Russia

We finally had our Russia speaker visit school, and he was the best speaker we've had yet! He was funny and had a great way of speaking that drew my students in.  He taught English to high school students in Russia for two years and in China for one (and did bible studies on the side).  Now he is a seminary student at MLC and works as a preschool teacher in the early learning center.  It was funny because he got so excited about the laser pointer and the fact that he could advance his presentation by touching the board... he explained, "I teach preschool, so that's why I get excited about such little things!"

He gave out Russian coins to anyone who had a question or answered one of his questions. The coins are called kopeck and are worth less than 1/3rd of an American cent. He said the Russians would just throw the coins away because they weren't worth much of anything, so he collected them and had a huge bag full when he left Russia. Actually, he had to leave a bag behind because they wouldn't all fit in his suitcase.

Our speaker was able to stay for both the 7/8th graders and the 5/6th graders, although the 7/8th graders cut into the 5/6th time because they had so many questions. Thankfully, Mrs. E was flexible on her art time and let them stay late.  The 5/6th graders didn't want to stop asking questions either, and they had a bus to catch! We went as long as we could before we quickly packed our bags and wrapped up our day.

Every time we have one of these speakers, I am so thankful that MLC was willing to partner with us. Each speaker has had great things to share with my students, and every time it opens them up to the idea of mission work or traveling to other countries. They're so excited to share what they just learned (Mr. E says that's all they talked about when they came back to the room).  Now that we're halfway through the third quarter, we only have 2-3 speakers left to go. Hopefully they'll be just as good as this one!