Tag Archives: Escuela para sordos

2023 02 update

February 3rd, 2023

Four weeks of classes into the semester. We have been BUSY. Our director/webkeeper was called away at the end of 2022 due to a death in her family so we apologize for not updating the website as is our custom. In the end, the deceased is believed to be eternally content in Jesus’ presence while those still remaining on the planet are working through steps to keep moving ahead.

Natalia knows none of this of course. She had her 6th birthday while we were on Winter Holidays and we celebrated with her when she returned to classes. From these photos, you can see Delilah (the dog) continues to tolerate hugs and Betsy continues to “teach”.

Our fleet of volunteers has kicked up their gears and bring us monthly lunches as well as come once a week to teach a variety of skills with the boys. Every young person should have the ability to make fried chicken, boil pasta and chop veggies. Who knows what the next lessons will be!? Natalia’s volunteer driver is Lucy – she joined us for birthday cake and games that day.

We are always excited to have Jerry and Christina from WyldLife YounLife join us! We are possibly the smallest group they ever have as far as numbers but we are always enthusiastic! SO THANKFUL to God to their willingness and the willing hands of our staff interpreter Amber.

Thank you each for your prayers as we continue to minister here at CSCD. Pray with us for these students and for those who will be coming in the next and future school years.

February 3, 2023NewsASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, deafness, Escuela para sordos, ESD, Evangelical School for the Deaf, handbell choir, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Mission work team, missionary, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico sordos, school for the deaf, servant hearted, short term missions, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PR, students, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

hearing the bells means Christmas is just around the corner!

October 28th, 2022

So many years, people have commented -IT’S NOT REALLY CHRISTMAS UNTIL I HEAR THE BELLS. We are well into our Christmas music practices and looking forward to presenting our bell choir offerings beginning December 2! To me (Betsy) Christmas has already begun!

If you have opportunity, go to see this movie – I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY – it sounds like an awesome movie about a favorite carol of mine.

October 28, 2022NewsASL, ASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, Evangelical School for the Deaf, handbell choir, Luquillo School for the Deaf, missions trip, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico sordos, school for the deaf, Sordo en Puerto Rico, studentsBetsy Hoke

MidOctober Days’ work

October 15th, 2022

You can check out the newest newsletter here: WTH_Fall2022 (1)

The middle of October and we are still feeling the summer humidity. Someone thought playing outside on Friday was a good idea. And it was. But getting back into the school chapel was a better idea!

We always enjoy our friends from Young Life come for some fun and games and the challenge from God’s Word. Jerry and Christina are amazing and we love having them and our friends from the Palmas Community Church.

There are four of us on staff now – we welcomed Dave Markle (white shirt) as our maintenance and Go To Guy for all things dysfunctional. Valie is enjoying having another guy around who knows how to fix things. Last week Dave installed a new hard drive on the school ZOOM CLASS laptop. This week he fixed leaks in the east wall that allowed Hurricane Fiona waters to enter the preschool classroom and kitchen. Imagine finding water in the breaker box! Only God knows what next week will bring to his plate!

Similarly in the classrooms – as teachers, we can know ourselves and prepare but we never know what will be behind the faces that enter. Our morning students are pretty settled into their studies and arrive knowing we will be doing SCHOOL work. Afternoons, we face ZOOM class with a teenaged girl and Tuesday Thursday with a Kindergartener girl. Oh dear. Pray in the afternoons if you think of it!

We love a weekend to do prep work and gardening but one Saturday each month we have Deaf Fellowship Day. The ladies have taken an interest in Diamond Art which is very tiny work. They got a little competition going to see who can complete the Christmas pieces they are working on. For me (Betsy), this project is too small and I took the paper sample to the printer and made an enlargement to help explain what we were doing.

There are already plans for more Christmas themed projects.

We also enjoy a night at the movies each month – coming up November 4 will be MOSES by Sight and Sound Theaters. Love their productions and the way the play shows us more of the character of the Bible person and times.

Pray with us for more opportunities and more hands to help with reaching out to the Adult Deaf community. Thanks for stopping by today!

Read the Fall 2022 newsletter at our webpage: https://cscdluquillo.com/with-these-hands/

October 15, 2022News, StaffASL, ASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Hispanic Heritage Month, Interpreter training workshop, lenguaje se senas, school for the deaf, servant hearted, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordos, studentsBetsy Hoke

Wonderful Work Team!

June 6th, 2022

An amazing team from Elmhurst IL has come to bless us with energy and work ethics! First Congregational UCC, Elmhurst – 235 S Kenilworth Ave, Elmhurst IL 60126 (630) 832-2580 (elmhurstucc.org)

They are power washing, painting, cleaning, and replacing some rain spouts and roof tiles that were in need of attention. WOOHOO! Thank YOU!

June 6, 2022missions trip, NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Escuela para sordos, ESD, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Mission work team, missionary, missions, missions trip, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico sordos, servant hearted, short term missions, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PRBetsy Hoke

How is it possible that we are in the last full week of September already?

September 22nd, 2021

Our NEWEST NEWS as of September 22, 2021:

Roxy is no longer with us. She lost her vision in July and was suffering loss of mobility, weakening due to internal issues, and was taken to the vet for a peaceful euthanisation on 21 September.

Flowers continue to bloom and bring us peace.

We got an air fryer and the students made french fries from real potatoes. We need to practice and try again to get the setting just right but ketchup was a good cover for our attempt.

During our Lockdown, termites moved into our book cupboards in the science and math classroom. Our handyman, Valie, took on the challenge of repairing the classroom. A summer work team painted it and now we have new shelves (made in PVC board) and are preparing to set up the classroom for use again!

A close up of the wood from the door frame shows how horrible the situation was. New we have a new aluminum door frame, new door and less concern about the termites. Also we can SEE them coming now – we hope.

The grounds are looking good also thanks to our handyman who is enjoying a new lawn tractor. So much grass and so few hands to work at keeping it trimmed led us to purchase a new lawn tractor in June. As one who has been responsible for the grass work, Betsy is SO thankful for the men who come to help out and the new lawn mower.

THANK YOU for your prayers and if you want to come to work on any of our projects – get in touch!

September 22, 2021classroom, missions trip, NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, ESD, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Luquillo School for the Deaf, school for the deaf, Sordo PRBetsy Hoke

God’s blessings are abundant

April 19th, 2021

In February, a random person stopped by the school and said he wanted to make our school the recipient of the proceeds of a local 5K run. As long as I was not expected to run 5K, SURE why not!?

In addition to the blessing of financial proceeds, he is recruiting volunteers to PAINT and help with our outdoor upkeep. WOW! Seriously, the SOUND of 4 power washers running for 2 days was unbearable (that is why they make noise-cancelling ear plugs – which my little student Diego thinks are super cool!)

we are feeling very BLUE as the painting continues

In this case feeling BLUE is a good thing…. it’s our color!

While all of that is happening OUTSIDE we are still learning INSIDE. The day I broke out the origami paper and started cutting it into fraction lessons was joyful for me and actually made one student cry. Not because I was destroying origami paper but because he really wanted to do anything but think about parts of a whole. I mean, who knew that turning that page in the math book would cause deep grief?

We are taking advantage of nice weather to sit outside when possible – reading class, art class, and we hung up some rings to begin to develop some gym class moments. Maybe CSCD will see a gymnast arise from the carport!

Thank you my praying friends for your prayers, your letters, your emails of encouragement. May you too have a lovely BLUE SKY and know the joy of God’s great blessings today.

April 19, 2021classroom, missions trip, NewsASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Mission work team, school for the deaf, servant hearted, short term missions, Sordo en Puerto Rico, studentsBetsy Hoke

Tutoring Begins

May 10th, 2020

10 days ago, I sat in the library and thought, “We can create an air flow to protect a student and a teacher with or without masks.” Masks are so in the way of reading lips, eh? (and breathing sometimes)

So I arranged a table in line with the air conditioner and a fan in line with the table so that the a.c. and fan make perpendicular flows. Then I invited my eldest student to come. His mother quickly agreed (oh the stress of homeschool with a 17 year old addicted to social gaming).

Delilah is SO happy to have Mizael back part time. So am I.

I took some pictures and then invited Diego to come. His mother also agreed quickly. He in fact

wanted to come to Saturday school. Yea… NO. I am dedicated to my students but I also have some things to do for myself and my church.

And we have part time classes, one at a time, and the boys are doing some work at home [sic] and learning much about virus and quarantine and healthy habits. SOAP and WATER beat hand sanitizer. Wanna try ROCK PAPER SOAP?

Thank you for praying for our students through this period of uncertainty. We are NOT certain what August looks like but if we have to continue with our tutoring and one-on-one learning, we will do that. The best news is not NEWs… it is God’s character. In His Sovereignty, God knows what August will look like and knows when Covid19 will peter out and knows when our resources need to be refilled. I am not saying the world stopped just so I could get totally rested but it is a nice side-effect.

May your days be filled with His praise.

May 10, 2020NewsASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, ESD, school for the deaf, Sordo PR, studentsBetsy Hoke

February!

February 18th, 2020

Always so much fun to have former students stop by. This month, we met Angela and her daughter. They brought pictures of her father and brother who were students here in 1965! Wow! They had fun seeing the classrooms and dining room. We had fun hearing her stories that her father had related to her.

We are preparing for our next Fun and Games night on March 6. The first Friday of each month, we have a social time. Dominos, card games, board games, group games. Always something to keep our brains working. Many times we see new people and that makes it even more fun.

The school grounds are looking good these days. Flowers blooming. Green plants growing. Helen and Philip have been busy on the yard work and we are so appreciative of their handiwork.

Thanks for praying for our students -many are out with influenza and we want to see them WELL before they return to classes. May God bless you as you serve Him in your areas today.

February 18, 2020NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Escuela para sordos, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PR, SordosBetsy Hoke

December!?

December 11th, 2019

The pictures above are from NOVEMBER. What was happening that month that prevented us from updating you!?

Oh yea! we were preparing for a visiting work team from Arrowhead Bible Camp and then enjoying the team from Arrowhead Bible Camp. WORKERS they were! Our project was to paint and refresh our school chapel which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2020. While here the Arrowhead team did it ALL – finished the project, finished other projects, went to 3 different beaches, kayaked the biobay, had and early Thanksgiving dinner with the school kids, made Diego cry, zipped over Toro Verde in Orocovis, attended the Deaf church in Hato Rey, rode horses at Hacienda Carabali and enjoyed a private afternoon as Las Paylas. In a week.

If you cruise the site, you will see BEFORE photos of the chapel. here are the AFTER ones:

On the day the Arrowhead team left, our school principal received a phone call that Pam Eadie Mowbray had died. Pam was our principal from 1986 through 1996. Pam came to PR and began working at the school in January 1971. She culminated her teaching career here with us 2005(?). Betsy, our principal, has been helping Pam’s husband Alan with odds and ends to tasks. If anyone would like to send him a card or message: Alan Mowbray, Condo Playa Azul1, Apt 1304, Luquillo PR 00773

And now we are preparing for the end of this semester:

December 11, 2019NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, Deaf Puerto Rico, deafness, Escuela para sordos, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Mission work team, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico sordos, short term missions, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

September 2019!

September 11th, 2019

I have attempted several times to update this blog and every time, some internet monkey stops my progress. Hoping today will be different and hoping that you have been praying for the ministry in spite of our lack of updates.

Last Wednesday after lunch, the two older students decided to try volleyball while the two little boys were trying baseball. Carlos, our groundskeeper was trimming and three dogs played nicely together. Will wonders never cease!

Our days are HOT and we are so thankful for the tropical storms passing by out of our range. A small breeze would be welcome but let me tell you, I am happy to not have had the BIG storm here.

We are praying for the people in the Bahamas who are now experiencing WORSE conditions than we had in 2017. We cannot imagine having a storm sitting on us for 36 hours… incessantly pounding. WOW. The pictures we are seeing make all of us thankful here for the mountains that block winds and the cement structures which are most common. If you are interested in giving to someone who is already working for Kingdom Purposes in the Bahamas, I can recommend PRAYING PELICANS MINISTRY OR CHAMPS MISSIONS . Both of these ministries have connections already established with churches and people in the Bahamas. I know the Praying Pelican ministry and a friend recommends the Champs Mission group. You can look into those or other places if you have a heart to help that island nation.

Check out Mike and Glenda Coupe’s most recent newsletter to see what they are up to. Right now, (Wednesday at 4:30) , Glenda is working with Natalia – 3 year old deaf girl – on ASL/language development while Mike is in the States.

Pray for our new student JJ – he is 8 years old and works hard to keep us working harder! Pray for wisdom as we will have him only for a few weeks – his dad is military and deployed somewhere so he and his mom are visiting family here until dad is home to be helpful with that hard work I mentioned in the last sentence!

thanks for your many prayers

September 11, 2019NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, Deaf education, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Puerto Rico sordosBetsy Hoke