Wednesday

Wednesday:
      Wednesdays are long... for all of us. Wednesday is the one day of the week on which Nicole's workday extends beyond Dave's since she tutors after school. Early this year, the elementary principal connected her with the family of a former GWA student (by specific request from the family). Nicole actually taught this sweet girl twice: once when she was in Kindergarten as well as during the first few weeks of third grade. Just a few weeks into this past school year, a series of unfortunate circumstances forced the family into a decision to immediately transfer her from GWA to a smaller (much cheaper) British school in Casablanca. The academic curriculum at this new school is not nearly as challenging as it is at GWA, but the family has no choice but to remain there in spite of its weaknesses. Therefore, Nicole was asked if she would work through various mini-projects with this student in an effort to continuously augment her English skills. It was her pleasure. 
     This particular student is exceptionally gifted and self-driven to learn and to succeed. She exhibits an obvious excitement about learning (She even asked if Nicole would help her write a research report on Helen Keller, simply because she found this Historical individual to be fascinating). Dear teacher friends... you know how rare it is to find a student with such fervor. This child truly is the perfect epitomization of the GWA mission statement: "GWA inspires students to become multilingual, lifelong learners who pursue excellence, model integrity, and honor cultural diversity...", and so it's a shame that GWA's high tuition rates have obstructed her ability to be a part of our school. Perhaps someday this family will obtain the financial means to return to GWA... but until then Nicole really does enjoy tutoring her each Wednesday (especially since it allows her to be able to tap into her passion for teaching literacy - something she obviously doesn't get to do in P.E.).

      Dave's workday ends at 4:30 P.M., the exact time that the creche is closing down for the day. He has to promptly rush from his desk in order to pick up Aliyah, who doesn't even notice that her time spent at the creche was one and a half hours longer than it was the day before. Together, they hang out around campus until 5:45 P.M., when Nicole is finished with tutoring. We don't get home until just after 6:00 P.M.. At that point we have less than an hour to feed Aliyah and play with her before her bedtime... And, we have to get our own supper since we don't have the option of eating after Aliyah goes to bed on Wednesday. Aliyah's bedtime coincides with the time Dave heads back out the door for staff soccer. In addition to Saturday, Dave's staff soccer league plays every Wednesday evening from 7-9 P.M.. Then...Bam. Our day is done and we're both exhausted and ready for bed. As we said on Tuesday, we literally go from one thing to the next all day long. No breaks. But at least it's "hump day".

-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah