CST you don't scare me!

There was a different feel to the CSTs this year. The kids were so determined to show what they knew and that determination showed in how hard they were trying on the test.

We covered the walls with encouragment. It was really neat to see the kids look up during different parts of the test to give themselves a reboost.






Out of his great relief that the the first day of testing was done, Jack made a little sign to celebrate!



Joey almost made me cry every day of testing. He tried sooo hard. Praise God for answered prayers and for amazing breakthroughs!



I wasn't the only one who noticed Joey's incredible effort. Marlen was the second to last to finish taking her math test. When she was done, she immediately found a piece of paper to write a note. Then she beckoned me over. "Ms. Wong, will you give this to Joey?" That was another tear jerker.



And now for the series of letters the class got to start their day. I did not expect how much these letters would mean to them as they asked me, each day, to read it a few times before we started taking the test...




There's something really special about testing for 2 hours a day for 3 days a week for two weeks. That's 12 hours of "I don't know what to do with myself" time. I'm suppose to walk around and monitor their test-taking during the entire two hours, but there's really nothing I can do but watch them. So this year, I decided that I would vision and pray for each of them as they poured every bit of themselves into the test.

God, what do you want to do with this life? I saw lawyers and doctors. Businessmen and professors. Artists and motivation speakers. I even saw a few comedians. As I prayed for each kid, I realized that my visions might not have necessarily been from God but from what I've come to know about each student. Beyond their professions, however, there was a common theme that I saw for all my students. I saw people of compassion. My prayer for this class is that they would be molded into people who saw others and paused throughout their days - at work, at home, on the street - to BE with others. I have big dreams for them. I dream for them to live a life far greater than what they can even begin to imagine right now. I dream for them to be respected in their professions. I dream for them to be the generation that breaks through the cycles of injustice. But, my biggest dream for them, is to be people who are moved by their caring hearts. My biggest dream for them is that they would change the world by loving people. I think I see this beginning already and I pray that it would be protected no matter what they come up against in the future.