The End of Another School Year

School officially ended on Wednesday, and just like that I've wrapped up my fifth year of teaching, my first year of teaching in Pilot Point, and my first year as a Head Teacher. It's been a wild ride, but I'm so happy with how successful this year was.

We celebrated the end of the year in a variety of ways. The first celebration was on the Friday before school ended and we hosted a preschool graduation (we had no graduating high school kids this year), an awards ceremony, and a potluck. At this potluck, we had a video tribute to our school year, which was beautifully created by our high school teacher Melissa. I think everyone really loved the video, so I thought it would be fun to share it here too.

On Wednesday, the last day of school, we hosted a cookout on the beach for all of the students. It was such a fun, special way to end the year. The weather was perfect - sunny and in the upper 50's. We cooked hotdogs, played football and frisbee, and climbed some of the big hills surrounding the sandy beach. I loved getting to celebrate the final days of our school year together in such a neat way. It will definitely be a memory that I carry with me.

Our first official day of summer vacation brought about ultimate relaxation for Cody and I. We had planned ahead of time to stay in the village for awhile, which has turned out to be a great decision because we've been doing some really fun stuff. Melissa and Ben, the other teacher and her husband, left on Thursday afternoon, so we sadly had to say goodbye to them as soon as school got out. Unfortunately, they won't be returning next year. They definitely helped shape our year out here though, and I wish them all the best in their next adventures.

As the final days of our first year of adventures in Pilot Point draws to a close, I can't help but think about how thankful I am for this experience. This has probably been my best year of teaching, so far, and I know that Cody feels that he has really found a job that he loves too. In fact, Cody enjoys it so much that he is starting a teacher certification program in August, which he gets to attend for free thanks to two wonderful tuition reimbursement programs (one funded through our school district and one funded through our village). This experience has opened many doors for both of us, and I am happy that we will be retuning again next year.

Your turn...What are your summer plans? 
Currently listening to...Electric Feel - MGMT

Animals at School

Beaver Island is such a rural place that we can often get away with things that big, urban schools cannot. One of the many hilarious things that we are able to get away with is bringing pets (and other animals) to school.  Our principal brings her black lab with her to school everyday.  The kids take her dog to recess, to lunch, and all over the school with them.  They've been begging me to bring Specks and Luna to school all year.  Luna is still a little too crazy and a little too skiddish to be out and about with children, but Specks is the perfect candidate for a school dog.  He hasn't worn a leash in years, he's a former service dog, and he loves children.  Last week, I decided that the time was finally right and brought him in for a visit.

He had a blast! I let him stay for 1/2 the day and then I sent him home at lunch with Cody.  The kids read him stories on the carpet, played fetch with him, and gave him roughly 1,000 belly rubs.  It was heaven for Specks and a great treat for the class.

Later that week we had another animal visitor.  Our school's music teacher has a farm and they recently had a baby goat born.  She offered to bring the baby goat, which we then affectionately named Bud, into the classroom for show and tell.  Me being me, I offered to babysit the goat for a few hours.  The goat was only four days old and the kids had to be very responsible to help care for such a little baby.  It was a fantastic learning experience.  Plus, isn't Bud ridiculously adorable?!

Your turn...Do any cute animals ever visit your work/school?
Currently listening to...Teenage Wasteland - The Who

The Faux Day

School was cancelled one day this week because of a Faux Day (at least that's what I am calling it). As some of you may know, there are certain policies and laws in place in our public education system that call for 75% attendance in order to receive funding for the school day. In bigger schools, this would mean a huge number of students out for the day.  In our tiny school though we run the risk of losing funding for a very small number of absent students.  Unfortunately, with fourteen ill students on Monday, we hit that number. Small school problems.

My very empty classroom on Monday morning. 

The administration and school board made the decision to send us all home roughly fifteen minutes into the school day, which caused much grumbling among parents and staff, but much less grumbling among students.  This meant that Cody and I had suddenly found ourselves with a whole day to spend as we pleased.

We left school relatively soon after the students went home and we headed out to the one breakfast place in town for some tasty treats.  I feasted on apple pie stuffed french toast (seriously delicious) and Cody went for a classic egg, toast, and bacon dish.  

After breakfast, we spent most of the day doing little projects and lounging around the house. It turned into a seriously nasty day (ridiculous winds and snow), which probably would have gotten us sent home from school for the day anyway.  Hence, the reason why I started referring to the day in question as a "Faux Day" instead of a "Snow Day." 

Your turn...Have you ever had your job/school close for an unexpected reason? 
Currently listening to...White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes