Back to School For the Last Time

First Post of the Day

(Photos used with permission.)

For years, Lisa has had a reading incentive in her classroom - make your reading goal and you have earned yourself a Pepper Pass.

Which meant that Pepper and I would come to school one day and spend time with those children.

Every quarter since the pandemic restrictions were lifted, Pepper and I have gone to Lisa's school and spent part of the day with 4th graders.

Despite the wording on that Pepper Pass, not much reading gets done. We spend time talking about the books they've read (I am given a lot of "You need to read this book!" recommendations), 

and they share about their own pets, their families, and (in this case) their summer plans.

They groom Pepper, they play with her,

and each one gets to give her a tiny treat to enjoy. (Pepper's favorite part of the visits.)

I teach them about service dogs focusing on Seeing Eye dogs. Sometimes I share a little about Zeus, too, the black Lab that we had who had been a police/Narcotics dog. (Just as Pepper is "my" dog, Zeus was Craig's.)

This time, Pepper was joined by another service dog. 

Leslie and Rick brought in Eddie who had recently passed his therapy dog tests. (For hospitals, nursing homes, and school visits.)

He was a big (both figuratively and in reality) hit with the kids. He's in that mass of kiddos somewhere.

It was Eddie's very first school visit, but he did very well.

And, each child got a sticker of him! Lisa said she kept hearing whispers the rest of the day along the lines of, "Where did you put your Eddie sticker?" "On my notebook. Where did you put yours?"

I hung around for a while after Eddie went home and let the kids enjoy Pepper Pepper enjoy the kids. And I, too, wanted to linger. It was the last time that this retired teacher and her retired Seeing Eye partner would be visiting Lisa's class.

Not only is it the last week of school,

but it's Lisa's last year in the classroom. She is moving on to a new career. 

This is a HUGE loss to Education. In the email announcement that she was leaving, her principal called Lisa "irreplaceable." He's right. 

I'm glad that she has a new opportunity, but the mom in me, the teacher in me, knows what an impact such an outstanding teacher makes with the children who come through her door year after year. And Lisa is certainly that.

Best of luck as you move on, Lis. I could not be prouder of you for all you have accomplished. You truly made a difference in hundreds of lives. xo

Stay 'tooned for a throwback post about a highlight from Lisa's teaching career.

Dragons & Horses

 I am a reader and I read every single day. I prefer SciFi, Fantasy, and Classics. A couple of books or series combine those genres together, and as you might imagine, are some of my favorites. I'm in book 9 of 19 of one of those series right now (again.) 

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. Never read it? I suggest you do! I'm not a fan of dragons (although I like them better than unicorns) but the stories that are intertwined with the dragons are well written and make me look forward to sitting down with my kindle every evening.

I was reading along the other day (having lunch in Pern, so to speak) when I came across a reference to model horses.

Nice to know that thousands of years in the future and on a planet light years away from earth, little girls still love and collect model horses.

Where's Lynn?

Kathy and I had a great time reading to kids yesterday back at Hershey where I'd taught. I was really looking forward to having a photo to remember the day.

Why, yes, I'll always remember what I looked like that day! LOL!

On the Run

Second post of the day.

I'm writing this morning and feeling better but not 100% yet. Those TIA symptoms coupled with the migraines are still causing trouble. I've started having tremors in my hands and I can't hit the correct keys when typing  - it is a mess. And if it happens when I am sewing, my fingers turn into pincushions, I stab myself so much. I've had a lot more testing done with a neurologist and they still don't know what is causing all this. 

(Bragging rights for having the Russell Viper Venom Screen as one of my tests, right? My kids thought I was kidding them when I told them about that test, but I'd anticipated their response and had taken a photo of the orders from the doctor to show them.)

Anyway! 

This week is Dr. Seuss's birthday and many schools celebrate with a week of literacy. I've been asked to go into two schools and read to a couple of classrooms.

Wednesday (before I got so sick with that migraine) I went to Lisa's school so Pepper could listen to students in her classroom read to her. (Pay no attention to that tennis ball!)

Afterward Lisa taught her students about what a guide dog does and let them ask questions about Pepper.

Today, I am going back to the school where I used to teach. Another teacher, my friend Kathy, is coming with me and we will read together. Kathy transcribed the book Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein into braille, and she will read while I hold the book and point out things of note on the pages. 

Kathy, her guide Nacho, and me, ready to go to a speaking engagement. We do a lot of teaching together, even though I am now retired. (She taught high school but is now in administration and is responsible for the training and support of teachers new to the corporation.)

Pepper being read to last May by a second grade class that had written poems about dogs. Kathy and I brought Nacho, Tate, and Pepper in so the dogs could hear their poems.

Kathy and I taught together many times when I was still in the classroom, and now we have fun going back into schools together. When we bring Pepper and Nacho or Tate, it is even more fun!

So, I'm a bit on the run today and don't have as much time as usual to write. But (fingers crossed) I won't get another migraine like that last one for a while and the blog won't be interrupted like that again.

Stay 'tooned!

October Vacation Day 2 - Low Boil, S'mores, and Reading with Grammy

Mila's close call put a damper on things for a while. The guys walked under the deck looking for more unsafe boards. (We found out later that the homeowner was planning to replace the deck - they knew it was unsafe but had not told us. The planks and boards were stacked up in the yard, though. Clear evidence that they knew and were negligent in failing to disclose it.)

Andrew and Jessica cooked a low country boil for supper - sausage, corn on the cob, shrimp, potatoes, etc. all cooked in one pot and then dumped out as finger food on a big table. Yummy!

Needless to say, some of us, me included, did not want to walk on that deck and ate indoors!

Curt, Titan, Cambria, and Mila wait for the family to gather so that supper can start.

The apple pies had been baked and were ready for dessert.

Julie, Mila, and Kate played while we cleaned up the kitchen and Andrew and Curt built a fire outside for s'mores.

I love this picture of Jessica and her dad.

The fire pit was at the base of the driveway and quite steep. Curt stands ready to catch Cole's girls if they got started going too fast and could not stop. (It may not look like it in this photo, but that driveway is STEEP.)

Many of us had brought our camp chairs so we had enough seating. (Julie, Kate, and Cole.)

Turns out that Aunt Jessica is a very good story teller, and she kept all of our attention as the fire burned down a bit and the rest of the family joined us. (Ian and Titan.)

S'mores time! Titan, Andrew, Julie, Mila, Cole, Kate, Cambria, Lukas, Vanessa.

Soon all the littles got the hang of toasting marshmallows.

When we were done with our campfire, everyone got into their pajamas and Jessica asked me to read to the kids. They all had a Halloween story of some kind for me to read aloud. (Titan, Ian, Mila, Julie, Susan, Emily.)

Lukas didn't hang around (see him on the floor?), but everyone else did!

It took a while, but I read every child's book to the crew.

After that, the kids went to bed and the adults watched Monday Night Football together. It was quite a day!

A Family of Bookworms

Saying that our family loves to read is an understatement. My mother once told me that, if she was in the bathroom and had nothing to read, she read the labels on the cough syrup bottles! (I have been known to do the same.)

I always have a book in progress, and usually several at a time. I would be happy doing nothing but read all day long!

The grandchildren are definitely readers, too. Here are some screen shots from Instagram posts about their love of books.

First up? Trinity. (Aka "Horseyreader." I love how she's combined her love of horses and books into her online name!)

Recently, Trinity gave some book recommendations to family and friends. I hadn't read some of them and hope to so so soon!

Next? Ashley and her kiddos. Just look at this screen shot!

Lucky Ashley! Her library does not limit the amount of books that children may check out. Ashley set a new record with 76 books last week!!

Finally, Cambria is toddling into readerhood.

She's is working on her own stack of books - 750+! Here she takes her bookmark into the library to get a sticker or two indicating more reading progress.

Kudos to their parents for sharing their love of reading!

The Hershey Reading Super Bowl

On Friday, Hershey celebrated reading with a Super Bowl of reading. We began the day with an assembly, and our guest readers, members of the Purdue football team, joined us.

They spoke of their love of reading and their favorite books, then they circulated around the school, reading to individual classes.

Michael Rouse stopped in our room. You should have heard the gasps of delight when he mentioned that he liked to read classics!

After lunch, we had another assembly, this time with Blue, the Colts' mascot!

He spoke to us about the importance of eating well and getting exercise.

Other members of the Colts' organization popped in via video feed. These two cheerleaders spoke about the benefits of drinking milk.

 Tight end Dwayne Allen spoke about getting daily exercise.

 Andrew Luck even "tossed" a ball with Blue.

 Coach Chuck Pagano!

I thought that was the end of the fun for us until Mrs. Fields announced that Austin Appleby, Purdue's quarterback, had arrived and that our class was the lucky one he would be visiting!

 He mentioned that The Cat in the Hat was his favorite book, so I pulled out another book by the same author, Oh, the Places You'll Go!" for him to read to us.

Austin enjoyed visiting us so much that he offered privately to come back and visit us again. I hope he and I can get our schedules together and have him back.

Cole Reads to Julie

Cole sat down to read to Julie Tuesday night after dinner.

Judging by the look on their faces, they enjoy this time together!

Julie tries to kiss the puppet in the middle of the book (which Cole's finger is activating.)

I love these pictures of my son being a daddy!

Two at Once??

I was helping some students with Math this afternoon when I noticed something odd about HS.

 What was he doing?? 

A book on the desk, and a book under his feet?  What on earth??

When he used one foot to turn a page of the book on the floor, I grabbed my iPhone and began snapping pictures, trying to contain my laughter.

Was HS really trying to read two books at once? 

When he realized I had noticed, he brought his head back up and sheepishly admitted that he wasn't really reading two books at once. I'm not clear just what he was trying to do, but it still makes me smile.