Bubbles With Aunt Lisa, 5/28/16

Aunt Lisa brought a bubble wand to the house Saturday morning. It was a big hit with Julie, Cambria, and Ian.

 The little kids were fascinated!

 They chased the bubbles all over the patio and back yard.

 Julie and Cambria stopped to examine my clematis.

While Ian discovered the uncles and his dad playing corn hole in the front yard.

Bubbles 2

Bubbles 3

Hackiesack 1

Hackysack 2

Surprise!!

Craig's mom, Phyllis, was placed on hospice care this week. As a result, Carla came up on Wednesday, and then Jessica, Andrew, Cambria, Titan, Cole, Emily, and Julie all arrived Friday evening.

I did not expect this guy to come up, and was absolutely stunned when he walked through the door!

He drove up from Florida yesterday. What a super surprise!

A Sad and Lonely Place

A school emptied for summer vacation is a lonely place; a classroom even more so.

 There are no sounds of learning and laughter, no life.

While I am glad to be on summer break, the final closing of my classroom always makes me sad!

Last Day of School!

The last day of school began with the annual water balloon toss for the 5th graders.

 The target? 

 Me!!

This tradition began when I was Pam Green's student teacher, and I have done it every year I have taught.

Then it was time to party.

 I brought cookies and had a gift for every 5th grader. 

 I wrote a letter for each one of them, and the 4th graders did, too!

The 5th graders and their classic books.

 After lunch, the entire school went outside for field day.

 Tim Schnepp and I ran the bucket toss together.

All of Hershey, out on the lawn and listening to Mrs. Fields.

Then it was time for the 5th graders to run the gauntlet - all the students and staff lined the hallways and the 5th grade classes walked the halls, high-fiving as they go.

 I got a surprise last group hug.

 I thought they were going to knock me over backward!

 Out in the hall and preparing to walk the gauntlet.

 Patrick, one of our reading buddies, is hugged by Autumn and Can-Do Gracie.

 Some last minute advice from me.

 Ready to be 6th graders.

Goodbye! Have a great summer!

Hershey Goodbye, May 20, 2016

My FAVORITE Hershey tradition happens on the last day of school. The teachers and staff line up on the sidewalks and wave goodbye to the kids as their buses whisk them away to summer vacation.

"Can Do" Gracie (known for her her willing attitude) popped up for one last goodbye.

Have a great summer!!

Making Your Teacher Cry

It's that bittersweet time of year. School is ending, and everyone is looking forward to summer break, some down time and relaxation, and the opportunity to do things that cannot be done when school is in session.

By the same token, parting ways is difficult, especially when you have been together for two years. You know each other so well, and are very comfortable together. Saying goodbye on that last day of school is also quite sad as a result.

AY gave me a card and gift yesterday as a thank you. The card was very unusual.

Those who have read the children's classic, Where the Red Fern Grows, know that it is a "tissue box book," one that is prone to making the reader cry. The last pages of the book are reminiscings by the main character, years after the story has taken place and he is all grown up. He talks at length about wanting to go back to his boyhood home and relive those magical days with those he loved by his side again.

(My tears are already coming, even as I write!)

Well, AY xeroxed those pages, and then wrote me a lovely note  on the back of them about the impact I had had on her life and how she has changed for the better during our two years together.

The message she sent by including those pages with her note and gift touched me deeply. I could imagine her, years in the future, looking back at her childhood and reminiscing about our class, the fun we had as we learned, and the bonds the class made with each other.

Knowing she is that perceptive in connecting the text in a book with her experience in my classroom, and then communicating it to me in such an unusual way...

I am letting my tears speak for me.

A True Indiana Stereotype

Stereotypes are often rooted in truth, and the one about Indiana's love of basketball is a true one. There was even a movie made in the 1980s about the state's love affair with the game.

Another one is that, in rural areas around the state, a common sight is barns with basketball hoops mounted on them so kids can play.

 The old barn that stores the herd's hay and has two large run-in stalls for them is no exception.

Can you see it? It's old and weathered, but it's there.

Just waiting for another generation of Hoosier horsemen and women to play a pick up game.

Grammy's Girl

My daughter Jessica may not be a horsey girl herself, but she does a nice job of supporting her daughter's budding love of all things equine!

Cambria gives her mount a pat on the withers while Daddy looks on.

A gentle walk around the paddock.

 Adjusting the helmet to make sure she's safe.

And off we go again!

I hope they get to come to Indiana this summer to visit so we can go play with Abby and her herd mates!

Custodial Notes

Carolyn, one of the night custodians at Hershey, has been leaving me cheerful little notes occasionally throughout the school year. They make me smile when I find them in the morning, and I keep them and hang them on the wall by my desk.

Hershey is a wonderful place to work.

What More Could Happen?

When you decide to go for a challenge while keeping your priorities straight, sometimes things happen that make you wonder - they are too much of a coincidence. Last weekend's events are the perfect example of that.

In February I was nominated for The Presidential Award in Mathematics and Science Teaching. It required an enormous amount of time to apply, with lots of things to gather, do, film, and write. (Go here and then to this site for the back story.)

Last weekend was crunch time. Everything was due by midnight on May 1 (which led to the question of, midnight at the beginning of May 1 or midnight at the end? PAEMST sent out an email clarifying that it meant midnight May 1 Hawaiian time, or 6:00 AM May 2 Eastern Time.)

Saturday was a day for writing the narrative and wrapping up and checking the other categories to be sure I had done all that was required. I did not want to lose on a technicality - that would crush me after all the effort I'd put into the application!

But, I also had decided that, if I went for this award, I would keep my priorities straight - after all, in the end it is simply an award. People are far more important. So, Saturday I went to see my mother as I usually do, with Lisa coming along. We had Arby's for lunch, and then came home.

An unfamiliar car was in the driveway. We had unexpected company! My heart sank a bit because I needed to get back to writing.

The visitor was Win Aker, an old friend of Craig's, one who knew him when he was first baptized. They hadn't seen each other in years. I said my hellos and Craig told Win that I was under some pressure to get a writing project done. I started to go upstairs, but realized that the priority here was Win, not my writing. So I remained until Win left. (And then I frantically dashed back upstairs and got to work!)

I worked until I was too tired to write any more and needed a break and went to bed.

Sunday morning I got back to work, not something I like to do on the Sabbath, but I felt it was ox in the mire and the due date was looming. The phone rang around 10:00 AM - it was my favorite aunt, Sissy!

She was in Bloomington having just won IU's Distinguished Alumni award, and she and Ned were planning to drive up for a visit.

Oh, gosh. But priorities again - I needed to keep them in place. And so I left church after Sacrament meeting and ran over to University Place to meet with Sissy, Ned, my sister Jenny, and Mom.

Jenny said of this picture, "That's Mom with her two favorite people in the world - Sissy and Dad."

Mom, Sissy, (Dad), and Ned.

Sissy and Ned were also under a time crunch, and so they only stayed an hour. I rushed home and got back to work, furiously typing, proofing, double checking, and so on.

Win had joined us for Sacrament meeting and was coming for Sunday dinner. Craig cooked so I could continue working. Lisa arrived for supper but Win rang and said he was running very late and to go ahead without him. I ate quickly with Craig and Lisa and then scurried back to my office. Win arrived later (I wasn't even aware that he had come and gone, I was focused so hard on the paper.)

My car had died on Friday and needed to be at the shop by 8:00 Monday morning. Lisa volunteered to help her dad get it there that night, leaving the key for the mechanic to find, so that I could work and not have pressure in the morning to get up early and take the car in myself. It was an offer I gratefully accepted. I typed and typed and typed; the deadline was drawing close.

And then...

The tornado warning sirens went off!

I literally sat back in my chair, looked up at the ceiling, and said aloud, "Seriously? A tornado now??" to the Lord. I could not believe that I was being interrupted again!

I scooted downstairs and turned on the TV to get further information, then realized that my laptop, the only spot on which my paper was saved, was still upstairs. If the tornado hit our home, all that work would be lost. (Notice that, at this point, I was so tired I wasn't even thinking that a whole lot more than a paper would be lost!)

Running back upstairs, I grabbed the computer and brought it down with me into the living room. There really was a tornado, but it was down by Linden, so I was in no danger unless another formed closer by, so I went back to work, slogging through the last bits of writing.

I finally finished up at 11:00 PM, did a final check of everything in my application, and hit the submit button. Receiving a message that all was in order, I dragged myself downstairs and to bed at 11:00 PM May 1, 5:00 PM Hawaiian time.

Where Are They Now?

In just two short weeks, I will have finished up my eighteenth year of teaching. Most of my Yankee Ridge School students are finishing their undergrad degrees or have completed their schooling and are out in the work force, and I am quite familiar with seeing pictures of kids I taught employed as teachers themselves, in business, and in other common jobs.

But this is a new one:

 This is Jeremy Loui, who just graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Music.

Cindy and Jeremy Loui.

I did not recognize him at first when his picture popped up on my Facebook feed, and then it hit me - that was Jeremy, my former student, and not his father, Michael. (Who, ironically, is actually here at Purdue. Cindy's mom is in ill health and in a nursing home in Urbana, so she has remained there to care for her.)

Cindy called me up a few weeks ago. She was in town and wanted to get together for lunch. I was unable to meet that day, but we're going to try again this summer.

I look forward to catching up and hearing more about Jeremy's career in music!

Prosthetic Leg - Real Life Application

Alex was in my 2013-2014 class. I had no idea he had a prosthetic leg until it happened to come up in a conversation several weeks into the school year when a former teacher of his mentioned it to me. He functioned very well, and needed little help or modification when we did physical things.

(One of my funniest teaching memories involves Alex and his artificial leg. Go here to read the blog entry about it.)

I just finished a Force and Motion SLED project with my students called "Prosthetic Leg" two weeks ago and find it ironic that Alex and his leg would pop up in the news. Here's the news article:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – An East Tipp Middle School student who has used a prosthetic leg almost all his life has more mobility thanks to some Purdue University engineering students.

Alex Morgan is a 13 year old who enjoys playing with his brothers and playing sports, especially baseball. But since he was 9 months old, he’s had to wear a prosthetic leg.

“He’s a twin and he was born with fibular hemimelia, and that means he’s missing the smaller bone in his lower leg,” said Carrie Morgan, Alex’s mother.

Through one of Alex’s teammates, Purdue students in the EPICS engineering program came into the picture in August. They worked to make him a foot that would give him more mobility.

“After a semester in EPICS, we had most of the theoretical design completed,” said Haley Smith, a senior in mechanical engineering. “So we decided to roll it out to senior design, create a whole new team that could work on it. Rather than one or two days a week, we work on it five days a week — really just pick up the pace and get this thing finished before we all graduate.”

The group presented the new foot to Alex and his family on Wednesday.

“They made the ankle in it so it can move more,” Alex Morgan said. “And they made the toe so it could actually bend.”

Smith said, “This is our third meeting this semester with an actual foot to try on. The first one, we had some pretty major areas that we needed improvement on. The second one, for the most part, worked but we had some parts where we need machines, so to come here and have no issues with it whatsoever, it’s incredible.”

Alex said his dream is to play baseball at Harrison High School.

“He’s played several, and still does, play several sports. So, it hasn’t held him back any,” said Carrie Morgan.

The new foot will take some getting used to but Carrie said they plan to slowly work it into to Alex’s regime.

Carrie said they are thinking the new prosthetic leg will be a hit.

This makes me super happy for Alex. Although he never let his disability slow him down, it's nice to know that he will be even more able to do what he wants in life.

A Piece of Craig's Own Early Church History

Yesterday I came home from visiting my mother with Lisa to discover a strange car in the driveway. Its license plates were from Mississippi, and I wracked my brain, trying to figure out who we knew, both in town as well as out of town, that was from Mississippi.

It was a little bit of Craig's early Church history - Win Aker.

Win and Craig

Win was here at Purdue when Craig was baptized. He and Craig quickly formed a friendship, and with a couple other LDS men, attended church and Institute activities during their undergrad years.  I had heard many stories from that time period, and had met Win a time or two, but as time passed, they lost contact, only occasionally hearing through the LDS grapevine about each other.

We were living in Michigan in 1978 when the revelation giving members of African descent the priesthood was received by President Kimball. Win was the first person I thought of, and I still remember a discussion Craig and I had, wondering how Win was feeling.

(We found out yesterday because Win brought it up. He was actually back in West Lafayette and on campus for a meeting that day and had dropped by the Institute. A missionary in the building asked him what he thought about the revelation, and Win replied, "What revelation??" The missionary then told him what had been announced.)

After years of service in the Navy, Win is retired and living in his hometown of Rome, Georgia. He and his first wife, Joan, divorced, and his second wife, Celeste, recently died of cancer and had Alzheimers. He has a son, Joshua, who is a musician living in Orem, Utah, a step daughter, and two grandchildren - Prophet Aker and... I can't remember the granddaughter's name. Currently Win is serving in the bishopric of his ward (and took a call from a newly called Sunday School teacher while he was with us.)

It was good to catch up a little, although Win was pressed for time, needing to get back on campus for more activities.

I don't think Craig quit smiling that entire visit.