A Tradition is Born

-------Sr.---- Sr.-- Jr.--- 8th----Sr.--- Sr.---


Jr.'s and Sophomore's snuggling with my grandbaby


'07 Alumni

In life there are always so many changes: some good, some bad. Last night our school saw a change and it was good. We celebrated homecoming with our first bonfire. As the seniors marched out with torches in hand, I couldn't help but feel really good about being a part of this new adventure. They marched around the site of the bonfire eight times (since they are graduating in '08), drumline following behind them, before throwing their torches down and setting blaze to the towering mass of logs and wood debris. It was a beautiful sight. There's already talk about next year - bigger and better.

Ouch!

What do you get when you put 12 high strung cub scouts and two tired teachers together for 2.5 hours?

A Headache! Would someone remind me again why I do so much?!

mom in 24 hours

Need I say anymore?!

Look at Me Ms. G!

Just another day in the life of a high school teacher. Shane demonstrates bicycle safety for the class. Who says learning can't be fun?!

Flight Of The Conchords - Jenny

Flight Of The Conchords - Jenny

In celebration of Friday and the approaching weekend, I cut my Sociology class a little short and let the kids have some down time. They love when I do this because they use this time to show me everything that they've spent the last week looking up online. Yea, it can be pretty scary to find out what they're looking at. This video on YouTube was the greatest though. Thanks Corey, you made me smile right into Saturday.

TGIF

The first full week has come and gone - TGIF!


Highlights:

• I have fallen in love again with the 10th grade class. I guess some maturity has begun to kick in. I'm happy to be their sponsor.
• I got to see all of "my girls" this week as they dropped by here and there (seniors from last year)
• My son finally said that he had a good day at school
• I received my shipment of textbooks for my senior class today
• Today is Friday

Not so "high" lights:

• My grandbaby had to have more bloodwork and it's always hard to find a vein on a six month old
• The 11th grade class hasn't changed at all
• I can't get as much done in a day as I used to because of teaching an extra hour and that means a lot more work at home, which then makes the kids unhappy because they have less time with me

Bouquets of Freshly Sharpened Pencils and New Notebooks

Ahh yes, the start of a new school year. The halls are clean and freshly waxed. Everyone has high expectations (well, most of us anyway). The smell of a fresh start lingers in the air.


Today was the first day of school for the kids (teachers have already been there a week) and all in all it went well. Everyone was giddy over the anticipation of what is ahead.

• Seniors were excited about being top dog and getting the perks that come along with that job description
• Juniors were just glad to finally get that far, knowing that next year is theirs
• Sophmores were excited about being in my homeroom (I hope they're not too soon disappointed) and being in a half credit class for the first time ever
• Freshmen were excited about finally getting into highschool and getting the opportunity to join clubs that only highschoolers can get into
  

One thing that always remains constant from year to year is change. Some students graduate, some will not return to school for various other reasons, some new students will enter our lives, and even teachers come and go. This year seems to be a much bigger change for me.

Our first ever graduating class was last year and today the halls, and my heart, missed that special group of kids. Two of them came by at the end of the day to see what was going on it was so good to see them again. I wish the entire class the best that life has to offer. May you strive for more than you thought could be possible and gain all that you ever dreampt could come true.

We also lost several faculty members this year. They have moved on to new adventures in life - a new marrigage, new babies and jobs. All will be sorely missed by students and teachers alike. May your marriage be strong, your babies healthy, and new careers successful.

To the new graduates and former coworkers - keep in touch because you are all so special to us. You have touched our hearts and changed our lives in many ways. Because I have known each of you, I look at life differently. Thanks for everyday smiles, laughter, occassional tears, and crazy antics.

And school began, and it was different, and yet familar, and it was good.

THE COUNTDOWN

Yea! This just in: Teachers do not need to report until Tuesday, August 7th. Four more days of freedom. Stand back and let me live!

Summer Vacation

A very wise person once said that summer vacation was not intended to give kids a break, but instead to provide enough time for teachers to forget why they wanted to quit teaching in May.I live for summer break. Unfortunately, summer seems to be shorter and go by much faster each year. What happened to the days when kids didn't go back to school until after Labor Day?! We now end around the last week of May and start back around August 10th (the students at least - a teacher pops in and out through the summer, is required to be at work about a week before the kids, and usually comes in even earlier to get the class ready before then).This summer my kids and I decided to have a vacation adventure. Instead of planning out every little detail and making reservations, which creates commitments that tie down a free spirit, we decided on a few places we'd like to see and set out with the RV to find them and anything else along the way. The one place that we did decide to make it to was the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately, the scheduled lives of others hampered our spontaneity and lack of reservations crushed that little dream of ours. BUT, that did not stop us. And neither did beach rats. Yes, unbeknownst to us, and perhaps some readers out there, there are places along Florida beaches that host a wide variety of wildlife. At one stop (this ended up being a one nighter coincidentally), the rats came out to watch us set up camp. We were camping right at the beach: it was the beach, sand dunes, and then us - oh, and the beach rats. We could actually hear them thump around in the palmettos and even on top the camper rooftop late in the evening. But hey, we wanted adventure.We also stayed at Florida Caverns State Park, which I highly recommend, and toured one of the only caverns in the state of Florida that is high enough above sea level to actually walk through. The park has many nature trails; one of them takes you through another smaller cave tunnel. Do beware of black widow spiders however. Being the good cub scout mom that I am, I demonstrated to my son the importance of taking a broom to sweep around and under the picnic table before sitting down. I had no clue that I would uncover one of the largest black widows I have ever seen! I should have taken a picture of it but at the time all I could think of was, "kill this spider!". Did I ever impress my boy. I am now super spider killin' mom.About an hour away from Florida Caverns is Ponce de Leon State Park. You can't camp here but the natural spring is wonderful to swim in. They have even constructed cement steps leading into the spring so that you can enjoy nature without too much trouble.
All in all we had a great two weeks, even if we didn't see the Atlantic. I have to say that for me, the best part of the trip was being with my kids and watching them have fun - from my oldest to my youngest and even my precious little grandbaby (made 5 months on the trip). What is really important is family spending time together. And there's always next summer. We have all school year to anticipate it!