Another School Year is in the Books

The last week of school is less about school and more about partying.  As the kids left for school in the morning I found myself saying, "Have fun miniature golfing!" and "Have a great day swimming at the Aquatic Center!" instead of  the usual "Have a great day at school!"  Fortunately the weather cooperated for all events and a great time was had by all.

Before we get into the particulars I took pictures of Britton's binder at the end of the school year, and Jenna's binder at the end of the school year.  While they share some of the same academic gifts and talents, they are definitely different when it comes to organization!

Britton's binder.
 

Amazingly enough this is the 2nd binder of the year.  His first binder fell apart in January and this one is almost in pieces. His quote, "I can't figure why they just fall apart like that. It doesn't make any sense!"  Really? Wow.  Fortunately he knows exactly what needs to be done and when, he just doesn't know how to throw anything away.

Jenna's binder.

Jenna's binder was cleaned out daily.  I dare you to find one paper that wasn't absolutely needed.

A little side by side comparison.

 

Britton had a full week with a scout court of honor and soccer tryouts.  After 2 days of soccer tryouts we were informed he had made the U13 Premier team.  His new team has about 5 or 6 boys from his team last year and then 6 new members.  For the last 2 years he has been playing up an age level, but this year he will be playing with a team that is actually his same age.  We had the customary 2 week break from soccer, (which wasn't nearly long enough for me) and now things are ready to start up again.  I joke to my friends that in our family we have a love/hate relationship with soccer.  Britton loves it, I hate it. :-)  It's a big commitment but as a parent if your child is willing to do the work and genuinely loves it how can you say no? 

 

Last week a grocery store in town was having a Grand Opening and had candy bars on sale 4/ $1.00.  Britton had the idea to get some and sell them to kids at school for $1.00 each, which as it turns out they are more than willing to pay. We made several trips since you could only buy 24 at a time but it has been a great business venture for Britton.  On the day the school spent the day at the Aquatic Center swimming he came home with $18.00.  Not bad for a day playing at the pool.

 

Jenna is now finished with elementary school and is ready to move onto middle school.

 

On the field on the last day of 5th grade

Jenna with her BFF Gracie. 
Gracie is actually 1 month older than Jenna but you would never know it based on their height.

At our elementary school the last day of 5th grade means you get to participate in the Civil War reenactment. Love, love, love this tradition!  I feel like the kids get to learn about and experience an important part of American history during a time of the school year when no one seems to be learning anything.  Before the reenactment they gave out some awards to the 5th grade class and in true Jenna form she received every available award.

 

The local Kiwanis Club gives an award to the top male and female in every 5th grade class based on their qualifications to be the "Leaders of Tomorrow."  Jenna was the female recipient from her class.  She was part of the Union army and since playing a character is fun for her she was already in costume and was wearing a mustache when she accepted the award.

 

All 6 recipients and their 3 teachers behind them.

 The next award was the Great American Award.  To get this award the kids have to go above and beyond their normal classwork during the year and do several things like memorize the Gettysburg Address, the preamble to the Constitution, all Presidents of the U.S. in order, and all states and their capitols.  They also learn about our government and how it works, etc.  It takes a lot of time and effort and I think it is very worth while and just plain cool.  Jenna was one of the first in her class to pass off all of the requirements to be a Great American.

Jenna sans mustache. She decided to put it back on before the war started.

 The final award given was the Presidential Service Award given by none other than President Barak Obama (ok, he has a few helpers on this one).  To receive this award you have to have a certain amount of service hours during the year. A bronze pin requires 50-74 hours, a silver pin requires 75-99 hours and a gold pin is received for anything over 100 hours of service.  Jenna, as one of the officers of the Panda Power club, had over 100 hours and received a gold pin.  Here she is accepting the award.

I only include this next picture because it happens to show Jameson smiling and playing with a baby in a nearby stroller.  He loves babies.  He can't get enough of them.

 

And just when Jenna hadn't had enough participation in the event the 5th grade orchestra students played the star spangled banner for everyone.

 

 

With the awards out of the way it was time for the war to start.  The students marched in as regiments and went to their separate camps.  The students who received the Great American awards were the students who were able to have the speaking parts.  They narrated what was going on in the war and 7 major battles were highlighted and acted out.

 

5th grade students are required to come with a cooler of 50-80 water balloons for the reenactment.  Parents have to sign a slip taped to each cooler that certifies that each balloon was filled with only water.

The Union Army

Jenna getting ready for her speaking part.

Students getting ready for their first battle with water balloons in hand.

Let the battle begin!

 

 

Here a little clip of the action.

 

 

The Gettysburg Battle is always emotional for me because the students come out with tombstones with names of men who were actually killed and the Gettysburg Address is given.

 

 

 

 Jenna preparing for battle.

 

 I love this picture with the water droplets and the balloons in air.

 

Leave it to Jenna to have not 1 but 2 speaking parts. Here she is a lot wetter and ready to go again.

 

 

At the end they reenact the surrender of General Lee to General Grant and talk about how Grant insisted on treating the confederates as his countrymen and not traitors.

 

They did a great job and had a lot of fun doing it.

Jameson's really like his ride back to the car.

 

In lieu of having a back to school night at the end of the summer, our school decided to tell all of the kids who their teachers will be next year on the last full day of school so on Thursday Korinne got to meet her new teacher and see who will be in her class. (Wish they would have done that when I was in elementary school! They made us wait all. summer. long. Sheesh.) There are 3 third grade teachers at the school and Korinne really wanted Mrs. Hedin.  I hoped for the best but tried to prepare her to be ok with whomever she got, but she came home all smiles and announced she was in Mrs. Hedin's class and 2 of her friends that she hasn't been in the same class with for awhile were in there, too.  Phew. All is well.  I'm happy if she is happy.

 

Korinne received the "Most Improved" award in her class and this is one award that I was very excited about.  Going into 2nd grade we were concerned as Korinne was below grade level in reading and didn't really enjoy it.  In one school year she went from being below grade level to being above average in her class and was one of only a few students that had 75 AR points for the year.  Her progress was amazing!  She seemed to enjoy reading much more (although she still doesn't like reading to her mother) and was getting 100% on most of her spelling and math tests, too.  This was a big year for Korinne.  She was baptized, has matured a lot, and has decided that school is cool and it is fun to do well.  A big shout-out to her amazing teacher Mrs. Fackrell.  THANK YOU!!

 

 

After school ended early the rest of the day was spent partying.  My neighbor Annie always puts on a big out of school party in her yard.  She rents a blow up jump/ slide thing and has sandwiches and asks everyone bring something to share.  It literally lasts for most of the day and people come and go and Moms sit around and chat while the kids play.  It really is a good time for everyone and since she has done it 4 years in a row it has kind of turned into a tradition. She opens it up early for preschool kids and since Britton was home from school by 10:40 he and Jameson had the slide practically to themselves for awhile.

 

 

Annie setting up the food tables.

 Britton and Jenna had other parties to go to as well so it's nice that I lived so close to the action and could come and go as I needed. Jameson took a 3 hour nap and was able to have fun both before and after sleeping.

Another year of school is in the books and now it's officially summer.  Uh, I guess I better get on that summer plan, huh? Right. Time to end this so I can get to work!