I was not planning on blogging tonight but I have good news (fantastic news to Luckner and I) about out HATS school to share.

In our grade 9 class who wrote the Haitian government exams all of them passed – 100% !!  Does HATS have a good school?  You bet we do.  Are the director, Luckner,  and the administrator, Karen, happy?  You bet we are.

I let you know on the last blog that only one student in our grade 6 class, who wrote the government exams, did not pass. Our grade 9 results are even better.  Many students here who write the government exams have to repeat their year.  Some schools have very low numbers who pass.

The word on the street is “The HATS school is the place to go.  Also heard on the street, and on TapTaps, (public transportation) is “The HATS school is the place for parents to register their children if they really want them to get an education.”  Our reputation as a school has been very good for years and this year the public is placing us as tied for first place as the best school in this area.

Luckner had to turn several parents away this week who wanted to register their students in certain grades in our school as those classes were already full, or more than full, in some cases.  Some parents actually cried and begged Luckner to take their children. That was before the news of our grade 9 results could even hit the street.

Luckner said tonight “Karen, I will do everything in my power to see our school results become even better and to help all students find the desire to study, to pass, and to make something of their lives.”

I am going to give you an example of the dedication of Luckner to preparing our grade 9 students for exams.  In June Luckner had Chikungunya and he suffered a great deal.  For quite some time he could not walk.  He was teaching the grade 9 class on Saturdays in May and June.  He did not want to break his commitment to them and so when quite ill, one Saturday in June, he went to school.  People helped him into his truck.  He drove to the school extremely slowly as he had a lot of problems with his right foot .  He had the students sit on the steps outside our office and he sat in his truck for four hours and taught the students.  With an attitude like that, together with his dedication and hard work, we have the results.

We are here to help children – in our school and in the orphanage.

~Karen