We spent a good part of morning meeting talking about guinea pigs, Frank's birthday party, his new cat, and earthquakes.
When Frank asked, "What IS an earthquake??? HOW does it HAPPEN??" I was ready.
First, I thanked the Powers that Be for the ten years I spent teaching fifth grade, and was particularly thankful for the many years spent teaching geology, plate tectonics, layers of the earth, and earthquakes. ( And I was doubly thankful that my memory hasn't been completely destroyed. )
I described what happens, in terms they could understand, and then went on to talk about their classmate.
I told them most of what I knew, which wasn't much, but reassured them that she was most likely FINE, and wouldn't she LOVE it if we wrote her some letters? They smiled, and agreed.
We miss you ***. We hope you weren't close to the earthquake.
Dear darling, our whole class misses you. I hope you are safe. I will think about you.And then, right after lunch, I received the following email from another teacher who has received some crucial information about our girl's family.
They live on the island of Kyushu, which is a distance from Honshu where the damage has occurred, so I'm assuming that they are fine. No news is good news, right? I'm telling myself that because I don't want to think about it otherwise. I'll let you know if/when I hear from their father. Thanks!
And while my heart is lighter, and my hope is brighter, we will continue to pray. We pray for her, her family, her neighbors and her country.
Frankly, I pray for us all.
