Final Days of School

It seems funny that I am writing about the final days of school, but all the pictures are of carnival games, rock wall climbing, and talent assemblies.  I guess once the end of level assessments are completed, the last few days of school are a time for teachers and students to unwind and ease into the lazy days of summer.  I'm glad that some of the last things my children did before the break were memorable and fun.  The lasting impression left  upon their minds is that school is an enjoyable place to be, and it's somewhere they are eager to return to when the three months of leisure are up.

The whole family enjoyed a night of activity at the school carnival.  We couldn't have asked for nicer weather, too.  Brevin and Spencer especially enjoyed being with their friends Victoria and Jocelyn.  The four were so funny to watch on the gladiator-style bounce house.  They really took it to each other.

Ella followed Garrett on a handful of the bounce house slides, but then she spent a majority of the evening playing on the school playground equipment. Go figure!

Spencer had a blast with his friends trying to squirt each other with the not-so-invisible invisible ink, while Garrett and Brevin both stood in line to take on the rock climbing wall.  Jason and I took turns just following the children all around, enjoying watching them having such a good time.  We really love the school carnival.

Art City Elementary also holds a two-day talent show at the end of the school year.  They allow for 50 performances between two assemblies, and entries range from magic tricks, to singing, to playing musical instruments.  It is amazing just how talented all of the children are, but (of course) my favorite performance was a duet that Spencer and his friend Gabe did.  They sang Anything You Can Do from the musical Annie Get Your Gun, and they were as cute as can be!

I got to return to the school for yet another assembly.  This time it was the awards assembly that is held each year to honor the achievements of students in third grade and up.  Jason and I were able to attend and watch Brevin perform a song on the recorder and be presented with the "Music Recorder Black Belt."  He also came home with a handful of certificates from his teacher which included the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, Excellence in Reading Award, a Spelling Award, and Perfect Attendance Award.

The final bell rang, the secretaries played the Hallelujah Chorus over the intercom system, the boys handed each of their teachers a parting gift, and I snapped a few pictures to capture the moments.
 

They even got a good-bye hug from the principal.

Hmm...now that all the children have left the building, I wonder how the teachers will possibly cope.  I gather, from this video they made, that they will be alright.

Once we left the school, Jason and I took the boys out to lunch at The Brick Oven to celebrate an amazing year completed.  We got home and I had each of them pose for a last-day-of-school picture that, through the magic of Photoshop, I was able to insert a picture from the first of the year.

Hmm...now that all the children are home full-time, I wonder how I will possibly cope.  I gather that I will be alright.
  

This post authored by Amber

Performing on the Track and on the Stage

It was quite a busy day for Brevin.  He started the morning competing in Hershey Track, then ended with two performances of his school musical, The Emperor's New Clothes.  Jason and I were thrilled to see how well he performed in both.

Hershey Track

Brevin ran the 50m dash and easily won in his first heat and advanced to the semi-finals.  He narrowly pulled out a first place victory in his semi-final heat, but his time did not qualify him to run in the finals.

Brevin also competed in the 100m dash, and his results were almost identical.  He took first place in his first heat by a long distance.  He took first place in his semi-final heat, but his time, once again, placed him just outside of the finals. Even though he didn't pull off an overall victory, Jason and I still had such a fun time watching him compete.  He really did us proud.
 

The Emperor's New Clothes

Despite a morning with all that running, Brevin was still energetic on stage as he performed in the school musical.  They had an afternoon show and an evening performance, so it really was a packed day. 

This was Brevin's first year to even be allowed to audition for the show, and he was pretty excited to be selected as a chorus member.  For  three months leading up to the show, he had participated in after school rehearsals under the direction of Spencer's second grade teacher, Miss Winkel.

Art City Elementary has quite the reputation for putting on a spectacular show each year.  I know.  I've had the privilege of attending a number of them in the past, but it is all the more exciting to have your own child in the play.  Brevin looked so handsome on stage, and he had a wonderful time.  I was glad our family, including Jason's parents, were all able to watch him and encourage him in this, his theatrical debut. Once again, he really did us proud.

This post authored by Amber

E-I-E-I-Cold!

I really wish I was able to help in my children's classrooms more.  Since I really can't commit to be a frequent and consistent help in the classrooms, I at least try to sign up to help with one party or field trip event for each teacher.  For Spencer, I signed up to help chaperone a field trip to Harward Farms. It turned out to be a wonderfully educational experience sponsored by USU Extension Services and it involved the 4H organization and farmers from surrounding communities. (I look forward to signing up for this field trip when Garrett is in second grade.)

When we arrived, Spencer grabbed a bucket on the front row and watched as the entire group was able to witness a sheep shearing.

After, each class was organized into groups that rotated through a number of different stations.  They would listen to a presentation that lasted about three minutes or so before a large horn would sound, and the groups would move to the next location. I think there were around twenty stations in all.

We moved in and out of barns and trailers and learned about the farming process of grains, chickens, pigs, beef, dairy, mink, bee keeping, etc.  They also discussed things like farm safety, hand washing and germ prevention, and the latest government nutrition guidelines (MyPlate.gov).

Although the weather was quite cold and rainy, the field trip was a wonderful activity to be a part of, although we were relieved to climb into the heated bus when it was all said and done.

This post authored by Amber

"And The Oscar Goes To..."

I volunteered to help with Art City Elementary School's Teacher Appreciation Week and was given the assignment of decorating the faculty room and outside doors of the school.  This was a fun and refreshing change from doing mostly donation collections the year before, and who wouldn't love working with a theme like "Our Teachers are Stars!"

I guess the PTA had done a similar theme in the past because in the closet there were decorations and props like movie set clipboards, film cans, and reel cameras.  I was also more than grateful to reuse the centerpiece cans that were made for last year's decorations.  I only added the yellow tissue paper and one (of the many found in the closet) Oscar-like plastic trophy.  Throw in some large stars cut out of butcher paper, and it's SHOWTIME! 

On one of the afternoons during the week, the PTA provided the teachers and staff with a snack bar.  We fired up the faculty popcorn machine and set up a concession stand, too.  I thought it was a really cute touch.

Now here's where my plans got a little carried away.  I envisioned, as part of the decorations, a wall of "Now Showing" movie posters, each encased in their own light-up frames.  In theory, it was a super-awesome idea.  In practice, it was...well, okay.  I had taken foam poster-board and cut it into the frames that had an 8.5 x 11 inch opening, allowing for me to put in a picture of a movie poster that had been Photoshopped to include faces of faculty members.  All along the edges of the frames, I punched holes and pushed white Christmas lights through.  My mistake was in keeping the lights strands between the four frames connected.    The posters looked really cool when they were lit up, but halfway through the week, one of the strands burned out and it ended up looking a little "ghetto."  But, here they are all lit up (you can see how they were hanging on the wall in the picture of the entire room above):

And finally, I would like to "show and tell" about my large, mural artworks.  As it turns out, all of those Saturday mornings as a child watching Bob Ross paint "happy little trees" finally paid off, though for me, it was "happy little clouds and bushes."  I was really stoked about how the Hollywood sign turned out, with its three-dimensional quality given by the letters cut out of foam board.  I'm pretty sure I was feeling inspired by my recent California trip.

I had carefully pre-measured all of the doors and and bulletin boards so I could cut the paper to size and paint everything at home.  I think my family was relieved when I got all of these decorations off of the living room floor and out of the house.  I was relieved that when I assembled them, they looked like I had hoped they would.  I was particularly excited about the subtlety in colors and design that made the front door look like an inviting and unmistakable introduction of the week's theme to all who entered the school.

"That's a wrap!"

This post authored by Amber

Spencer is a RAD Kid

Since the beginning of the school year, all second grade students at Art City Elementary have participated in RAD Kids, a personal empowerment program sponsored, in part, by the police department.  They have learned safety tips and practiced fight/flight techniques during P.E. class.  Upon completion of the program, parents were invited to attend a simulation during school hours where the students demonstrated the skills they had learned.  Each child had a turn to attempt an escape from a physical encounter.

I brought Garrett and Ella along with me to the simulation.  They were reluctant to sit for the full hour and so I did a lot of chasing, retrieving, and trying to hold them in my lap.  And while the second grade student's demonstrations were quite impressive, none of them held a candle to Ella's ability to wriggle free from my grasp.  I've decided that the go absolutely limp like a rag doll when someone tries to lift you from behind is the most successful technique used to evade capture.  Kicking and screaming is also effective.  (I would have greatly benefited from the padded suit and face mask the police officer wore that day.)

I did manage to watch Spencer as he did his exercises, and I was pleased to see how well he performed.  I hope he will never have need to use the skills he was taught, but I feel a sense of relief to know that he would have some idea about how to respond in adverse situations if he had to.

This post authored by Amber

"This Little Light of Mine"

Recently, the second grade students at Art City Elementary had a musical presentation celebrating the civil rights movement and historic figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Jackie Robinson. Spencer had the privilege of being involved in the program. Jason and I had the privilege of witnessing it.

Now, I've been to many school programs, and I'm of the opinion that the second grade program is the most poignant.  It was touching, really, to see images projected on the screen of individuals who met extreme challenges with extraordinary courage.  Children recited inspiring quotes and sang songs containing messages about the legacy of the actions of these brave individuals and the values they represented. I am pleased that these important messages are being shared with the students, and I hope Spencer will carry away from this experience a desire to be true to who he is and not be afraid to "let his light shine" as the messages in the songs he sang taught.

As for me, I will carry away from the experience fond memories of the performance where I watched my son sing his little heart out.  He did his Mama proud!
 

Some songs were joyous...

 

 

...some moments were serious....

....some notes were a little harder to reach than others...

 ...some notes were simply hummed...

 ...some songs required choreography...

...and some songs required special effects...

 ...but for me, the most "special effect" was when Spencer sang 

the performance culminating solo.  He was amazing!

 After the performance, Spencer wanted to make sure I took a picture of him 

with his teacher, Miss Winkel. Isn't she adorable?  Someone was finally wise 

enough to turn her into a Mrs.  She is engaged to be married this summer.  

Spencer might be a little disappointed, since he recently admitted 

to Jason and I that he possibly has a little crush on her.  Too cute!

 The students provided the decorations for the gym in the form of 
hand drawn portraits of the featured historical figures.  Spencer drew a 

bright and smiling image of Rosa Parks (in a thunderstorm).

 Spencer got to stand next to his best friend, Gabe.  The two boys were 

so entertaining to watch because they committed whole-heartedly to 

every aspect of the performance.  We could actually hear their pitch-perfect 

little voices carrying all the way from their spot on the back row.

Of course, after a fantastic performance like that, the family 

had to all go out and celebrate with a little ice-cream treat.

This post authored by Amber