Thank You!

Every day, as I am in bed about to go to sleep, I count my blessings and am thankful for all of them.

I am thankful for my parents, for my mother speaking to me in English while I was growing up, for her teaching me manners, for my father’s extraordinary presence, for the values they taught me with their example,  for my beloved husband with whom I founded BAI, for my daughter and her unconditional love, for the food I eat, the bed I sleep on, the clothes I wear, my dogs: Bunny and Kitty (although very sad Kitty passed away in July), the friends and family I love and who love me back, and for our school and all the people who make up the British American Institute family!

Yes, I am thankful for you, for our teachers, for our maintenance personnel, for our administrative personnel, for your parents, and for all our former students who keep in touch with me! For my former student, Orlando Vera Boeta who was my guide in Berlin, Prague and  Dresden; I am thankful for having taken 20 teachers and personnel on a trip to Loreto, in Baja California Sur; I am thankful for our musical presentations, such as The Lion King, and I am thankful for the cards and letters some of you have written to me.

 

 

 

Thankful for the cards your write to me

My parents and I

Celebrating my birthday with Miss Tanya

The Lion King, with Luis Francisco and Monica Gallego

Miss Monica and I

I am even thankful for snow in Denver

Former students

Trip to Loreto BC

Bunny and Kitty

While I eat I think of all the people who made it possible for me to eat: the farmers who cultivated the vegetables I am eating, the owners of the land where the vegetables are grown, the drivers who take the food to the market, the people who package it, the cashiers who sell it and charge me for it, the persons who put my food into the bags I take to the market….so many people! Hundreds of people make it possible for me to eat! And I thank them in my mind and in my heart. I am thankful for having adopted Lucy!

The minute I wake up I am thankful for another day, for being able to get out of bed with my  two legs and feet (although I have monster toes! Hahahaha), for my  two arms and hands,  my two eyes to see where I am stepping, my two ears to hear the birds singing outside my window and the music I love…and I think: how blessed I am to be alive and to be healthy and to have YOU!

 

I am thankful for my brain, for my mindfulness, because it allows me to be conscious of everything around me and within me. I am thankful for being a vegetarian and for respecting life in all its manifestations.

Can YOU make a list of all the things that you are thankful for?

I am also thankful for Miss Graciela, for she has proven to be not only an excellent teacher of sign language, but a kind and gracious lady.

I am very thankful that Miss Sarah managed to come out alive from the accident she suffered. It is a miracle that nothing more serious happened to her!

I am thankful that our school did not burn, like so many other buildings and homes all around us. I am very thankful!

I am thankful that now I live near the ocean and in just 10 minutes I can enjoy just looking at it!

So, again, THANK YOU children, for the love and joy you bring into my life. YOU are the sunshine of the days I spend and have spent at British American Institute. YOU are the reason I am writing this blog  hoping to leave a footprint in your hearts, minds and souls.

THANK YOU!

 

 

 

JUST IN TIME!

I am going to be with you just in time for the Halloween Party! I am leaving on a train tomorrow morning. I enjoy trains. They are very relaxing and I prefer it over driving in a busy highway. The train that goes from where I live to San Diego is specially nice because many parts of the journey are right beside the ocean. So I will see you very soon!

I know you have been talking about good-timing, it is a talent that all of us should develop. So many things depend upon good timing.  For example, saving our planet! We are going through difficult times that are provoking  a change in our climate and this brings forth many problemas, like the fires we have been experiencing in this area and in  the state of California.

We have to be aware and do all that is possible to help out our planet.

However, since Halloween is almost here, I want you to see this very short video about about being yourselves! Many years ago there was this program called The Munsters, and I really liked it. it was funny and cute.

I think it is very important for everyone to accept themselves as they are and to love and appreciate who they are.

I send all my love and appreciation. I love you just the way you are!

 

Loving Kindness

A few days ago while I was visiting you, Mr. Kay talked to you about loving kindness and what it really means. I couldn’t agree more.

The way we make others feel says a lot about ourselves. If we try our best to be kind to others, to make them feel loved, it means that we are actually good persons who are empathetic to the feelings of others.

If you are going to be anything in life, be kind. Kindness doesn’t cost a dime, it is free. Kindness is never wasted. Mark Twain, a very famous american author, said: “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

Kindness means having the ability to speak with love, listen with patience and act with compassion.

Hellen Keller, was an american lady who was born deaf and blind. She learned to speak, read and write because she had an extraordinary teacher, Ann Sullivan. With time Hellen grew to be a writer and one of the things she said was: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Kindness is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Live it.

WELCOME TO ANOTHER SCHOOL YEAR!

Hello my beautiful students! Welcome back and for you new ones, I want to introduce myself. I am Miss Lilian, the Founder, Counselor, General Principal and Blog writer of British American Institute. I am more than happy this year because I have exciting news to share.

This new school year will bring many new wonderful adventures for you and me!

One of them is that you will start to learn SIGN LANGUAGE (Lengua de Señas), in your classroom! This will be made possible by your new teacher Miss Graciela Rascón Miranda.

Communicating with others is vital in order to have a happy and rewarding life. But not all people are born with the ability to hear, like most of us. There are many people who cannot hear, either because they were born that way or because of an illness or accident.

Can you imagine how you would feel if you couldn’t hear? Life would be very difficult, I bet!

Miss Graciela was born deaf, so she had a difficult time during her childhood years because she could not communicate like you and me. She had to learn sign language in order to do so and learn to read lips, so she could understand what others were saying. So when you speak to her be sure to speak slowly and look her directly in the eyes.

Because communicating is so important, we should  all learn sign language so that we may be able to “talk” with any deaf person we happen to meet.

Sign language in English is different from sign language in Spanish. Miss Graciela will teach you the Spanish version.

I want you to be very polite and behave perfectly well with Miss Graciela, and show her what excellent students you all are! Make her feel welcome and loved. She is a very caring and loving lady who is very happy to have the opportunity of teaching you sign language this school year.

Now YOU have this fantastic opportunity to learn another way of communicating! Be grateful and take advantage of it. Our school is doing its best to offer you this wonderful new class.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/education-39274661/should-hearing-children-learn-sign-language

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrWnaNOXmldXHUA8wsPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw–?p=youtube+videos+en+espa%C3%B1ol+lenguaje+de+se%C3%B1as+para+ni%C3%B1ods&fr=yhs-pty-pty_maps&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_maps#id=26&vid=17c729c61a105e2e12dd238d57ac3a57&action=view

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrWnaNOXmldXHUA8wsPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw–?p=youtube+videos+en+espa%C3%B1ol+lenguaje+de+se%C3%B1as+para+ni%C3%B1ods&fr=yhs-pty-pty_maps&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_maps#id=17&vid=3e7512aacfc56ec34d4d25ecbb81915f&action=view

 

End of the School Year Fun

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the young athletes who competed this year in gymnastics, swimming, diving, football, basketball, martial arts, dancing…you are awesome and I encourage you to continue with your activities. It takes a lot of self-discipline to shine in those fields! So congratulations to all of you!

Another thing to keep in mind is to be kind to animals. They are sentient beings who enjoy being happy, who have feelings just like you and I, who deserve to be free and live happy lives in their own habitats.

There are some of you who have helped stray dogs find a loving home, thank you for your compassion and love.

Here are some examples of animals I know you will like. Don’t forget Lucy!

https://youtu.be/2ceo3e-BsYM

Preview YouTube video 10 Incredible RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ANIMALS AND HUMAN

https://youtu.be/rqhJuwUukX8

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video Christian the Lion Reunion As Seen on CNN

Christian the Lion Reunion As Seen on CNN

SELF-DISCIPLINE and the end of the school year

Hello everyone, by the time you read this you will be ready to go on a summer holiday and finishing this school year.

Let’s think about the things we learned this year and how we applied them to our everyday lives.

Can you think of something important? Do you feel you are a better person because of what you learned? Do you think you used self-discipline this year? What are the most important values you learned?

As for me I can you that I learned many interesting facts by watching documentaries about our planet and its inhabitants. I read,  but not as much as I should have. I am promising myself to read much more this coming school year. I did have self-discipline, but I want to have even more. I walked and swam 4-5 days a week. I need to do it 6 days a week. I made several works of art, wrote a few poems,  travelled and wrote this blog.

As we enter the 28th year of British American Institute I feel very proud of you, of our teachers, personnel and myself. Yes, because at the beginning, back in 1992, I really practiced self-discipline when I founded this school and ventured into the most noble and beautiful profession of all: educating happy children and in English!

I feel very proud, because together with all the teachers who have worked with us, we have managed to change the lives of hundreds of children. Can you imagine yourselves not knowing  English? I can’t.

So many former students have gone to prestigious universities in the United States, one even in Germany, and they have been able to do so because they have had self-discipline, studying very hard, and by speaking, reading and writing English extremely well.

Make it a point to make this coming school year the best yet! Remember to be honest, responsible, kind, caring; to practice self-discipline and to be happy!

I am extremely happy myself for I am moving to California and I will be living in a place near San Diego, so I will go and visit you very often and will be at all the special events to cheer you up and see how you are doing.

I will miss Denver, but not the snow! Although it is beautiful to look at, I like a warmer climate and to live near the ocean. I will take with me lovely memories of my years spent here doing my art, making new friends, and walking in the beautiful streets and parks decorated by thousands of gigantic trees!

Have a wonderful summer, and please remember to read, read, read! Oh…and did I say have fun too?

 

 

 

HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY

Good Morning to you! HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY!

I want you to know that all of you are the sunshine of my life when I am at school, that I think of you often, and that my life changed completely since I founded the school. I am in touch with former students who hold British American Institute and all the teachers close to their hearts. It makes me incredibly happy to know that we have touched your hearts and changed your lives for the better in so many ways. Thank you for being our students. Thank you for your love and hugs!

In order to show my love for you I am including some videos that I hope will bring a smile to your face and perhaps make you laugh just as I laughed when I saw them for the first time, when was a little girl.

When I was around 7 my grandmother took me to the movies to see a “Charlie Chaplin Festival.”  They showed clips of Charlie Chaplin’s funniest scenes and I laughed so much that my grandmother was laughing uncontrollably, not at Charlie chaplin, but at me!

Charles Chaplin was an English comic actor, director, producer and composer born in England in 1889. He came to fame in the silent era of the movies, when the actors did not speak. Because of his intelligence, wit and personality he is considered of of the most important figures in movie history.

Another famous American comedian was Buster Keaton. He was born in Kansas (USA) in 1895.

Abbot and Costello were another team of American comedians, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

I hope you enjoyed the videos. I enjoyed looking for them and choosing them.

Oh, and let me tell you! I received a letter from the Liberia Sanctuary, where Lucy lives. They told she is doing just fine, and sent me a letter and these pictures. The first one on the left was taken when she was rescued, she was very emaciated (skinny). Now she is healthy and happy, all thanks to our love and their care.

TEAMWORK

A team is a body of people that come together to achieve  a common goal. In sports, in business, in a family, there are teams who help each other.

When you play  basketball for example, there are two teams. Two groups playing competitively to see who wins.

At home, the members of the family are a team and each member has a chore to do, in order to help each other.

In a business, like this school, each member has a responsibility. The management team administers the school; the academic team teaches the students; the maintenance team fixes things, paints,  and remodels; the cleaning team keep the school sparkling clean.

In the classroom there is also a team. You and your teachers make up a team. The  teachers teach and look out for your well-being, the students learn and obey the rules.

In this way goals are achieved in an easier manner.

(next video, watch from minute 3:50)

 

Here we have a group made up of children and young adults who as a team perform amazingly!

Members of a team must trust each other. They know that everyone is working and doing their best to help each other.

Teamwork is essential if we want to have things done better, quicker, easier, and happier!

LET’S ADOPT AN ANIMAL!

I am so happy to read the comments made by you and your teachers! It seems everyone loves Lucy! I am sure Lucy is going to be well taken care of because of the monthly donation I am making, and because all of you love her!

Here is a list of sanctuaries where one can find animals to adopt. Read this blog with your parents and ask them if they are willing to help. Even ten dollars a month would be a very kind donation that would help so many animals in need, and also animals that are in danger of extinction!

Teachers: please log into these following sites. The students will be amazed at how many animals they can adopt! it is very interesting!

https://adoptananimalkits.ecwid.com/Adopt-An-Endangered-Species-c23741757

Here is a donkey sanctuary. I am in love with donkeys too!

Here is another site:

http://www.bigcat.org/adopt-An-Animal

And here is a list of the 10 best sanctuaries in the world to visit!

https://globalgrasshopper.com/travel/travel-ideas/10-incredible-animal-sanctuaries-to-visit-around-the-world/

 

 

LUCY

Our dear, sweet Lucy arrived three years ago today – emaciated, screaming, terrified and completely full of fear. Today she’s grown into a beautiful, extremely inquisitive, lovely person who shows deep compassion and kindness and has a sense of humor rivaling most. She is adored beyond belief and makes us love and laugh every day! Thank you Lucy for being in our lives and loving us with all your soul. 🙏🙏🙏😍😍😍