Final Weeks at Faith Nazarene!

One final hello from Faith Nazarene! So much has happened during our final two weeks, but we will try and cover all of the highlights!

Final Planting:

Planting Day!

In our last posting, we had just finished building the raised-bed garden and were finally prepared to place the transplants we acquired from Chaa Creek into the bed.  During class on Thursday the 15th we brought all of the plants including, mint, basil, sweet peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and some flowers!  The students of Mrs. Patty's class got their hands dirty and together we filled up the bed with the plants very quickly.

Kayla watering a newly planted flower

Some of the boys planting in tires

The next week we brought in the rest of the donations from Chaa Creek, including plantain trees, coconut trees, chaya (a native plant similar to spinach), and cho cho (another native plant used in soups).  During class on Monday, the girls dug holes and planted the plantain trees and on Tuesday the boys dug holes and planted the coconut trees.  Expanding the garden even further, next to the raised-bed, we used old tires (donated from Chuc's garage in San Ignacio) and planted okra, carrots, and zinnias from seed.

Classroom:

Playing Plant Jeopardy!

Though much of our final class work time was spent outside working in the garden, we did have one final session inside the classroom.  On Thursday the 22nd, we tested our students on all of the material we covered during our time here, through PLANT JEOPARDY!  We split the class into two teams and tested the students on their knowledge of seeds, fruits, vegetables, planting, and a "random" category! Both teams demonstrated their understanding of all of these categories and in the end, everyone was a winner, getting fresh watermelon as a prize!

Planting Party:
On our final day working with Faith Nazarene besides planting in the tires, we brought a special treat for our students, chocolate bananas!  All of our students loved them, and for once they went silent for at least five minutes as they ate.  They then proceeded to have a dance off, and showcased some of their funky moves right in the middle of the classroom.  It was a great way to leave our class and we all left with bright smiles :)

Final Presentation:
To wrap up all of our hard work in each of our projects at Faith Nazarene (garden, classroom, and basketball) we compiled a 15 minute presentation.  We spent all of last week practicing and perfecting our presentation skills and finally on Thursday the 29th, along with the other three service learning groups, we presented at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel.  Our group was extremely lucky that all of our project partners from Faith Nazarene including members of the PTA, faculty, and staff came to watch our presentation.  We felt very honored to have all of them attend and could not have asked for a better way to end our project!

Faith Nazy crew with the best chocolate bananas in San Ignacio!

-Dan Devlin, Molly Nagel, and Julia Stratton