We have been back at school for about 2 months and I am just now getting to updating the blog. Getting harder to find time to sit down nowadays. The girls are pretty active and Melinda is involved in a few projects with school.
Erin: she is doing great at school. Her reading has come so far since the beginning of school. She reads to Mom and Dad every night. We try and get in at least 2 books, but some days are better than others. She is having a very easy time with math so far (think Mom may have something to do with that). She is really enjoying the year. She has almost 65 AR points. Her goal by the end of the year is 100. At 100 points, she gets an AR t-shirt (very exciting stuff). It helps that Emily already has her t-shirt, so Erin wants to be like Emily. Erin is still enjoying her dance class. We can't watch the class practice now. They are preparing for the recital around May. Erin decided she wanted to play soccer, but registration was already complete. She has been kicking the ball in the backyard with Dad and doing very well. She wants to practice with Emily's team, so we'll see how that goes. Erin also wants to take karate...watch out Papa!
Emily: Em is having a lot of fun being in Melinda's class. She has 125 AR points so far. Her goal is to get at least 200 points. At 200 points, you also get a trophy at the end of year awards. Em has been very busy with her GT work (they have read "The girl from Yamhill" and are still learning Latin). They had a party, Lupercalia, with the other GT students and had to greet and speak in latin. Em said it was kind of boring, but it was ok. Emily was our tv star this month. About a week ago, Melinda's class had a reading marathon. Some local celebrities came to read to the class including Bill Jones - mayor, Diane White Delisi - congresswoman, and Kelly Barr/John - KCEN TV. They had some video they showed of them reading to the kids and Emily was front and center - TWICE! I think you can still log onto KCENTV.com and see. The anchors thanked Melinda and Beth (teaching partner) at the end of the segment. Pretty cool watching the Chavez girls dominate the news! Em starts soccer practice this week and her first game is next Saturday. She is ready to be back on the field. Em was selected to be a RedBird Reader. Pretty cool program...any kid interested submits an application and then goes through an interview (why they want to do this, etc.). There are only 10 kids taken through the whole school, and Em was one of them. The kids that particpate are strong readers that help kids having problems with reading before school. They are spending the next week and a half finding out how to help and then they are off. Em is very excited about this.
Elizabeth: E is still doing well despite all of the activities she has been doing. She had straight A's through the first semester, and still has those grades now. If she continues, she will be in the National Junior Honor Society for the second year in a row. E has been very busy the last 2 months. Her basketball team won the district championship. This was the first time they had done so in about 20 years. This was the first year E had ever played basketball. She was pretty tough by the end of the year. The coach did a great job bringing her along. She was pretty aggressive on the court. They got championsip t-shirts to celebrate their achievement. E is participating in the Duke University talent search. Kids were identified based on their scores from the state testing. Part of the talent search was having the kids take the SATs. E took the SAT @ Temple High School about 3 weeks ago. We are waiting to hear the results. We didn't let E study for the test - thought it would be a better barometer if she hadn't studied. If her score is high enough, she can participate in some classes offered through the Duke program during the summer (I think they have a nature course in TX, somewhere). I don't know if she would want to give up any of her summer. We are preparing for round 2 of Junior Cotillion - the Western dance. E got new boots and a shirt to get ready - looks very cute. Mom may go again to take pictures - not sure yet. E opted not to do track and field. She is in off-season. I think they are doing the same workouts with the track team, just no meets. E has been 2nd chair in band since last semester - they haven't been competing since then. She still thinks she can beat the 8th grader that is 1st chair when they get to compete again.
Melinda: Mel has been incredibly busy. She tutors on Tuesday and Thursday after school until 5pm or so. She is on the committee deciding which textbook/curriculum to be used for the next 10 years. She is still doing the math instructional specialist for our elementary school - working teachers to teach math effectively. She is also mentoring a new 2nd grade teacher. There never seems to be enough time in the day, but she manages to keep it all floating.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more pictures and info....
No comments:
Post a Comment