Greene Day

(inside joke: our principal's name is Mr. Greene.)

In celebration of God's creation around us and as an encouragement to take care of the world, IST held its annual Green Day program last Friday.

Here's the basics of the day's schedule:

1) climb a mountain
2) have a dog show (yes, a real, live dog show--at school)

Recap (pictures to come):
Imagine taking your 20 students, plus the rest of fourth grade, plus fifth grade, plus the entire middle school, plus all the 9th and 10th graders up a mountain with narrow passes and some of them carrying their dogs, and you will get a glimpse of the chaos that was "summiting the IST peak."

All together, we scaled the slippery slopes; thanks to the help of our bus drivers and Honduran boy scouts who pulled us up onto more solid rocks. However, there was a long stretch of waiting as we all had to pass through this upward maze of mud; where, of course, my class got separated, but that was to be expected. Because students got a prize if they were the first up and down the mountain, several were pushing and shoving their way forward. I had to console a few 4th and 5th graders that they were not going to fall off the side of the cliff, but I motioned them away from the edge, just in case.

As we climbed steadily toward the top, we could look out and see an incredible panorama of the green mountain scenery contrasted with the city below. You could even see the teacher's neighborhood! It was a warm day, the dew condensing into moisture which made the air muggy, and add to our sweat. Several times along the path, I caught students sitting and texting-so ironic on Green Day of all days-so they had be herded along, just like their dogs.

Just when I thought we were almost to the top, I realized we weren't climbing one mountain, but two! We had to go up, over, down, and up again. Ahh...no wonder there was so much sitting.
I even ran into a past student of mine-Vicky! She had left 2nd partial to go to the States, but here she was coming just for Green Day to climb the mountain. It was fun to hear from her and hear how her family was doing; I think she will be back at IST next year.

The craziest thing I saw though, was a 10th grader in front of me, carried his medium-sized, over fluffy dog the entire way up the mountain. Ridiculous. Though seeing the dog show after, made me realize how much fun it is involving the dogs in this day. The dogs competed for speed, obedience, agility (obstacle course complete with hoops and a cart), and looks. It was the most hilarious scene I have ever witnessed at IST.

Finally, it was time to go home. I think everyone had had their share of excitement for the day, yet exhaustion soon set in. We gave worn-out good-byes and greeted the weekend.