School Miscellany

Since returning from spring break we have been busier than normal due to all of those miscellaneous end-of-year school activities.  Here are a few of the things that have been keeping us on our toes.

Swim lessons:  This actually took place the week before spring break.  Each second grade class in our county gets a week of free swim lessons at the local YMCA.  Although Owen has made some progress with the swimming, he still has lots of room for improvement.  These lessons were much-needed, and I could tell that they paid off.  When we were on vacation I noticed that he was swimming better and more confidently than he had been prior to having the lessons.

 More Young Authors:  Since Olivia won the Young Author's competition for the RESA region, she was invited to a reception at the local RESA office.  There, she and the other winners were presented with a book containing their stories, a certificate, a medal, and a check for $50 (!!!).  Where were these kind of awards when I was in school?  The reception was really nice.  The people at the RESA office went above and beyond to make this a great experience for our kids.  Olivia is certainly motivated to continue writing.

Cancer Walk:  This isn't school related, but I do want to mention that the Toys R Us crew have been busy with their annual booth at the cancer walk, and this year they won 1st place.

Academic Boosters:  Our school system has an awards ceremony for those who participate in academic clubs and activities.  Olivia was honored for her participation in math club, robotics team, and battle of the books team.  She also received awards for placing or being on a team that placed it the Sum Dog Math Competition, Young Authors, Tech Fair, and Robotics Competition.  She has really enjoyed being on these academic teams this year, and she wants to do more next year.  Owen is looking forward to being in 3rd grade next year so that he can join some of these teams

 AR:  I am fortunate that both of my kids like to read.  I don't have to stay on them about their accelerated reader (AR) points because they take care of that themselves.  The school rewarded those students who reached 100 AR points for the year with a t-shirt and a game of glow-in-the-dark dodge ball.  The kids loved this.