Week in Review #5

I have decided that elementary schools are the best places to be for holidays. Not necessarily because we teachers get so much teaching done then, but because there is a feeling of fun and excitement that can be felt in the halls and in the kids faces. The day before Christmas break was . . .magical I will say. The students, not just mine, arrived with gifts for their teachers and for each other. Fun crafts, parties and projects were planned, not for the educational objectives, but for the sheer fun of having a holiday. "Merry Christmas!" could be heard in the halls from both teachers and students as we left for our two week vacation.

Valentines Day was just as fun. The students once again arrived bearing gifts, flowers, chocolates, and classroom party treats. The office staff dressed in red and hearts. We passed out valentines and practiced our manners by saying "thank you". We ate party food and decorated cookies "just because". Everyone was once again happy; happy for no reason other than we have a holiday to celebrate. The sad thing is, I can't see too many more holidays coming up that will bring such excitement, except maybe the last day of school. And I am not sure who will be running through the halls full of cheer and glee; will it be the students or the teachers?

More excitement at home too. Kelsey just got word that she has been accepted to BYU-I. She is excited and will hear in about a week what track she is on (what semester she starts). It could be as soon as September or as far away as next April.

A lot of you have been asking for more details of her trip to Europe in June. We have been so busy getting ready for everything that we neglected to mention the details! Here we go: She has been nominated and accepted into a student ambassador program. She gets to travel for 20 days to England, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. She goes from June 14 to July 3. During the trip she gets to meet with members of Parliment and other government officials. At the end of the trip she gets to stay with a host family for a few days in one of the countries. She has been busy busy trying to raise money but we still have a ways to go. She is also organizing a service project to help a shelter for battered women. She is collecting soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, ect--any kind of beauty products that women could use. This project is not required for the ambassador program, its something she wants to do. If you want to donate to her trip or to her service project, let us know ASAP. If you have anymore questions about what she is up to, let me know.

In other news, we also just found out that Breanna won first place in an art contest and that her winning artwork is framed and on display in a store. It got sent to a national competition for FastFrames, but didn't win. She did get a tee-shirt and the store framed it for free. I will take a picture of her and her picture when the store lets her take it home.