Staff Opportunities

“The first six weeks of first grade are not easy for me or my students. The kids are adjusting to the ‘big kid class’ – struggling to find their stamina and learning that reading and writing is actually really hard work. But as the year moves along it is unbelievable how much they grow, not only as readers and writers but as little human beings. They start to think about things on such a deeper level and by the end of the year I don’t want to see them go.

When I look back on how far they have come from the beginning of the year, I see that this is the year in kid’s lives where they get into their little rockets and take off for the moon. Even though I am the teacher, here are a few things that I have learned from first graders:

1. Everything is hard at the beginning. But if you can keep slogging on and trying your best, the hard work will pay off and you will reap the rewards in the end.

2. Wiggly teeth are very distracting, and when they finally come out it is important to celebrate. (We need to celebrate even the small things in our lives.)

3. God is interested in every detail of our lives. Even if our dogs have sniffles, or our parents are flying halfway round the world, God can take care of it all.

4. We need to pray like first graders. They pray with so much faith and believe with all their hearts that God will answer. (Our prayer time at the beginning of each day is my absolute highlight)

5. A little band aid and just some words to acknowledge their ‘owie’ can make such a difference. We need to remember that we don’t have to have all the answers but just a kind word to one another can make such a difference.

6. 1st Graders get excited about everything and find joy in the little things such as a hand full of marbles in the marble jar. What are some small things that we can appreciate and find joy?

7. Life is an adventure . . . there is so much to learn. Let’s always be lifelong learners.”

“The reason that I am in the Philippines is to serve at Faith Academy, and because of that, I get to live in this beautiful country! Getting to teach awesome students on school days and explore during breaks? What could be better?

One of my favorite places outside of Manila, is Sagada. A few years ago my friends and I took an overnight bus north of Manila to Banaue only to discover the final leg to Sagada was via a jeepney. Not wanting the beautiful rice terraces in the mountains to pass by unseen, we thought to ask if we could ride on top of the jeepney. Twisting and turning on the narrow roads through the cold and cloudy mountains laced with beautiful rice terraces is one of the most exhilarating things I’ve done. I’d liken it to riding through a picture-perfect postcard.

Living in the Philippines means I don’t have to choose between ‘the mountains or the beach.’ Being an avid snorkeler and scuba diver, I have fallen in love with the beautiful, calm, warm waters of Coron on the island of Palawan. I’ll never forget swimming under a small opening in the limestone during low tide to a beautifully peaceful marine lake. Coron is also home to my favorite diving experience! A friend and I got to dive through a Japanese WWII ship that was torpedoed and now lays on its side. We weaved in and out of what was left of the different floors and rooms, ascended through the torpedo hole and spent some time admiring the gorgeous coral that’s taken over the ship. It was such a great dive!

I will always and forever love visiting the island of Corregidor! I love the history. I love the jungle-hiking. I love the pier-jumping. I love the hammock-sleeping. I love the monkeys (but not foolishly so – if you know, you know.) Ever since my first Corregidor Outdoor Ed, I envied the site staff who got to ride their motorbikes around the island all week, and this his past Christmas, I was able to fulfill a dream of mine by renting a motorbike for a couple of hours to shuttle people around Corregidor island!

While these are three of my favorite places to visit in the Philippines, in all sincerity, my favorite place to be is in my classroom at Faith Academy with my amazing students – the entire reason why I am here!”

“From the time I was born until I was 12, I lived overseas as a missionary kid, first in Kenya and then in the Philippines. In fact, I went to 5 different elementary schools on three continents, including four years at Faith Academy.

Transitions and new experiences were all I knew, it was what I felt formed my identity. However, when I was 12, my parents sensed God calling them to stay in the United States. My life as I had known it changed completely – I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my friends and life here at Faith Academy because the decision was made while we were on furlough. Needless to say, as a young teen uprooted from all I had known (even as that had changed so often), I became angry at my parents and at God. I felt that if there even was a God, surely He must not love me, since I had such a hard middle school experience. I did not understand my classmates in the US, most of whom had rarely been outside the state of Colorado, and they did not understand me, this strange girl who had lived all over the world. God used that hard transition in my life to make my heart tender towards the transitions missionary students go through. God also gave me a heart for middle schoolers, even though I first vowed I would never teach that age group, because of my own negative Middle School experience. But God knew those experiences would lead me to seek out the hurting and left-out students while working with their classmates to include them.

That is why I came to Faith Academy in 2013; I hope I can be a consistent person in students’ lives and identify with them through their struggles. When I share my story with my students, especially new middle schoolers, they seem to breathe a sigh of relief that someone understands what they are going through. I love being an encouragement to them and seeing them become more comfortable with the community here at Faith.

The students are what I love the most about Faith. I love how they bring such a richness and diversity of thought to their studies. I love how they are so grateful and that I can build relationships with them on multiple levels, both inside and outside of the school day. I pray that God can use me to show students that their identities don’t come from being a missionary kid, or a business kid, or even a Faith Academy student, but that their identities are rooted in the fact that they are beloved children of the King of Kings.”

“I love being able to help people physically and spiritually. Here at Faith Academy, I have my dream job: being able to do what I love and use my skills in a Christian environment with High Schoolers. I desire to portray to the students that whatever we do we can use our skills, talents, and gifts for Christ.

Because of the nature of what I do, working with the students when they are injured and in pain, I am able to form relationships with them by encouraging them when they really need it. This helps to form trust with the students, allowing a deeper relationship develop. We go from fun conversations filled with jokes, to conversations about relationships with the Lord. My goal is to be a Christ-like influence for the students here at Faith Academy.

During an overseas soccer tournament a few years ago, one of our players fractured both bones in his ankle. He flew back from Thailand to the Philippines and then flew home to Korea. His injuries required surgery and he needed to stay in Korea for a few weeks before returning to school. We ended up spending a lot of time together that semester, as he needed physical therapy with me four days a week. It was a very challenging time for him, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

I remember that he thought his injury would mean an inability to play soccer his senior year or in later in university. He learned a lot about working hard, trusting God, and what really matters in life. In the end, he was able to play his senior year and he currently plays at Cornerstone University in the USA. The most rewarding moment was during the last game of his senior year. After scoring the first goal of the game he sprinted to me on the sideline, jumped in my arms and gave me a huge hug, saying, ‘that was for you Mr. Keating’. That was a moment that makes all of the hard work with it – I will never forget it.”