End of School

This picture pretty much describes how my kids felt about the end of the school year.  It's always a hectic sprint to the finish with end-of the-year testing, projects, parties, finals, teacher-gifts, programs, recitals, you name it.  And even though these kids had summer fever starting in March, they pushed through to the end and finished with a bang.  Here are a few snapshots of the last day of school.  What fabulous teachers and friends - we love our school.

I didn't take very many pictures of Brigham's last day celebration because I was in charge of it.  We did games outside.  The kids wore these tags and got a stamp for each each game.  They were seriously the most well-behaved, organized first graders I have ever seen in my life.  I almost felt like yelling, "Hey! Guys! Schools out! You don't have to stand in line anymore.  You can talk to your neighbor.  C'mon! You can laugh OUT LOUD!!"  These teachers had their students very well trained.

Brigham's teacher loved the recipe book and the kids (look at their faces) were so proud of it too.

Mrs. Baldwin taught all three of my boys when they were in first grade.  She knows our family well (for better or for worse).  Plus I see her all the time at Target.  Brigham was the very youngest in his class.  He had kind of a tough time taking school seriously this year.  He explained to me half way through the year that he only does the assignments that "look good to him" and then he just works on his own projects.  Ha! We had some very long talks about what the word "required" means.  He eventually pulled his act together and ended the year with much better grades.

Clayton had a fantastic fourth grade year!  He made some awesome friends.  He and his best friend, Jatin, worked on some really cool projects together.  Their favorite was designing and building a motorized miniature roller coaster.  Their design won first place in the fourth grade competition.  Clayton idolized his math and science teacher, Mr. Wilson.  This guy is absolutely brilliant and a fabulous teacher.  (unlike my high school chemistry teacher who used to design rockets for NASA but couldn't figure out how to get 30 freshman to stay in their seats - oh the stories I could tell.)  I was constantly amazed at the stuff Mr. Wilson got these fourth graders to do.  Clayton loved every minute of it.

Here he is at the fourth grade assembly.  I was already at the school for something else and popped in for a few minutes just in time to snap this picture.  Handsome kid.

Surprisingly, Isaac (our attention seeker) had a really good year.  Like, a really good year! His teacher, Mrs. Strange, is probably the best teacher I have ever seen in a classroom.  She is incredible the way she emanates joy for learning and for life all the time.  She gets to her students so well and recognizes the best in each of them.  She really really is amazing.  Mrs. Strange had Isaac figured out the first week of school.  Isaac recounted a conversation she had with him that first week.  She said, "There are two ways to get attention in my class.  One, is by being disruptive and disrespectful. Being the class comedian is a sure way to get attention.  The other way is by giving thoughtful answers, by doing your best work, by writing well and reading well, by knowing interesting things, by sharing good ideas, and by being smart-funny at just the right times.  Those are the two ways to earn attention.  But one of those ways you'll also get something else.  Respect. So you decide who you want to be this year." Isaac totally got it. And although he had a few class-clowning moments, he also earned the respect of his peers and teachers by being articulate, witty, and the team captain of the Name That Book Club. 

Isaac loved playing football this year with his friends.  Here he is with his best friend, Gerry.  These two gravitate to each other.  They finish each other's sentences - and jokes.  They were meant to be friends.  

The end of school also meant the end of gymnastics for Eliza.  She had so much fun doing this class with her two besties.  Here are a few pictures (from my phone) of her last day.

 Even though Lydia wasn't enrolled in the class, she thought she was and especially loved the days when they actually let her play on the equipment too.

 Hooray for Eliza!  The winner of gymnastics! Who complained that her "necklace" wasn't pink enough.

And hooray for the END OF SCHOOL!!!