrong. If today is the 29th, that means tomorrow is June 30th–the last day of school. If my watch is right, then my flight that was meant to get me back to Bulgaria in time had left a few hours ago. A quick glance at my phone confirmed my suspicion, and the full weight of my mistake starting to sink in:  I was going to miss the last day of school. I couldn’t bear the thought of missing my final opportunity to say goodbye to the students who had made my year so transformational and enjoyable. How could this have happened? I rushed to the nearest cafe to regroup.

“I’ll take a Coke, please,” I told the waiter, knowing it was the cheapest way to the WiFi password. My laptop calendar was the final nail in the coffin, as I confirmed for the third time that it was indeed June 29th. I realized that I had been working off an older version of my itinerary that I had put together before adjusting my travel schedule. It was a silly mistake, but it was also a big one. Before my Coke arrived, I had already scoped out numerous flight options, realizing that my predicament was pretty bleak.

It was about 2:30 p.m. and I needed to be in Silistra, Bulgaria by 8:00 a.m. the next morning. It didn’t take me long to realize that this wouldn’t be easy. Because Silistra is so remote, there were literally zero flight options that would get me to Bucharest, Romania (the closest airport to my hometown) early enough for school. Once I had exhausted my flight options, I started thinking outside the box. Maybe I could drive…Google Maps showed a 14.5 hour trip, but the route would take me through Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia all before crossing Bulgaria in its entirety. I entertained the option for a few minutes before realizing that was probably not wise. I would have no cell service for navigating, and had no idea what sort of visa requirements (if any) might be necessary to pass through places like Kosovo.

Drive from Kotor, Montenegro to Silistra, Bulgaria

If driving from Montenegro wasn’t an option, maybe I could fly somewhere closer, and drive from there…Aha! Belgrade! I had just been on a road trip from Silistra to Belgrade with Krassy, so I knew the route decently well. A quick glance at Google maps suggested it’d take me roughly 9.5 hours to make the drive. That meant if I could get to Belgrade by 10:00 p.m. and drive through the night, I could probably make it! I quickly pulled up Kayak, and found a direct flight to Belgrade leaving in just a few hours–I had a plan! I slammed my laptop shut, left a few Euro for my Coke, and flagged down a cab as quickly as I could.

Drive from Belgrade, Serbia to Silistra, Bulgaria

I arrived at the Tivat (Montenegro’s capital) airport stressed, but happy to have at least some semblance of a plan. After purchasing a surprisingly cheap ticket, the waiting game began. I used my 30 minutes of free airport WiFi to start researching rental car options, but held off on booking anything in hopes that I could find a better deal at the airport. I sat patiently for the short, 50 minute flight, trying to plan out my next few moves.

Upon arrival, I headed straight to the rental car kiosks in search of something very specific: an automatic transmission, GPS, and the proper tags to get me across the border. I also needed the flexibility to be able to pick the car up in Belgrade, but return it in Bulgaria. I learned right away that it wasn’t going to be cheap. Most rental car companies charge exorbitant “drop fees” to drop off a car in another country.

I started to get worried after striking out at Budget, Dollar, and Thrifty rental car services. Finally, I caught a break at Enterprise, where they told me they had an automatic car that met my needs…but it wouldn’t be cheap. I stopped at a few more desks before the agent at Sixt took an interest in my problem, and bent over backwards to help find me a solution. Unfortunately, he came up empty handed, so I returned to Enterprise and told them I wanted the car. One agent smiled and opened the drawer to get my keys and the appropriate paperwork. All of a sudden she froze, and looked sheepishly up at the other agent, whispering something in Serbian. My stomach sank again. She looked at me apologetically and said, “I’m really sorry, but we just realized the cars we have available don’t have the right tags to get you across the border.”

Defeated, I grabbed a seat back in the waiting area, grasping for any possible solution. Every minute that passed put me one minute closer to missing out on my last day of school. If the Belgrade airport doesn’t have any solutions for me, perhaps I could rent a car from somewhere else….maybe even Sofia. At about the same time this thought occurred to me, the Sixt agent came over and sat beside me. “What if I have one of my guys drive you to Sofia?”

“That would be helpful,” I said, “but I actually need to get all the way across the country, which is another 6 or 7 hours Northeast of Sofia. “Would the Sixt branch at the Sofia airport have a car I could rent, and pick-up late tonight when I’d be arriving?”

We walked back over to his desk, and found a car that met my specifications at the airport in Sofia. I called the agent there, and he agreed to wait around until 12:30 a.m. for me to pick up the car. Things were starting to fall into place! The price he quoted me was the same price it would have cost me to rent the car in Belgrade, and drop it off in Bulgaria–expensive, but worth it to me to get back for the last day of school.

I started to get a bit suspicious, however, when I began to understand how their driver planned to get me to Sofia. Rather than using a car from Sixt, we headed over to another rental kiosk (the cheapest, I presume), and proceeded to rent a car under my name. It dawned on me that these guys would make a killer profit off of me by essentially charging me the drop fee, but then not having to pay it since the driver would bring the car back to Serbia once he returned. Realizing that the helpful agent was more likely trying to play me, I headed out to the taxi stand to do a little price comparison. Through chatting with a couple of the drivers, I realized that a taxi to Sofia would be about 2/3 the price.

After a short bidding war between a taxi driver and the guys from Sixt (I was essentially running back and forth between the two), it became apparent that taking a taxi was my best bet. I think the three guys from Sixt and the other rental agency were a bit frustrated, but they were unwilling to match the taxi driver’s price…I guess splitting the fare three ways wouldn’t go very far. The guy who won my business was more excited than a kid in a candy shop. I like to think it was my good company he was looking forward to, but in all likelihood it was his good fortune to score such a long ride.

I glanced at my watch as we hopped in the car, and calculated that we’d be in Sofia shortly after midnight. We made a quick stop at a gas station for some snacks and drinks. As we walked into the gas station, the driver turned to me and whispered in broken English, “If you want…you can get some BEER for the road”…typical Balkans. Despite my refusal to buy beer, my driver insisted on buying me snacks and a water for the road. “Thanks for the snacks,” I said as I took my seat in the car.

“Thanks for Sofia,” he responded. It was clear that this trip was a big deal for him, as he spent the first 15 minutes of the ride chatting excitedly with his wife about it. Once he finished up on the phone, he began showing me all sorts of pictures and videos of his wife. While I wanted nothing more than to get some sleep in preparation for my nighttime drive, I didn’t have the heart to quell my driver’s enthusiasm. However, after the 5th or 6th video and several dozen pictures, I politely told him that I needed a nap. Sleep didn’t come easily, but I spent the majority of the 4.5 hour trip trying to get some rest.

We pulled up to the Sofia airport at around 12:45 a.m. After paying my driver and wishing him well, I rushed into the airport, where the rental car agent was waiting for me. As he pulled up my paperwork, I took advantage of the WiFi to fire off a couple of important e-mails. Most pressing was to let my mentor Valentin know my plans, as I would need to retrieve my apartment key from him upon arrival. I had left the key with him so he and the school accountant could inspect my apartment and decide whether or not another Fulbright grantee would live there next year.

Ten minutes later, and I was on the road to Silistra. By the time I left, it was about 1 a.m., which would put me home around 7 in the morning…just in time for a quick nap and shower before school! I spent the majority of the ride chugging coffee and blasting Bulgarian music with the windows rolled down. While I was upset with myself for an incredibly stupid travel mistake, I was pleased to have mitigated the damage. The last day of school would prove to be memorable, and made the expense and inconvenience of my “Balkan Sprint” worthwhile. More on my last day at school coming soon!

A Lesson on Smoking

***As of Wednesday, July 15th, I’m back in the USA! I’ll be posting about my last couple days in Bulgaria soon, but first wanted to tell you about what I thought was a very important, albeit uncomfortable, lesson.***

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous teaching this particular lesson. That’s because I knew the topic would likely ruffle some feathers and would almost certainly make some of my students uncomfortable.

“Okay class, some of you aren’t going to like this lesson very much,” I said as I scrawled in big block letters on the white board: S-M-O-K-I-N-G.

To give you a bit of background, one of my first observations in Bulgaria was that smoking is widespread, especially when compared to the U.S. Any time I went to a concert or bar in Bulgaria, I’d come home smelling like smoke. While I didn’t let this bother me (I knew I was in a different country, after all, and wouldn’t expect people not to smoke for me), I was disappointed to see many of my students smoking between classes or after school. In my mind, they were simply too young to be making decisions that could cause addiction and have a long-lasting impact on their health. Because of this, I felt smoking was an important topic to discuss.

When I turned around from the whiteboard, I could tell that I already had the class’s attention.

“Before we get started, I do want to say that I completely respect each individual’s right to make decisions about his or her own body…BUT I also think it’s important to have all the necessary information before making such decisions. Additionally, while I personally am not a smoker, I have plenty of great friends who are, and that’s okay. I don’t think any less of someone who decides to smoke.”

“To get started, let’s make a list up on the board. Why do people smoke?”

“Stress!”

“To fit in.”

“Because they are curious.”

I had to write furiously to keep up as the answers came quickly. “Okay, great start. What else?”

“It’s cool.”

“To help them relax.”

“Because everybody else is.”

“Okay, good,” I said. “We’ve got a good list going now. Can you think of anything else?”

“To lose weight.”

“Addiction.”

Once we completed our brainstorm, I played the following video for the class. I asked them to pay careful attention to some of the negative health effects smoking can have. Even though the video was not in English, I thought it was pretty powerful and a great source for discussion.

“Alright, who can tell me what happened in the video?” After a couple of students did a nice job explaining what they had watched, I asked them to shout out some of the negative health impacts mentioned in the video.

“Cigarettes contain insecticide.”

“Smoking can make you look older.”

“You might die faster. They ask the kids if they’d rather live and play.”

“Lung cancer, emphysema, and strokes.”

Once we’d covered some of the drawbacks mentioned in the video, we further substantiated our list. Things like “yellowing of the teeth and skin,” “high blood pressure,” and “pregnancy risks” all made the list. I then passed out statistics I had pulled from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

But before looking at the numbers, we had a brief conversation about the aforementioned sources of that information. I wanted to let my students know that these weren’t numbers I got from smokingsucks.com, but rather were well-researched and documented facts. I divided the students into groups of 4 or 5, and then had each group present 2-3 things that they found interesting or worrisome. From the data, my students shared that smoking:

• increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 25 times for men and 25.7 times for women
• increases the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease 2 to 4 times
• can cause cancer almost anywhere in the body (bladder, blood, cervix, colon, esophagus, kidney, liver, pancreas, and stomach, just to name a few)
• affects bone health
• is a cause of type 2 diabetes
• increase he risk of developing lung cancer by about 23 times among men and about 13 times higher among women when compared with non-smokers

I also felt compelled to share some of the anti-smoking advertisements that I saw growing up. While they are somewhat graphic, I think they can be effective in making kids think twice before smoking. The fact that I still remembered these campaigns is proof that they worked on me!

At several points during the lesson, I made sure to emphasize that smoking does not mean that one or all of these things will necessarily happen to you. Instead, it means that chances for some of these health ailments will increase. “You’re playing a numbers game, in a way,” I said.

Looking at the whiteboard now, we had a list of reasons people smoke on the lefthand side and a list of health impacts smoking can have on the righthand side. “This,” I said, gesturing to the board, “is the decision that every person has to make. Now while I personally chose not to smoke based on some of these health implications, plenty of other people decide to smoke, and that’s okay.”

Moving on, Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Union, meaning many families are hurting financially. Knowing this, I thought a financial argument against smoking might be a good exercise as well. “How much does a pack of cigarettes cost in Bulgaria?,” I asked.

“Five leva.”

“Okay, good. And how many cigarettes come in a pack?”

“Twenty.”

“Alright, and how many cigarettes would you estimate that the average Bulgarian smokes per day?”

My students started shouting out their guesses, which ranged from 10 to 40. For the purpose of this exercise, I went with 20 cigarettes (one pack) per day.

“Okay, so one pack per day times 365 days per year is 365 packs per year” (Brilliant, huh?).

“Multiply that by 5 leva per pack,” I said while writing the multiplication problem up on the board, “and we’re looking at 1,825 leva per year.” Knowing that my students are approaching driving age, I then followed up with, “and how much would you guess a used car costs in Silistra?”

The answers came back slowly as the realization dawned on my kids.

“Probably around 1,500 leva.”

“You can get a cheap one for 1,000!”

“No more than 2,000 leva.”

“So you’re telling me that if a smoker decides to quit smoking, he or she could afford a used car in about a year with money that would have been spent on cigarettes?”

Silence.

“And for all those of you who have told me you want to travel, but can’t afford it…keep these figures in mind as you make your decision whether or not to smoke.”

The last message I wanted to leave with my students was that Bulgaria isn’t exactly “normal” when it comes to smoking. I asked where they thought Bulgaria ranked in terms of per capita cigarette consumption per year, and they were shocked to learn that Bulgarian adults smoke more cigarettes per year than adults in any other country besides Greece and Serbia. I wanted them to realize that while smoking might be the norm in Bulgaria, it isn’t in many other parts of the world.

While I don’t think this lesson alone will flip how my students think about smoking upside down, I hope it will at least make them think twice about the health and financial implications of smoking. I was impressed with my students’ maturity, as we discussed what could have been a contentious topic.

Road Trip with Krassy

If you Google “Sexiest Tourist Destinations of 2015,” I can almost guarantee you that Belgrade won’t populate your results. But that didn’t deter me from eagerly accepting Krassy and Nadiya’s invitation to join them and 11 of their closest Bulgarian friends on a road trip to Serbia’s capital. Lindsey flew in to join us, and we all had a fantastic weekend celebrating Nadiya’s birthday with delicious food, live Serbian music, and of course a little rakia.

While Belgrade was fun, perhaps the most entertaining part of the weekend was the 10 hour car ride from Silistra. As you might remember from previous posts, Krassy is quite a character, but the excitement of a road trip gave him an extra boyish energy that was hysterical.

Our journey started early. The two quick doorbell bursts that typically signal Krassy’s arrival came at 4:30 a.m. instead of the more normal 6:30 p.m. Krassy, Nadiya, and I lugged our bags down four flights of stairs, and met up with Stefka and Yavko–friends and our travel buddies for the day. Once we’d loaded the luggage, Yavko and Stefka sat up front, while Krassy was squished between Nadiya and me in the backseat. Time to leave!

Groggy from the early start, I was looking forward to shutting my eyes, and hopefully grabbing a couple more hours of sleep. I quickly realized that wouldn’t be an option.

4:35 a.m. – Krassy enthusiastically shows me all the bells and whistles on Yavko’s car. The cameras, the warning beeps when you’re in danger of hitting something in reverse, the air conditioning, the seat belt–nothing was too mundane to overlook mentioning.

4:47 a.m. – Krassy sees I have my Bulgarian words notebook, and suggests that in order to learn more Bulgarian, I ought to write down new words, cut them into small strips, dissolve those strips in wine, and drink them. There’s nothing I won’t try…it was about this time I decided I should also document all of Krassy’s shenanigans for retelling.

5:35 a.m. – A song comes on that everybody loves, but can’t identify. I proceed to BLOW THEIR MINDS with Shazam, the app used to identify songs after listening to just a few seconds. Krassy inspected the app carefully, fascinated by the technology.

6:12 a.m. – We discuss the mental health system in Bulgaria, and Krassy begins acting out what ADHD is to help me understand. Priceless.

7:45 a.m. – Krassy begins explaining the entire history of the Russo-Turkish War.

Somewhere around 8:00 a.m. – I drift off to sleep (have you ever tried listening to the history of the Russo-Turkish War at 7:45 AM?)

8:57 a.m. – Krassy wakes me up and says in Bulgarian, “You can’t make memories if you’re sleeping, Michael.” I guess he has a point. I can only imagine he had finished telling the history of the Russo-Turkish War just before waking me up.

9:14 a.m. – Nadiya receives her 6th happy birthday phone call of the day. Based on the number of phone calls she received that day, I could swear she is a borderline celebrity, and the picture with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov hanging in their living room corroborates that observation.

9:35 a.m. – Krassy makes the exact same joke he made at 4:47, only this time he suggests using beer instead of wine. I consider trying it for the second time in 5 hours.

9:57 a.m. – We make our first stop of the day to fill up the gas tank. I’m standing outside with Krassy, who is frantically trying to fit in a couple of cigarettes before getting back in the car. As we’re making small talk, a big bird flies towards us, looking to pass just above our heads. Suddenly, Krassy snaps up his hand and connects with the bird’s tail as it passes. “Michael!,” he exclaims as a boyish grin forms from ear to ear. Krassy beamed with pride over his successful “tag” as we made our way back to the car.

10:10 a.m. – Arriving in Serbia was probably the easiest border crossing I’ve ever experienced. Our car rolled up to the border and Yavko handed our passports over, and said we were heading to Belgrade for a birthday celebration. Never one to be left out, Krassy yelled from the backseat “Обичаме Сербска скара” or “We love Serbian Grill!”

10:52 a.m. – Out of nowhere: “Michael, what instrument does Bulgarian sound like?”

10:53 a.m. – Once he was satisfied with my answer (I think I said a trumpet for no reason whatsoever), he moved on to his next question. “Michael…In Spain, they speak Spanish. In France, they speak French. In Bulgaria, they speak Bulgarian. In England, they speak English. Why don’t they speak American in America?” I gave what I felt was a thoughtful answer about colonization and said it was a similar reason to why Brazilians speak Portuguese and Peruvians speak Spanish. Krassy wasn’t so convinced, and told me to ask Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton once I returned to the States. I’ll get right on that.

10:57 a.m. – Still tired from the early start, I briefly doze off, only to be immediately awakened by Krassy. Determined not to give anyone a moment to rest, he wakes Nadiya up right after me. To prevent us from falling asleep again, he goes on a streak of basically just telling us to look at things. For example…

11:10 a.m. – “Michael, look at this big tunnel.”

11:11 a.m. – “Michael, look at those rocks.”

11:13 a.m. – “Michael, look at this second tunnel. There are eleven in total that we will pass through.”

11:16 a.m. – “Michael, who do you think made these mountains? Was it Nostradamus? Julius Caesar? Aliens? Do you think it was the same people who made the pyramids?”

11:18 a.m. – “Michael, what is влак (pronounced vlak) in English?” (It’s train, if you’re interested).

12:17 p.m. – Krassy requests we listen to Serbian music, and we do for the rest of the trip.

12:40 p.m. – As we approach Belgrade, a motorcycle blows by us, and Krassy turns to me and says, “I hope he’s an organ donor.”

The rest of the trip was a blast, and being part of a birthday celebration with a big group of Bulgarians (there were 13 of us in total) is one of the coolest cultural experiences I’ve ever had. I feel incredibly lucky to have been included in the weekend, and am especially pleased that I got to witness Krassy’s antics on the ride. Here are some pictures from the rest of the trip!

The U.S. bombed Serbia in the late 90’s during the breakup of Yugoslavia. I was surprised to still see such noticeable evidence of that.

Nadiya, Lindsey, Me, Krassy before dinner

Action shot from Dinner!

Just a little dancing

Brief stop at a winery

Ladies in our group

Krassy made a new BFF

Day trip to Novi Sad, Serbia

Lindsey and me in Novi Sad

Celebrating Success and a Personal Message from Adam Braun

I was running a little late on Tuesday morning. Instead of my normal, relaxing routine sipping coffee and watching The Daily Show, I was scrambling to pack my things for school and get out the front door. While jamming my things in my backpack with one hand, I dialed Vasko–my favorite taxi driver who I call in a pinch–with the other.

“I’ll be there in five minutes,” he said in Bulgarian.

Normally, I only bring a backpack or small bag to school, but today I was also lugging a big cardboard box and my weekend duffel bag. Today’s lesson with 10A was going to be a special one, but I needed some extra baggage to make it happen. These were the reasons for my frantic call to Vasko more so than the hot weather or the fact that I was running a bit late.

Before the end of the school year, I wanted to have another lesson with 10A to both reemphasize the lessons we had learned from our fundraising efforts and celebrate our success. We started the lesson by watching a short interview with Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise, pausing after each key point to discuss.

An attentive 10A

Next, I asked the question: “What did you learn from this project?” I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear students bring up things like “Empathy,” “Teamwork,” “Thinking big,” and “Believing in the impossible and in ourselves,” all without any prompting from me. Since this lesson, I have also had the tremendous pleasure of reading their essays detailing the personal growth they experienced during the project. I hope to get permission from them to share some of these essays, because they are incredibly moving, and indicate maturity and growth on multiple levels.

Great list of lessons learned

After that, things got really fun. A couple days before, I had received an e-mail from Pencils of Promise unveiling the specific community where our school will be constructed. I hadn’t told the class yet because I wanted it to be a surprise. I was excited to learn that the $28,451 we raised would go towards building Adaklu Torda Pre-School and Primary School in Ghana. Here’s an excerpt from the e-mail I received that I shared with 10A:

“Kindergarten students [here] currently do not have a classroom of their own. The students attend classes under a tree and this makes the learning process very difficult. When the build is complete, there will be a 3 unit classroom that will replace the tree where the the kindergarten students currently learn. The community is friendly and the students are eager to learn. As a direct result of your support, Pencils of Promise now has the capacity to change the community and build a school for these students.”

Along with the e-mail were two pictures of the location where our school was to be built. It was exciting to see the actual setting for our school and the faces of the kids we would be helping.

The future home of Adaklu Torda Pre-School and Primary School

The future home of Adaklu Torda Pre-School and Primary School (2)

After a fun conversation speculating how life would change for these students once our school was built, it was time to share the contents of the bags I had brought to school. First of all, Brittany, our partner from Pencils of Promise, had generously sent a package with a pencil and bracelet for every student. Additionally, I gave every student a copy of The Promise of a Pencil each with a short message expressing how proud of them I was. This was the same book my grandparents gave me that inspired the entire project. The kids were all smiles as they came up one by one to receive their gifts!

That’s a lot of books!

Passing out the books

Krisiyana already read my copy, but now she has one of her own!      

Christian and Miriyana show off their new books

Mariella receiving her book, pencil, and bracelet

Raiya with her new book

Vicky excited for a new read!

Inna with her new book, pencil, and bracelet

Deni reaches for her new book

Koko will have to return my copy now that he has his own!

Ivana is all smiles…per usual!

Sesi with some new reading material

Maria cheesin’

Mecho checking out his new book

Meli showing off The Promise of a Pencil

Of course my partner in crime Kremena gets a book too!

Now with five minutes left in class, I had one last surprise up my sleeve. You might recall from a previous post that I wrote an e-mail to Adam Braun telling him more about my class and the amazing work they had done. Despite being incredibly busy, Adam took the time to send 10A a personalized video thanking my students for their fundraising efforts!

The fact that Adam took the time to recognize our work demonstrates the type of leader he is, and is part of why I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I had every intention of filming my students’ reaction to the video, but I was caught up in the moment as much as the kids were. I managed to whip out the video camera partway through, and was able to catch a few moments of them taking in Adam’s message.

10A Group shot!

Showing off some PoP swag