Last Day: Lapbooks, Horse Farm, Closing Exercises

Today was such a bittersweet day!

We started the day by completing our End-of-Year Memories lapbook and then after a quick snack, we drove 4 miles down the road to the Piper Ridge Horse Farm. Mrs. Burridge couldn’t have been nicer to us; she taught us about caring for horses, and she introduced us to most of her 18 residents. Children were allowed to pet the horses and the donkey (named “Bunny”), and she patiently answered oodles of questions. After about an hour-long visit, we returned to OVCS. We cleaned out our desks, tidied our classroom, and then took turns choosing one last treasure each from the Treasure Box. All too soon, it was time for our final Closing Exercises.

Miss Souza had prepared an amazing slideshow of the entire 2012-2013 school year. Wow! It was a beautiful reminder of all the love, fun, effort, and camaraderie that was packed into this school year. After the slide show, Mr. Weirick asked students to share their favorite memories from the year. At noon, he prayed and dismissed the student body, and most were very slow to want to leave.

This has been a very special school year, and I’ve loved loved loved teaching these eight incredible kids. I’m so grateful at the thought of my first graders returning for second grade! I loved the look on Eli’s face today as he tried to find sympathy for the fact that he’s going to be surrounded by girls next year. 🙂

And yet five of the eight — our second graders — were “mine” for two years, and I’ll be honest and tell you that I write this final blog post in tears. Sofia, Marin, Andrew, and Christopher were a unit — a pack — as they entered first grade. When Julian arrived, they opened their circle to joyfully welcome him. Each one of these second — now third! — graders is different, with unique gifts and strengths. However, as a group, they are kind, forgiving, respectful, loving, diligent, and fun — and it has been an honor and a privilege to be their teacher. Each one of these children has a piece of my heart, and I am going to miss them so very much.

Yes indeed, today was surely a bittersweet day.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Finishing Strong…. with a Field Trip to the Horse Farm!

We’re going out with a splash — or a neigh — or a gallop! We’re going to squeeze in ONE MORE field trip — can you believe it?! The dear owners of Piper Ridge are going to give us an hour-long tour of their horse farm tomorrow morning, from 9-10a.m. If the permission slip didn’t make it home, there’s one attached below. 🙂 We’ll leave OVCS at 8:45a.m. and return by 10:45a.m. (probably earlier). Then we’ll spend the rest of the morning finishing our Year-end Memories Lapbooks, cleaning out our desks, and joining the rest of the school for our last Closing Exercises of the 2012-2013 school year.

OVCS Field Trip Permission Slip – Piper Ridge Horse Farm

Look Who’s Mr. Weirick’s New Sous Chef!

Every Field Day for the past __ years, Joshua Martus has been Mr. Weirick’s very capable assistant. Because the Martus family is moving :(, Mr. Weirick and Joshua have hand-picked someone to whom they could hand the golden spatula…. and it is our very own Christopher Winters! Since Christopher would love to be a chef some day (this picture was taken from “Future Career Day”), we’re very excited for him! So for all of Christopher’s remaining years at OVCS, he and Mr. Weirick will prepare the traditional Pancake Breakfast for the whole school on Field Day. 🙂

So Proud of Sofia!

A few months ago, Mr. Weirick told OVCS students about a contest that Garelick Farms was holding, a “Pure Happiness Design Contest.” Only one student from each county in Maine could win, and winners would receive $500 for their schools and $500 for themselves. Sofia took the initiative and designed a beautiful and colorful poster. On Friday, we learned that our very creative Sofia is the York County winner! Woohoo! Way to go, Sofia!! Stay tuned on this website to hear the official news: http://www.garelickfarms.com/promotions/pure-happiness. We’re so proud of you, Sofia!

Last Full Day in Classroom and Marin’s Birthday!

Friday was our last full day in the classroom 😦 and so I let children place their desks anywhere they’d like. Their choices warmed my heart. 🙂

We spent most of the day working on our End-of-Year-Memories lapbook, and then after lunch we celebrated a very special girl’s 7th birthday! We enjoyed the delicious cupcakes that Marin’s mommy made — yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles — and then the birthday girl explored the Birthday Treasure Box. First she chose a leather notebook….. and then changed her mind and chose a money center (that children used to play with in class). Afterwards, Marin’s friends put their heads together and wrote a paragraph about her:

“Today is Marin’s 7th birthday, and we are going to celebrate her! Marin has brown hair and brown eyes, and is adorable. Marin is very creative in many different ways. She is brilliant and is a very hardworking student. It is a lot of fun to celebrate such a kind and loving girl!”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

More Pictures….

Did you see Miss Souza’s pictures of the Boston Museum of Science trip, Hannaford, Vernal Pools field trip, and more?!

 

http://misssouzasclassroom.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/whales-vernal-pools-boston-food-pantry-hannaford-oh-my/

Food Pantry, Hannaford (and a Spelling P.S.)

Such a bittersweet day! Today was our second graders’ last day of service at the York County Homeless Shelter Food Pantry. Our little 6-8 year-olds have spent two school years collecting and organizing food for our monthly visits, learning the layout of the pantry (which has been re-organized at least 2-3 times since we started!), diligently and respectfully and enthusiastically stacking the shelves. What a privilege that our first and second grade students are allowed to serve the Lord and our community in this way.

After the food pantry, bakery, and snack/break, we traveled to Part 2 of today’s double-header: a visit to the Waterboro Hannaford. What a great field trip! Sheila Hawkins was our host and after giving us special hats to wear, she escorted us from department to department. Department heads shared their areas of expertise. First we visited Produce (where they had fresh oranges for us to eat), then the Bakery (where we saw their ovens, freezer, refrigerator, where they make donuts, and got to see them decorate cupcakes), then the Deli (where they had cubed meats and cheeses for us to eat), then the Fish counter (where we learned how to tell boy lobsters from girl lobsters). Next, we peeked inside the Meat department, then we entered the back storeroom and freezer. Finally, she brought us up to the front end again and let us scan some grocery products. Before saying goodbye, she gave each student a bag/backpack with several items inside — an activity book, bottled water, stickers, and a granola bar. Wow! It was so much fun to see “behind the scenes” of Hannaford. Such a fun field trip, with such generous hosts.

Finally, we enjoyed lunch and recess at Friendship Park. It was such a beautiful day that we stayed a little longer than planned, only returning to OVCS in time to grab our spelling lists right before dismissal. My camera’s battery died halfway through Hannaford, so please check back here later to see Miss Souza’s pictures. (Thank you, Miss Souza!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

P.S. Since we had a short week last week and have another short week this week, we will continue spelling list 28. No Tic-Tac-Toe spelling homework this week. We will spend extra time working on spelling in the classroom this week, will have a pre-test on Thursday, and final test on Friday.

Reading Groups on a Summery Afternoon

After a full morning of NWEA testing, English language arts, and math, we decided to take our reading groups outside:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Seatbelts, Everyone! (Calendar of Events)

As I opened WordPress to write this post, I noticed that 90% of this blog’s capacity has been filled …. and that’s pretty close to how much of the school year has passed. Wow! We have 17.5 more days of school, so hold onto your hats, boys and girls — it’s going to be a wild ride!

Here is the calendar of events, though more (local) field trips have yet to be scheduled; we plan to re-schedule the alpaca farm and to plan a trip to a horse farm.

May 20-22 (Mon. – Wed.) – NWEA Testing

May 23 (Thurs.) – Vernal Pools Field Trip

May 24 (Fri.) – Boston Museum of Science

(Wonderful, kind, and generous Mrs. Gardner will substitute for me on May 23 & 24 while I attend our second son’s graduation from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Gardner!)

May 27 (Mon.) – Memorial Day – no school

May 28 (Tues.) – Last trip to food pantry, then field trip to Hannaford

June 6 (Thurs. evening) – Awards Night

June 7 (Fri. evening) – PreK/K Graduation

June 10 (Mon.) – Beach Day at Ferry Beach State Park

June 11 (Tues.) – Field Day

June 12 (Wed., half-day) – Last day of school

“Dear Mom, I love you to the moon and back!”

Students sure love their precious mommies!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.