Friday, May 1, 2009

Team member: Quita Farley




Hi my name is Quita Farley and I am a member of the team traveling to Jamaica.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I am a mother of two beautiful daughters. My oldest daughter is 19 and in her second year of college.

My youngest daughter is 16 and she is deaf. As she would tell you being deaf is a part of who God created her to be. She does not view herself as handicapped and feels that she can do anything she wants. She is a very good student and involved in many activities. This is part of my goal in going to Jamaica. I hope to share with the teachers and help them dream for their students. Deaf students in Jamaica have limited opportunities. I hope to use my experiences of being a mom of a deaf child as I come along side the teachers in Jamaica. The teachers need to see the potential of their students. I hope my background will open a door to accomplish this.

I am also a teacher in Fort Worth. I teach fourth grade math and have the opportunity to have all the fourth grade deaf students in my math class. This class is an inclusion classroom so I have deaf and hearing students together every day. I can tell you that the deaf students with the right support can do anything the hearing students can do. This day to day experience will be useful as I work with the teachers in Jamaica.

I will have the opportunity to learn as well. While I am very comfortable with a class of children, I don’t have a lot of experience teaching large groups of teachers. I don’t really know the curriculum that CCCD uses. I would ask for your prayers for all of us as we prepare that we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He directs our plans. We want to share the things that are truly from Him.

God has already blessed. The school has so little to use in their classrooms. I contacted ETA Cuisenaire, a company that makes hands-on materials for the classroom. I told them about CCCD and asked if they would consider donating some math materials. They graciously agreed and sent four large boxes of materials for us to use in the training and then donate to the school.

Please pray for:

Pray for wisdom in our planning.
Safety as we travel.
Unity in our team.
The teachers from the school that they would be excited and be able to apply the things we share in their classrooms.