Field Trip!!

One of the things I enjoy most about my days at FBS is that I am 'allowed' to be the junior high history teacher! What a treat!! I love, love, love my first graders but getting to spend an hour per day with our junior high students just makes my day even brighter. They are intelligent, inquisitive, and all around ladies and gentlemen. I find that I can address them on a grown up level and it's great!!

We walked to the Burleson County Courthouse today and visited with Ms. Paula Bartnesky, the voting administrator for Burleson County. She talked to the students about voting procedures and let them all experience the voting machine that is used in Burleson County. She was engaging and informative and I feel my students learned something. I know I did!!

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent--whatever--I encourage you to exercise your right to vote come November. Our country will elect a new President as well as fill other important offices. I find myself getting weary of the nasty ads I see on television and in the print media and wonder just how it is that we have gone so far as to get to this. But then I go back and read my history and find that politics have been divisive since about 1776!! Really. If you don't believe me, go read! Oh, my!! But for the last 200+ years we have been the greatest nation on the face of this earth precisely because we have the right to express our opinions freely and because we have the right to vote our conscience. Our Constitution guarantees it!!

I'll be doing an election unit with my junior high students before the election. I had a college professor named Colonel Russell Fudge who I admired greatly. Col. Fudge used to tell us that he never wanted us to know his political affiliation or how he intended to vote in any given election. That is my goal--to have my students gather information, decide for themselves, and vote in our mock election at school. I do not want my political philosophy to be a factor in their decision making--or yours, for that matter!

Thanks Ms. Bartnesky for a great presentation! Thanks junior high students for being ladies and gentlemen and people I will take on field trips anywhere!! Thanks Susan B. for accompanying us. It's always nice to have a parent along.

Peer Instruction

We at FBS are all housed in the same building. While it sometimes creates a few traffic challenges in the halls I think that overall it's a good thing. Our younger students see our older students up close and personal and  our older students set very good examples.

Mrs. P brought seventh grade students to first grade yesterday to instruct my students in the rules for Science lab safety. These students did an excellent job! They were well prepared, they held the interest of my students, and now they are heroes in the eyes of some little people. Good job!!

Parents

Parenting is a hard job and it doesn't come with instructions! It does come with sleepless nights, worry, tears, fears, and joys galore! I know this. I am a parent! My three children are all adults with homes and lives and families all their own. I hope that some of the parenting decisions their dad and I made haven't left them scarred for life!! If they were, we are sorry. We loved (and still love) our children, we did the best we could, prayed a lot, and hoped for the best. We are proud of the people our children have grown to be.

I am thankful for BOTH sets of my parents. I'm thankful that my birth parents chose to give me life. The 'alternative' wasn't legal back in 'the day' but it was available. I'm truly, truly thankful for Mom and Dad who took me as an infant and loved and nurtured me through childhood and the teen years and into adulthood. My dad was in an horrific car crash just before I turned 3 years old. He was riding in a car pool to work with four other men and they crashed head on into another vehicle early one foggy morning. He was lucky. He lived--one of just three people that did. But he was left a paraplegic. His legs were paralyzed. However, his mind and his spirit were anything but paralyzed. I'm not sure my daddy ever heard the phrase 'if life gives you lemons, make lemonade' but that is exactly what he did. He got on with his life. He did many things the experts said he would never do! He was a good husband and a great dad. My dad has been gone for just over a year now. I miss him. My mom, at 80 years old (or young!), still lives independently in the house where I grew up. She is a wise woman whose counsel I regularly seek. Now, I'll be honest and tell you that it took a few years (maybe a decade or two!) for me to truly appreciate her wisdom but I do. I'm so glad I can speak to her each and every day.

I'm thankful for the parents of my students. You have chosen to have your child educated in a Christian school. You are sacrificing to make that a reality. It's important to you.  I thank you for the hours you spend with your child preparing for school the next day. I thank you for involving yourself in your child's extra curriculur activities. You are investing in your child. You are investing in OUR future.

Pictures!!

First Day of School

I'm about to leave my house for the halls of First Baptist School. This is the thirty-first first day of school for me! I've never had a decent night's sleep on the night before and last night was no different. I simply couldn't shut my mind off. Is everything ready? How are the students going to be? It's all anticipation and I'm looking forward to getting the first day done so I can call it history. And get a good night's sleep!!

I am thankful for the years I've spent in the halls of FBS. I'm thankful for the children I've been privileged to teach and the parents I've been privileged to meet. I love the fine women with whom I work and I am so thankful that my calling has been to work in Christian education.

Let's have a wonderful year!!

Final Friday

This is the final Friday of the summer! School officially begins at FBS next Wednesday. Our faculty and staff and especially Mrs. Pipes and Mrs. Becky have been working diligently to insure that everything is ready for those bright and shining faces that will appear next week! If you see Mrs. Pipes and/or Mrs. Becky and can get either of them to stop for a moment, please say thank you! They do MUCH behind the scenes that enable us as teachers to do our job efficiently and well. I appreciate them more than they will ever know.

Another unsung hero of FBS is Mrs. Zelda Ayers. She works hard each and every day to keep our building clean and environmentally safe for all of us--staff, students, and visitors! It was so nice to walk into my classroom last week and find that the surfaces were dusted and everything was neat and tidy.

We finished our mandatory days of work yesterday. We've had staff training (including CPR and First Aid) and visited with each other and readied our rooms. And now we wait--just as our students wait.

Be sure to check this blog regularly during the school year. I will post photos of field trips and other special events. It's a good place to see what is going on at FBS!

I'm looking forward to getting to know my first graders and excited about teaching Texas History to my junior high students! It's going to be a great year!!!

Almost Time!

School starts back in less than two weeks. Am I ready? No, I'm not. But I will be. This is the time of year when I am working in my classroom and planning for the year and wondering just what the next 10 months holds in store. There will be some new faces in my classes, a schedule that is a bit different from last year's, and other things that I just don't know about yet. It's a time of excitement for me.

I will be teaching First Grade as well as Texas History. If you are a parent and reading this, please know that you can contact me at the school anytime. I will be setting up an email group for each class as soon as I have email addresses for all of you.

I feel blessed to teach at First Baptist School. I look forward to making new friends. Please keep all of us in your prayers as we embark upon another year of adventure in education.