That feeling...new year with new and old friends - by Kenny Varner

It is 10:00 pm on Sunday night. Tomorrow is the first day of school for participants in the 2017 LSU Teaching in Chile. I have that same feeling I had both as a child and then as a teacher the night before the first day of school: anxiously happy about the new opportunities to come.  A couple participants arrived on Friday and the majority arrived yesterday, but for my colleague Ken and I this trip starts long before our gringitos (gringo is the proper word in Chile for those from the United States) come.  Preparations for the next year begin just a few weeks after the current group leaves.  Prior to the start of this group there were two preparatory trips from the North (Louisiana hahaha) to the South (Chile) and two visits in reverse where we partner and plan for the upcoming year. Also we arrived earlier this week to meet with the Mayor of San Pedro and the Director of a Juvenile Justice center that we will partner with. We also spent time at the school greeting those we know and being introduced to new folks; 15 years into my time in Chile and I am still amazed by the balance of our new friends (the participants and some host families) and our old friends (the other families, students, teachers, administrators, and community members that make this trip happen.

On Friday night and again on Saturday I had the opportunity to meet 4 of the 6 flights carrying our students and, as has been typical in our years, chatted with families in the airport prior to everyone coming out.  The families that host our students are sweet, interesting, diverse, and most impressively open to making this experience and program happen.  They all waited at the airport with that happy anxiety I was talking about at the beginning and we have so much to thank them for to make our trip happen.

This blog is a space to hear from our participants, the students, and families.  Once a week the U.S. participants will each post and some families, some students, and some teachers will post as well as it makes sense for them to post.

As the sun set over San Pedro de la Paz tonight I was able to take some time to reflect on this program and the lives it has impacted. The Seniors that will graduate from Colegio Concepcion this year we have known since they were 7th graders, we have seen folks get older and wiser, and we have had the steadfast support of the teachers, with significant support from Francisco Olave and Macarena Yacoman who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the program is a success.  Finally we have the incredible support of Roberto Mora, headmaster of Colegio Concepción San Pedro, who is a real champion of innovation!  Our participants walk in to school tomorrow and may not know how lucky they are to be walking into a place that is not only a friend of LSU but also a place that is opening its doors, arms, and hearts to each of them.

Me sitting on a dock at Laguna Grande in San Pedrom de la Paz Chile reflecting on the year to come.