(...)
Because it would be the final presentation and Art exhibition day some of the children came slightly earlier so that they could finish their constructions and artistic pieces before the class and have those on display. One of the girls was missing, which not only was out of character but also meant that somebody else would have to read out what she was supposed to for the final presentation in case she didn't show up for the performance.
We did what we had been basically doing throughout the week though in reverse order, so soon after the half an hour Art class we managed to finish one of the transcriptions and read some religion related material in English which in a way further provided them with information regarding some of the stories of children of the world we had been listening to and reading.
A rehearsal took place at the auditorium and soon after they had the chance to see what the children of the previous groups, (which some of their siblings had attended) had done as far as English language performing acts was concerned. This also gave them an opportunity to calm down (they seemed rather nervous and anxious) and build up a certain degree of confidence. Most of the children's parents had been students of mine and being mostly air traffic controllers meant they were supposedly good in English, which led to an additional responsibility on their part.
Once the first child started "voicing" the story every other child followed suit and the final outcome was one that surprised everyone in the audience. They had managed to tell the legend of King Midas in a second to none type of way. The auditorium was practically full, the enterprise photographer was moving about and yet they "performed" as "young professionals" as if they were there to do so without any distractions or hesitations.
They were then handed the attendance certificates by an Air Traffic colleague and resident teacher on behalf of the Director who had a last minute issue he had to attend to. Parents were then shown photos of the week activities before having walked up to the exhibition room, where even the works of the two absent children were to be seen.
Most parents knew one another because of their common profession so the class-exhibition room became a social gathering place as well, where everyone seemed to have come to in order to discuss Art and Theatrical performance.
Everyone seemed (and certainly was) happy ... Ana and I included despite the fact that I felt (and looked) extremely tired the overall feeling was one of accomplishment and every reason to be proud of, partly due to my personal commitment but certainly also because of theirs.
