Similar to days 2 and 3, our morning began with refreshingly cold showers followed by a breakfast of French toast, scrambled eggs, fresh pineapple, cereal, and a choice of coffee or tea. Following the meal, the group traveled to Colegio to continue teaching students elementary English; our lesson plan for the day entailed teaching the children about shapes in correlation with rooms in a house (e.g. living room, kitchen, dining room, etc.). Unlike the first day of teaching, however, the students seemed much more engaged and willing to participate in classroom discussions and activities. Each of our individual groups taught two classes before debriefing, sharing details as to how we could improve our lesson plans and keep the children entertained. We returned to the Outreach360 building to a traditional Dominican lunch of rice and beans, eggplant with cheese, and tomato & cucumber salad. Once everybody had finished their meal, Jackson, the Outreach Head of Logistics in the DR, informed us about an opportunity to participate in a series of monthly donations that would fund the construction of a larger learning center in Nicaragua. At this time we began our lesson plan for the second day in the Learning Center. It was the same material as the day before but with different students. We took this opportunity to improve flaws in our previous day. These students were well-engaged with our interactive lessons. For dinner, we devoured an American delicacy: fried chicken and fries with tamarind juice. After the meal, Caleb, one of our local leaders, gave us the history of the Dominican Republic’s development including an inspiring movie about the Democratic Revolution in the mid-1900s. We wrapped up our day with highlights and suggestions for our day with full hearts and tired eyes. –Cole Jordan and Leif Smith

This morning we woke up at 7:30, got ready, and headed downstairs for breakfast at 8. We got our supplies together and walked to the school at Monte Cristi. The schedule of the day was recess and then two 45 minute classes with different students. During recess I had a conversation with a third grade student named Victor about Avengers: Infinity War and Titanic (he stressed the fact that he did NOT cry). Other volunteers played tag, basketball, wall ball, and other games the children had made up. In our first class, the students were very well-behaved, and we did flashcards, chalk races, and drew pictures while writing what they were drawing. In the second class, we attempted to do the same activities, but the class was too crazy and we had to change our plan. We split the students into smaller groups and went over the vocabulary with them. This worked much better than with a bigger group. Then, we debriefed and talked about how we could be better tomorrow. We walked back to the Outreach center and ate lunch. After lunch, we played cards and did lesson planning for the learning center and the next day with the public school. At 4:00, the students arrived at the learning center and we read with them one-on-one. The girl I read with was very open to my suggestions, and I could tell she cared a lot about learning English. Then we went into the classrooms and did stations of different activities and games. The station I supervised was drawing and labeling your favorite outfit. The kids seemed to really enjoy it, especially the stickers. When the children left, we ate dinner. After dinner, we played trivia about the Dominican Republic’s history in teams. Then, we watched In the Time of the Butterflies, which was about how the Mirabal sisters helped to take down the dictator Trujillo. After the movie we had a discussion which was very thought provoking, and Caleb, one of the cominos, answered our questions. At 9:00, we had a group meeting where we discussed our roses and thorns of the day. Then we played more games of cards and now it is time for bed. –Abigail McCammon