It was a sleepy Sunday afternoon when 15 students gathered outside our main school campus in Lascahobas, Haiti. As they stood together in small groups under a shade tree, a hand-painted heart mural beamed behind them. The mural represents God’s swelling heart for the left behind and the way that our students are invited to “be the light” in their families and in the community. Our students, and a small group of administrators, were on a mission that afternoon. For the first time ever, our school was invited to participate in a local academic competition and our mission of providing hope through education to the left behind was about to be put to the test. 

As our staff and students boarded a minibus, a chant broke out among our students, “We are champions! We are Champions! We are CHAMPIONS! WE ARE CHAMPIONS!” To say that our students were excited would be an understatement. They were full of anticipation thinking about the test, but they were ready to shine a light for Jesus and represent our school well.

Upon arriving at the test site, our students quietly and respectfully queued in a single file line outside the bus. There was no more chanting as a quiet resolve was now fixed on many of their faces. Some students were nervous and a few felt a little sick. After a short pep talk, they followed our administrators to be checked in for the test. 

The test itself was rather uneventful. Our students entered the classroom, took the test on French verb conjugation, turned it into the facilitator, and waited for their peers to finish. Once all of the tests were collected, the event coordinators informed each administrator that the tests would be graded within one week. After everyone finished the test, our students and staff filed into the minibus and headed back to One 17’s campus. On the bus, students recounted their experiences and revisited questions that were challenging. As campus drew near, our proud and confident students announced their return by resuming the “We are champions!” chant.

More than 60 students, representing six different schools in the Lascahobas area, participated in this competition for 4th through 6th grade students. Three students from each grade level would be recognized and awarded for their achievement at the end of the competition. 

One week later our administrators received the results. How do you think our students did?

One 17’s students made up 25% of the competition, but we received 56% of the awards! All of our students who competed that day finished in the top 50% of competitors and 5 out of the 9 podium spots were awarded to our students! 

Year after year, our leaders have cast vision to our staff and students about being a light in our community. They’ve painted a picture of how we can be a model of excellence, and they’ve dreamed of ways that we can inspire other students, educators, and the broader community to aspire for change. Our students are living into our school vision of being a light in the community and we are SO PROUD. We are proud of their accomplishments, their enthusiasm and desire to achieve great things, and we are proud of the way our school staff works tirelessly to impact the next generation. 

This competition wasn’t about winning or losing -- it was about creating change in the community and raising the bar for excellence. It was about modeling what it means to give your very best to Jesus and being expectant that new opportunities are on the horizon. Our students truly are champions, and not just because they won a conjugation contest. They are champions because they’re falling in love with Jesus everyday and being equipped to create change in their communities. The future is bright for our students and their families!