Seminary Consecutive Club

YEARS ago, back in the early 1980s, I was called to teach Home Study Seminary to the high schoolers in our ward in Illinois. Barely older than my students, and giving birth twice during my four year tenure, it was a challenging calling for me at times.

But the kids were great and I became close to them and am still in touch with all the girls (now women who are pushing fifty) from the class via Facebook.

A program of Seminary at the time was called "Consecutive Club." It involved reading a chapter in the scriptures every day, and the kids could earn awards for 30 days, 100 days, and so on. The purpose was to get them into the habit of reading their scriptures daily and it was a pretty effective teaching strategy.

As their teacher, though, I wasn't thrilled to add one more "must do" to my daily list of things to accomplish. I had two children when I began teaching Seminary and added two more by the time I was released - things were hopping at home and I doubted I could read daily on a consistent basis. But I also felt that, as the teacher, I needed to set the example for them, and so, on January 3, 1981 (you can tell it was a New Year's Resolution!) I began.

Thirty-four years later I am still reading a chapter a day in my scriptures. Reading my scriptures daily has become a wonderful habit over the years and is the last thing I do at night before falling into bed. I cannot even IMAGINE not having my daily dose of scriptures now.

This week I got emails from two of those former Seminary students and one of their mothers about my time as their Seminary teacher. (I think they must've gotten together and done some reminiscing as this was totally out of the blue.) One of the girls (er, women I guess I should say) told me that she was still reading her scriptures consecutively!

Reading daily for all these years has enabled me to read the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price multiple times each. They are like old friends, and my day would not be complete without turning the pages in one of them. I know what impact that has had on my life, and how it has changed me for the better.

The idea that Lee is still reading hers, too, every single day of her life,  and will reap those same benefits, gives my heart a warm glow.

My Spirit Animal is a...

I have a couple of students this year who are fascinated by the concept of having a "spirit animal." It's an American Indian concept, and there is also a book series based on the idea that many of them have read.

So, I guess I should not have been surprised this morning when the child in charge of our Question of the Day asked us to share what our spirit animal was or the animal we most felt we were like.

I am just fine being human, and so when my turn came to respond, I said that, while my favorite animal was a horse, I didn't identify with horses as the concept suggests.

CP's hand went up. "I know what your spirit animal is," he announced.

Surprised, I replied, "You do? What is it?" (I was a little afraid of what the answer might be; CP is a bit of a goof-off and often acts/speaks before he thinks.)

"Yours would be a gazelle," CP stated firmly.

Well now, THAT was unexpected. And intriguing. So I had to ask why.

"Well, you're really smart, like a gazelle is. And while they don't run very fast, they do have bursts of speed."

Oh, that last part had me hiding a smile. You see, CP is my Line Leader this week, and yesterday he was a bit pokey, allowing me to outpace the entire class as we walked down the hallway. I'd teased him by saying, "Hey, you're letting a grandmamma out-walk you!!" to prompt him to catch up. CP had  gotten the message and picked up the pace.

I guess that makes me gazelle-like.

What's That You Say??

My fifth graders have been wonderful about helping the new fourth graders adjust to the pace and scope of our classroom. I asked them to help out as needed and to act as a resource if another student seemed confused or unsure, and they have really stepped up.

Sometimes, though, that backfires a bit. Case in point? This interchange between a fourth grader and her fifth grade counterpart.

Fourth Grader: "And it had this little thingy on it..."

Fifth Grader (interrupting): "Don't use uncorrect grammar in here!"

A Parent Writes

On Monday, MC chose her classic book and asked if she could bring home an extra copy for her father. I am glad I had one to give her - it was nice to receive the following email from her father last night.

Mrs. I, thank you so much for letting MC bring an extra copy of "Where the Red Fern Grows" home. I began it last night and caught up to where MC is. When we were first discussing classics last year I told her it was my favorite in fourth or fifth grade and that if she chose it I would read it with her. She was so excited, although now I am reading 3 books at once.

Have a great weekend! Sounds like the kiddos are off to a great start.

Thanks for your chosen profession teaching our kids.

A big thank you to Mr. M., for his wonderful email. I am glad he and MC are enjoying some daddy/daughter time coupled with a terrific book, and I hope they make some very special memories as they read together.

Parent emails like this one are a treasure.

An Ironic Event

Last night I was watching a mandatory and highly patronizing TSC safety video after dinner. (Paper cutter safety? Really? I've been teaching 18 years and still have all my digits!) Two other teacher friends were also watching at their homes, and we were texting each other and poking fun at some of the more eye-rolling parts of the video.

Fast forward to this morning, and I was in the hallway with my students, teaching them some aspects of bus safety. They were seated on the hallway floor by the exit doors, and as I spoke I took a step backward.

I forgot the custodians had parked a floor dryer by the doors, and that it was behind me.

Down I went, although I did not hit the floor - I fell into the doors and slid down the side of one before being able to catch myself. (JS was holding out his hands, trying to catch me! He nearly became a pancake!!)

"Gee, Mrs. I!" piped up GC. "This is just like last year when you did the face plant at East Tipp, remember??" (Yes, Gracie, I remember! Go here and here to read about that debacle!)

I've got some scrapes and bruises, and I had to fill out the mandatory OSHA forms in the school office, but I am fine. As Mrs. Whatsit, a character in A Wrinkle in Time, said, "I think I sprained my dignity!"

The irony is not lost on me, either.

Preparing to Serve

Working weekly in the Indianapolis Temple is a leap of faith for me. The idea of hopping in a car and heading to Indy after teaching all day,  putting in a five hour shift at the temple, and then returning home around 11:30 PM is daunting. Needless to say, there has been a lot of prayers and petitions to the Lord on my part!

When you ask Him for help, you need to be prepared to do your part, too. I felt that I should work on better eating habits so that my body could hold up to the rigor of the long day. That's been going well, and I already feel better and have more energy.

But a big concern has been my hips and back - I cannot stand for long or walk very far due to pain. This has been going on for several years, but continues to worsen. (My orthopedist checked my hip implant in 2013 to see if it had loosened or cracked and might be causing the pain, but it was in good shape and not the source.)

Thursday I saw my doctor and told him that I was really struggling. Long story short, Dr. Morris discovered that I have a chronic (and quite bad) case of bursitis in my hip. He's sending me back to the orthopedist, but in the meantime, he gave me a shot of cortisone in the hip.

Talk about night and day.

Friday at noon I noticed that I was walking around my classroom more freely and without having to perch on my stool periodically. My leg swung freely from my hip, and my back was not so sore. By Saturday morning, I felt the best I have felt in YEARS. And at our weekly Sunday dinner, I was showing off how I could run up and down our stairs to all who would watch. I can get up from a chair without pain, and in and out of my car. And so on.

To say I feel blessed is an understatement. This is a tremendous leap toward me being able to serve in the temple, something I want to do with all my heart.

And I am incredibly grateful.

A Student Shows Courage and Integrity

Friday, at the end of the day as we were dismissing, MM handed me an envelope with my name on it. Curious, I opened it as soon as the buses had left.

I was very touched by what I read on the card inside.

Dear Mrs. I.,

Last year, when I was a fourth grader, I was reading The Lord of the Rings and you asked if I had read any other books in the grading period. I lied that I had started a book and didn't remember what it was.

I also lied that I was further along in The Lord of The Rings than I really had been. I am very sorry, and please forgive me. (smiley face)

Your student,
MM

I thought of the courage that that had taken - to write a note to your teacher, confessing a misdeed from the previous year. MM is a nice boy who works hard, is respectful at all times, and is kind to his classmates. We all make mistakes, and my guess is that this one ate at him all summer long.

Rather than waiting until Monday to speak with him in person, I decided to respond via email right away. He'd had this misdeed on his shoulders long enough; time to move forward and let it go.

Hi, M,

Thank you so much for the note. I appreciate the honesty, and I am sure it took great courage to hand it to me. I never would have known had you not told me.

But the fact that you did tell me speaks volumes about YOU. It says you have integrity, that you want to do the right thing. That you have courage enough to make something right that happened a long time ago, even though no one else knew about it.

Of course I forgive you, and I hope you have not been worrying about this all summer. It is over, you have a clean slate, and we’ll smile and have more fun learning on Monday. (smiley face)

I am so very, very proud of you for what you have done. You are a special young man.

Love,

Mrs. I.

A Caring School

Hershey is known as a caring school. But what happened on the very first day of school this year goes waaaaay beyond the norm when it comes to compassion. And I am proud to be a small part of the school.

Three years ago, a kindergartener became ill suddenly, was rushed to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, and died several days later. A respiratory illness simply overwhelmed his little system.

It was a shock to everyone, from his family to his teacher and our school, and to the community at large. His mother has had a difficult time moving forward, and she continues to post anguished entries on the memorial page for her son.

Wednesday, the first day of school, was his birthday. He would have been eight and going into third grade. And, his two siblings, twins, were beginning kindergarten at Hershey. It was very, very bittersweet for the mother.

And so the Hershey staff did this.

We all wore yellow, the boy's favorite color, and had a photo taken before the school bell rang. Since it was the very first day of the school year, it was a super busy time for everyone, but we made it work.

The photo was sent to the mother and also placed on Hershey's Facebook page. (The link is here.)

To say I am proud to be associated with a staff like this is an understatement.

Welcome, Titan!

Our newest family member is here!!

 Meet Titan Rex Kailana Mitchell!

 Early Tuesday morning Jessica woke up in labor and off to the hospital they went. 

 Labor took most of the day, and at 7:19 PM, little T-Rex made his appearance.

 He was 20.5 inches long and weighed 8 pounds on the dot.

Cambria is now a big sister.

Jessica and Andrew have their arms full of love, that's for sure!

School Bells are Ringing!

The kiddos came today, and I have a super group of multiagers again! (This is my eighteenth year of teaching!)

This is the smallest class I have had in years - only twenty-four students, and not a one of them a push-in. (Push-ins are children not in the original high ability class but added to it in following years. Often they have a difficult time transitioning since the approach to learning is so different.)

I had a stack on my desk of things to do today - we got through almost all of it.

Best of all, we're reading my all-time favorite novel, A Wrinkle in Time. My fifth grade teacher read it to me years ago, and I vowed then to read it to my future students. And I have - every single class I've taught.

The 2/3 Multiage teacher warned me that this would be a difficult class and that they gave her a lot of problems. One of the Specials teachers sought me out and said she hoped that I would "get them under control" and that they were her least favorite class in the building. Strong words.

But my experience today was very, very positive. I found them excited about learning, engaged in what we were doing, and willing to do as they were asked. I think they'll be fine, and am excited to have this group to work with.

Temple Dedication

Now that the temple open house is over (91,000+ people came; they were expecting around 70,000!), the temple is closed and undergoing major cleaning. President Miskin told me at church yesterday that they will be moving phones, computers, and office furniture in, too. Busy time!

The dedication is Sunday, August 23, and there are three sessions.

Craig and I got our tickets yesterday. I am so excited to have a temple so close, I can hardly wait for it to open!

The Quad in Town

Ian is the quad that lives in town, so we get to see a lot of him. And I get to do this:

A book and a baby?

Heaven.

At least, in MY book. :D

Almost Ready!

I go back to work on Monday (well, theoretically speaking; I've actually been working for the past week!) and the children return on Wednesday.

The classroom is looking more kid-friendly.

This is the classics board. Within a few months, it will disappear under a deluge of classic connections written out on 3x5 cards and paper. (They found 3,407 connections last year alone!)

 My new genre/literature center is stocked.

The floor is a terrific place to sort posters and decorations as I finish up.

For fun, I dug out the M&M figures my students amassed for me when I taught in Illinois. I put part of it on the top of the hallway cubbies.

I am going to try something new this year - table leaders to help me collect papers and do other things. I may use these figures to designate who the weekly leaders are. (It will be interesting to see if they can refrain from playing with them and letting them be a distraction.)

I'm not completely ready for students, but I am in good shape and looking forward to my eighteenth year of teaching!

Prejudice and Hatred Can Boomerang

Yesterday I took my sister Jenny, her friend Melanie, my dear friend Pam, and Pam's sister-in-law, Linda, to the Indianapolis Temple open house.

The open house has gone well; as of last Saturday (a week ago today), 58,000 people had toured it! (6,000 just on that Saturday!) Needless to say, there's been a lot of interest from the Indianapolis/Carmel community and people have been flocking to the tours.

Linda, Jenny, me, and Pam. (Melanie took the photo.)

There are several organizations that actively protest Mormonism, especially at large gatherings such as temple open houses. They stand outside of the grounds, hand out anti-Mormon literature, and try to talk to members and nonmembers, asserting that Mormons are not Christian (despite the fact that the Church's name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; "Mormon" is a nickname given to us over 150 years ago!)

A small group of protesters was just outside the temple grounds with their people posted at the entrance and the exit of the property handing out literature. There was also a small tent with anti-Mormon sentiment printed on it with other protesters over by the street.  And, there was a man with a giant placard on a pole marching back and forth on the sidewalk. He would periodically bellow over the fence at us, and although I could not make out what he was saying, the tone of his voice as he yelled at us was angry and disturbing.

While I don't enjoy prejudice and hatred, it is something I've learned to tolerate. To turn the other cheek as the Savior asked us to do in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-42), and walk away. (Sometimes that is a literal walk; I was once asked to leave a place because of my religion.) It can be a fact of life when you are a Mormon.

But Jenny, Pam, Melanie, and Linda had never seen anything like those protesters and it stirred them up quite a bit.

At first, they were surprised, even shocked, that that happens today. The more they asked me about those groups and learned why they were outside the grounds of the temple handing out anti-Mormon literature, they angrier they became. They were disgusted that anyone would treat someone else that way, especially in a country where we have religious freedom.

(In fact, the support from the Indianapolis area has been overwhelmingly positive. One of these groups paid for a twelve page insert in The Indianapolis Star spewing anti-Mormonism, and Jenny and Melanie told me that the reaction, both in print and in online forums for the newspaper, were overwhelmingly in support of the Church. Comparisons to the Westboro Baptist Church, a group that disrupts funerals of fallen soldiers, were repeatedly made in those comments.)

Despite the tinge of ugliness outside the temple grounds, we had a lovely tour and enjoyed the peace and serenity inside the temple.

After our tour, we sat around the fountain and I answered questions that my sister and friends had about the purpose of the temple and what happens within. As we chatted, the contrast of the beauty and holy feeling inside the temple to the ugliness from Mr. Bellower and crew was stark and very apparent, and I could tell that they were feeling that contrast.

I thought about that as I drove back home to West Lafayette, especially my sister's and friends' anger with the protesters, and their defense of me and of my religion. (I sort of felt like I had my own personal army standing by me!)

The Lord makes all things work to His (and our) good regardless of who we are and what our religious affiliations are or aren't. His is a gospel of love, not hate.

And in yesterday's case, the protests boomeranged on the protestors. Instead of persuading my sister and my friends, they  saw through the ugliness, the anti-Christian behavior that those groups exhibited.

And they took a stand with love and Christ.

Movin' On Up!

Congratulations to Trinity - she has moved up from a harpsicle to a 36 string harp!

Can't wait to hear her play it, although I doubt she'll be able to pop it into the car and travel with it from Colorado like she did her harpsicle!

Touching My Heart

I am in the throes of getting my classroom and curriculum ready for the upcoming school year, and as I sorted papers this week, I came across this goodbye letter from TM. (Written in October!)

2013 - 2015 

To: Mrs. Isenbarger 
From: TM  
10/15/14

Dear Mrs. I.,

I am very sorry you can not flunk me. But would you mind taking a picture with me? Print it. Send it and share it with me so we can always remember me. Also I can remember you.

I wish I could have flunked her!! Such a sweet girl. But she needs to move on and keep progressing in her education.

But we did get that picture taken. I'll see if I can find it on another device and upload it later today.

Cole and the Nashville Temple

I got this text from Cole Friday night.

Thanks, Cole. That means so much to me.

Gotcha, Curt!!

A LONG standing joke in our family is that a certain hand sign is either a "made you look" or (according to me because I got tired of being the gotcha girl) "I love you" sign. Curt and Cole in particular try to catch me with the hand sign, and they usually succeed. Unfortunately for me, I rarely, if ever get them back.

Tonight, I got Curt!

He had thanked Dad for cooking dinner, only I had been the cook. So I playfully patted his arm as though I were slapping him, telling him that I had been the cook. To my embarrassment, I had misheard and Curt had actually thanked me.

He was laughing and telling Lisa I had hurt him, when I got the BEST idea.

"Yeah, I even left red marks!" I exclaimed, and patted Curt's arm again, this time very gently.

"You did??" Curt replied, and glanced down at his arm to check.

And he saw this:

Gotcha, Curt!!

(I think Curt was actually very proud of me for getting him.)

It's August 1st!!

It's August 1st!!

And Baby Boomer kids everywhere know what THAT means... Captain Kangaroo is going to sing Happy Birthday to every child who has an August birthday on his TV show today!

Of course, I always thought he was singing to me, but even when I discovered he wasn't, it was still a special day, and one I looked forward to.

My siblings and I listened to this album all the time!

And this is still my favorite Christmas album. I found it in CD form years ago and my kids grew up loving it, too!

This is the theme song from Captain Kangaroo show. That music would make Steve, Leslie, and me come running!

I am in my late fifties and still I think of Captain Kangaroo singing Happy Birthday when August 1st rolls around.  Since I can't hear him sing to me today, I'll listen to the theme song instead as I remember the excitement of having the Captain sing to me.