midterms had to be cancelled due to curfews and therefore the school went ahead
and started the second semester. A lot is going on and decisions need to be
made. Grades have to be turned in, first semester certificates have to be
printed and the Extra Curricular Program classes for second semester have to
begin. Everything is being planned like school will remain open as usual. That
is what we are hoping for this semester. We are hoping that there will be no
more curfews and we as educators will be able to continue to teach the students
and go ahead with our school program.There are some goals for this term that we hope we will be able to achieve. For one, we are offering new classes in our Extra Curricular Program (ECP), which we hope will be beneficial to the students. The ECP program at our school is the only one of its kind in the Bethlehem area and we constantly try and make it an efficient program. We are introducing Media (TV, Radio), Nutrition, Architecture, Caricatures, Wax work, Puppet Making, Arts and Crafts, Field Trips and Calligraphy. We are also keeping some of the classes we thought were successful from last semester such as Arabic Creative Writing, English Creative Writing, Art, Drama, French, Ceramics, Computers, German, Dancing and Music (instruments and choir).
Another one of our goals is the termination of the Wellness Center at our school, which will allow the students to use this gym-like establishment and have classes such as swimming and aerobics. Everyone is excited about the new addition to the school and we hope the situation will allow the project to be realized.
We continue to plan. We continue to educate. We continue to strive. We continue to persevere. We continue to hope. Only time will tell what this semester will bring. Like everything in Palestine, nothing is certain.