Football!

Several of our junior high boys have chosen to play six man football with
a group of homeschooled boys from Milano. There wouldn't have been enough boys to make a team without our guys.

My husband and I drove to Bastrop last Friday night to watch this team play. Our team (the Scorpions) are few in number, have never played before, and are busy learning the intricacies of the game. The team they played, a group of homeschoolers from Williamson County, were many in number, large in stature, and clearly had experience in competitive sports.

Needless to say, our guys didn't win the game. The score was not in our favor. However, each of those young men is a WINNER! They played hard, they never gave up, and when the game was over they picked up their muddy selves (the field was a 'mud bowl' due to recent rain), shook hands with the opposing team, and walked off with smiles on their faces. They were good sports. They were gentlemen. They showed their good character.

They are learning life lessons. They are learning to follow the directions of a coach. They are learning to cooperate with each other. They are learning that not everyone wins the game. They are learning that hard work is essential. And the list goes on.

On a side note, if you have never seen a six man football game, I encourage you to attend a game. It can be one that our guys are involved in or an area public school. It's a fun game to watch. The rules are a tad different from traditional eleven man football and it's always wide open and full of action.

Gifts

It's not my birthday and it's not Christmas (although both will be here before we know it!) but it is almost the end of the first six weeks grading period here at FBS. As I reflect back over the start to this school year, one word comes to mind. Gifts. There are 16 of them in my first grade classroom! Each is unique, special, and one part of the whole that will spend the next few months with me.

Every group of first graders is different. There are always strengths and occasionally, a few weak areas. They are humans. I always learn something from them. The year that I don't learn is the year I need to throw in the towel and say I'm retiring. I don't think it will be this year because I'm learning!

One of the blessings this class has shared is their 'heart' for those less fortunate than them. We have daily chapel and students are allowed to request prayer. Many of these children want to pray for those who have less. They are the living embodiment of the Golden Rule.

There are numerous students who are artistically talented. They amaze me.

They are good friends. They get along with each other. They LIKE each other!

They are very intelligent. They are making this teacher work to keep up with them!

To their parents I say a big THANK YOU!! I feel blessed to be involved in the life of your child.

God bless you!

Science Fun

Thanks to Mrs. Perry and the eighth grade students for allowing first graders to look for microscopic organisms through the microscopes. Each eighth grade student was assigned to be the 'teacher' to a group of first graders. A good time was had by all!!

Remembering.............and Thanking

On this date in 1944, Operation Overlord was put into effect as thousands of Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in an effort to defeat the Nazi war machine that had tortured and killed people and devastated the countryside. This was no small feat and it required the work and sacrifice of many brave men and women.

My dad was among the brave. He did not go onto those beaches in Normandy. Instead, he had quietly and diligently worked alongside many others to prepare the landing craft and other materials of war from his base in Weymouth, England. He was a machinist in the U.S. Navy. He told me once that they worked around the clock in the weeks leading up to D-Day--not shifts, though. They simply worked until they could go no further and then they found an empty 'rack' and slept for a while. And went right back to work.

I can only imagine that those people, including my dad, who had worked in the background to prepare watched those vessels leave that port with mixed emotions. Certainly, they were proud of the work they had done. But they must have had a sick feeling in the pits of their stomachs knowing that many of those men wouldn't return. They must have felt uncertain as to the ultimate outcome of the attempt to meet and defeat Hitler's troops on French soil. But I think their overriding emotion must have been patriotism. They loved their country and they served it proudly.

Three years ago tomorrow, my dad passed away. Many other WWII veterans have also passed from this life. But to each of them, and especially my dad I say THANKS!! Our country is strong because of "The Greatest Generation".

Teamwork

There's an old saying that says "It takes a village to raise a child." That can be reworded slightly to "It takes a team to make a school run smoothly" and applied to our little school.

Because we are few in number it is sometimes necessary for all hands to come on deck to make things happen. Whether it's staff or students, things get done. They get done quickly and efficiently and with little fuss or bother.

We are in the midst of practicing for our end of school musical (1st through 5th grades) and we were told yesterday that there will be a memorial service in the church today. That necessitated removing risers and all other evidence of our practice sessions. Our junior high students were recruited for that task and they broke down those risers and got them out of the auditorium in short order. The stage was cleared and now a grieving family can come to the church and say goodbye to their loved one in an atmosphere of worship and meditation.

We are also going to be shifting some classrooms at the end of the school year. Plans are underway to accomplish this goal in short order. Again, it requires teamwork and cooperation. And that is what is happening. Yours truly is among those that are moving! The prospect is not especially pleasant but I've moved classrooms many times over the course of my career at FBS and one more move--well, it's just one more move! Especially since I will have assistance--cheerfully given assistance.

As the end of this school year looms near and I take a look back I am reminded of what an awesome place this is. I'm thankful for the 'family' of coworkers and students that I see each and every day. FBS rocks!!

Austin Nature Center

Thanks to Mrs. Knibbe for arranging our trip to the Austin Nature Center and Zilker Park! And thanks to Mrs. Pipes for driving and all the moms who went along to help with crowd control. It was a great day!!

Sri Lanka

Thanks to Jen W. for coming and sharing about life and customs in Sri Lanka with my first grade students. Most of them loved the tea and some thought the snacks were tasty while others weren't so sure! But a good time was had by all and my students learned something about life in another country.

Junior High Field Trip

"Love thy neighbor as thyself"   "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

These are tenets of the Christian faith that we teach each and every day at First Baptist School. And they are among the hardest of things to do day in and day out. For we are people of prejudice. ALL of us! My students had a brief study of the Holocaust--that terrible time in the 1930s and 1940s when Hitler and the German Nazis persecuted, tortured, and killed between 10 and 12 million people because of their faith, their ethnicity, their disabilities, or their life style choices. We visited the Houston Holocaust Museum and learned more about the events of that period of time. It wasn't a 'fun' field trip. It wasn't intended to be. These young people are the leaders of the future and I hope that each of them will take the lessons learned and do their best to prevent another Holocaust. I hope that each of them will practice tolerance and understanding toward those who are different--be it different skin color, different cultural heritage, different religion, different choice of lifestyle. It's not necessary to agree with those who are different from us but it is necessary to be human and compassionate and to think that well worn phrase 'what would Jesus do?'

The FUN part of the day was visiting the Weather Center museum, also in downtown Houston. We had a nice young lady (a meteorologist) who provided our students with a tour of the facility. This museum is housed in a re-purposed historic home and it had a back yard. We were able to enjoy our picnic lunch on the premises.

Thanks to Mrs. Perry for driving, for the moms who went along, and to St. Paul's United Methodist Church for allowing us to park our bus in their parking lot.

Easter Party

First Grade at Work and at Play

We sampled vegetables, rode our bikes, and got some time on the playground. This is a great group of students!

PINKED Out!

Our school is small and there is a strong sense of 'community' among our staff, our students, and our families. That was more than evident today as we came together to show our love and support to a beloved staff member who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and who will undergo radical surgery to remove the malignancy. Students and faculty were encouraged to wear something pink! Some came in pink from head to toe and others were creative with pink accessories. We even had a mom come to school with pink ribbons for those who didn't have something pink. And she helped create the beautiful poster pictured below.

Thanks to all who participated in any way! The gesture spoke volumes!

And first grade will be treated to doughnuts for 100% participation!

Paper Creations and a Good Story