Yay for the 40 kids who made honor roll, and who got to have a pizza supper today.
And Yay for Papa Murphy's who had all ten pizzas ready promptly at 3:00, and who took $3 per pizza off the price because it was a school function and we ordered at least 10.
Yay for the new play shelter going up, like a huge Conestoga wagon parked out in the rain.
Nay for all the mess the construction causes. And nay for the rain and the mud, and nay for boys that get pushed into a puddle right after school's out, making the mom bring a clean outfit for the party, and nay for this same boy who fell into the mud in this clean outfit and had mud smeared from head to toe, and nay for mud getting tracked all over the new carpet when the kids had their treasure hunt.
Yay for Miss Amy who, when I arrived, was marching along with a bucket of water, barking like a cute, loving, feminine drill sergeant at guilty kids who were down on their hands and knees, rags in hand, scrubbing mud spots. "Kyle! Here's one!"
Yay for Paul and Amy and Justin and Megan who handle these children every day and plan special events besides. "Are children wilder than they used to be?" wonders Paul's mom. I don't know--I just know these teachers have their hands full.
And yay for moms who help--Debbie who helped me bake and slice and pour, Trish who brought veggies and finger jello, Bonnie and Rita who set up tables and made them pretty, and Jeanette who sent three ice cream desserts.
Nay for Jeanette's two teenage boys, who put the desserts in the fridge instead of the freezer.
Yay for Rachel who happened to discover this mistake before the ice cream turned to soup, and who tracked down the guilty pair, bowed down with care, and set them on the strait and narrow.
Yay for little Josh and Jady, who came to the kitchen and asked what they could do to help, and for their mom, who has taught them well.
Yay for lots of people wanting to send their children to our school, and Yay for the fine principal who keeps this boat sailing and keeps finding room for more on board, but a nostalgic nay for losing the tiny-school dynamic of seniors and little kids all in the same room, and Byran playing games with Emily, and that camaraderie.
Nay for Steven who unbeknownst to me had a pizza-eating contest, him against two giggling girls put together, and he won, of course.
Yay for leftover pizza to bring home.
Quote of the Day:
Paul: (tallying the results of the questionnaire he just got back) People are suggesting sermon series that I've already preached! Jonah, Ephesians, David. . .
Family member: David!? You just did David not long ago.
Paul: And I know who suggested David, too.
All of us: Who??
Paul: Mark* [a newly-married man]
All of us: Mark??!!
Jenny: Was he gone during that time?
Paul: He was in love during that time.
*Name changed of course
I'm curious. Is honor roll based on grades for one quarter? At our school, our pizza parties are "merit parties"--earned for doing lots of little things right, but not including grades. Field trips are the reward for ending the quarter on privilege, and the reward for being on honor roll is . . . adulation, I guess, since not much more than that happens as a result of it. For honor roll, we do figure in the grades for conventional classes as well as pace work, which makes things a little more interesting, since no one ever gets lower than an 80% as a pace grade.
ReplyDeleteWait a second, when did I play games with Emily?
ReplyDeleteMrs. I--yes, honor roll is based on grades and figured every quarter. They need to finish at least 3 Paces in every subject and get an 88% average. Sometimes they have pizza, sometimes a field trip, can't remember what else.
ReplyDeleteByran--Paul says several times a month he used to have all the kids play a steal-sticks type of game together for P.E., "not to the joy of the older ones," but Amy says when Barb was there she always had PE with the younger ones. I used your and Em's names as examples of older and younger kids in those days but I could be wrong.
yay for this post--I loved it. Nay that it wasn't longer...
ReplyDeleteI heard at a teacher's gathering Saturday how our grade school encourages interaction with different age groups. They assign chapel groups of a cross-section of ages, with an eighth grader in charge. They sit together in chapel, with the eighth grader responsible for keeping order in his/her group. They also use these groups for some other projects, including several times a week for recess-play. Two of our teachers had seen that modeled at Faith Builders. --Linda Rose
ReplyDeletelol love the quote of the day!
ReplyDeletePaul's mom wondering if the kids are more wild...me too!! I have quite a few opinions about that since I'm a teacher. =) Gina Schrock
ReplyDelete