Say Goodbye…Say Hello!

This morning, we said goodbye to a very dear friend. He was a friend that always would welcome you to his home, made you feel special, and would provide you all the attention you could handle. Friends who are steady, always there to comfort and love you, forgiving and have very short memories are not easy to find or keep.

My sister Patty and her husband Jim took him in when he was only a pup about 14 years ago. He was a Lab that had the disposition you wish most people would have. His name was “Jake” and we affectionately called him the “Jakester”. For medical reasons and age, it was the right time for the “Jakester” to say goodbye to us and for us to let him go. Doing the best thing out of love is not always the easiest thing to do . “Jakester”, you were special…we will miss you!

We are saying “Hello” to some very special people. The Learning Center has welcomed two new volunteer teachers and the new Executive Director. When the Learning Center’s doors swung open last week to the largest number of students yet, these newcomers were ready to go. Each student level experienced an increased enrollment over previous years. Surprisingly, French has been added to the curriculum and is very popular.

I introduced you to Angela in my previous Post. Without any doubt, she is prepared to meet the various challenges facing the Learning Center this year.

She arrives at the Learning Center after spending close to two years in San Jose, Costa Rica leading and training Peace Corps volunteers and working with the Ministry of Public Education’s National Headquarters. She brings a rich teaching background having worked in both China and Ecuador. Equally important, she is now an official member of the Copey community. She originally hails from Pennsylvania.

Our two other new arrivals are Katrina Gorham and Kerri Borstelmann.

Katrina grew up in the Scottish countryside near Glascow and attended Edinburgh University in 2013.

She received her Masters in Modern European Languages (French and Russian) and has taught in both France and Russia. She enjoys traveling, learning languages, reading and music. The community has embraced her arrival to Copey and she is already busy expanding the students’ educational experience by heading up the French course.

Kerri was born in Macon, Georgia and grew up on Long Island, NY. She traveled extensively around the country during the summers with her father who was in the circus. She graduated with a BS in Communicative Disorders and Sciences from the State University of New York at Geneseo. She earned the prestigious Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) in Manhattan and taught at a private English academy in South Korea. She wanted to live in a Latin American country and decided on Copey as her next stop. She enjoys singing, hiking, traveling, and exploring different cultures.

The team is in place and the “Friends of Copey” is as well. Welcome aboard all and we look forward to much excitement and success.

                                  “Goodbye Jakester”