The PiCED Gig

I thought I would share a little about why I came back (and Ethan came) to Samoa in the first place. We were offered a great opportunity with an awesome non-profit, PiCED - Pacific Islands Center for Educational Development. Since the American Samoa Department of Education is so lacking, PiCED works to provide students the necessary resources to succeed. We have a computer lab, offer tutoring, teach SAT Prep courses, provide college counseling, hold leadership courses, lead teacher training workshops, train parents of positive child development and much more. So we basically offer cradle to college services with the aim of improving the island’s education. For the next 13 months Ethan and I will invest all our energy into helping PiCED continue to grow, expand, and improve it’s programs. In my position, Program Manager, I will be in charge of creating, implementing, and overseeing all of PiCED’s programs. It’s a big position, and I’m thrilled to be able to continue my work in Samoa with this opportunity. Ethan will be the Student Services Coordinator. His position is very hands on, and he will have most of the day to day contacts with the students. He personally gets to walk them through all the college application processes and handles most of the classroom instruction. We are both so enthusiastic about the possibilities for the year ahead and the positive impact we can make. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to accomplish everything we are planning for! 

Year 2, Week One

Ethan and I landed in Samoa at 9:30pm on Thursday night and hit the ground running. Scott picked us up from the airport and we headed west. We are going to be taking over the house that Scott and Taylor have been living in, so for our first week we all be lived together. Our first day back was filled with setting up all the essentials: bank accounts, phones, and groceries. We had the weekend to settle in and started work first thing on Monday. PiCED was hosting a 2 day training session for the new World Teach crew on Tuesday and Wednesday so there was much to be done. Taylor and I worked until almost 11pm to finish getting our presentation together. I was definitely thrown right into the mix at PiCED and on day 2 of work I presented one of the workshops for the WT group. The entire week was nonstop. There was so much to get done that Taylor and I didn’t have time for much training but I was able to get the feel for how things ran. 

We had a blip in our week when the new accountant didn’t work out. He started the same day as us, but it quickly became apparent to Scott and the rest of the gang that the fit was not there. On Wednesday, after only 2.5 days of work, the decision was made to let him go. So who oh who will our accountant be? The search is still on for some one to officially take over, but Scott will be handling most of our accounting remotely from the great state of Georgia. If any one knows of a qualified accountant who likes long walks on the beach, the sunshine in there face, and tropical island breezes, please pass him/her my way :)

(tearful good byes)

Hawaii Airport

in the plane

evaluating the WT simulations

afternoon Elementary simulation group