Wayne Says Good-Bye to Glover School

The beginning of Wayne's middle school career is a little hazy for me. Some people referred to the 5th grade as the start because the class moves "upstairs" to Mrs. Carbonetti's room. In some ways, 6th grade seems to begin middle school because that's when students begin switching classrooms for different subjects. In my own mind, middle doesn't really begin until 7th grade because when I was a kid, Jr. High was 7th and 8th grades.  We may not know exactly when middle school began for Wayne, but we know it ended tonight with 8th grade graduation. Most of these kids have been together since preschool.

A retired teacher,  Mr. Paul has floated in and out of their lives these past 9 years, first as an interim librarian when they were kindergartners and 1st graders, and then as a long term math and science substitute teacher. He has gotten to know this group pretty well at different times and in different ways. He had some touching memories to share about each student as the guest speaker.

 The language arts teacher, Mrs Piernot, spoke of life lessons and the things they might look back on 40 years from now.  She also talked of how she would miss them.

Wayne and his friend Asom, combined their graduation speeches for one last heartfelt memory. (Apologies for my noisy camera mechanics.)

Handing out the "diplomas."

 Friends since preschool.

Wayne and Asom

 Edwin made a good showing.

Joanie and Grammie were also able to join us.

 Friends since kindergarten.

Wayne and Ben

Lost River

Every year, Mrs. Tester takes her 3rd grade class to the Lost River Gorge in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,

Heather and her friends sit on the "Sun Altar" in one of the caves of Lost River.

"The Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves, located in New Hampshire’s Kinsman Notch in the White Mountains, is a land of spectacular beauty forged by the powerful forces of water, wind, weather, and time. The shaping of Kinsman Notch and the surrounding mountains began about 300 million years ago. The Ice Age brought glaciers more than a mile thick that grounded, lifted, and deposited rocks that formed notches and mountains. When the ice melted, the water carried debris, eroding the rocks and forming Lost River Gorge.

Lost River is so-named because the brook draining from the south east part of Kinsman Notch disappears below the surface in the narrow, steep-walled glacial gorge. The Gorge is partially filled with immense blocks of granite, through which the brook cascades along its subterranean course until it eventually emerges and joins the Pemigewasset River, which flows south from Franconia Notch."

-Lost River Website

Admiring the waterfalls.

Going to the center of the Earth.

Mrs. Tester is retiring at the end of this year, so this is her last group of third graders to go to Lost River.

In this cave, if you look above to the overhang, there is a natural map of the United States.

Lots of photo ops. 

After finishing the tour of the caves and having a picnic lunch, the students were treated to an experience of "panning for gold." Each of them received a bag of "rough" ( sand and gravel) and sifted to reveal lots of different kind of gems and shark teeth.

Mrs. Tester has made it clear that she has really loved having this group of kids as her last class and gets a little choked up when she talks of her retirement. I'm glad that all 3 of our kids had the chance to have her as a teacher.

What's Missing?

Can you guess what's missing from this picture?

In case you don't know, I'll give you the answer in the comments section.

High Note Music Festival

Wayne and Cole are going, with the jazz band, to the High Note Festival in Lake George, NY.  They've sold a lot of raffle tickets to help raise the money, but they are still short of their goal. If anyone is interested in donating to the cause, their director Amy Newton, has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise the rest of the money.  The festival is on June 10th.

"It is with great excitement that I announce the OCSU Middle School Jazz Band and the Lake Region Jazz Band will be traveling to the High Note Festival on June 10th in Lake George, NY. 

The High Note Festival is an opportunity for the OCSU & LR Jazz Bands to play for current and retired music educators who will evaluate their performance and provide comments and feedback. The students will then have the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments with an afternoon at the Great Escape Amusement Park.


The ensembles have been fundraising and are still short of their combined goal of $4000. If you feel moved to help us reach our goal, please visit our GoFundMe page (http://gofund.me/23wmqqu4), or see either Dr. Sara Doncaster or Amy Newton. 


Best, 
Amy Newton"

OCSU Jazz Band, heading to the High Note Music Festival in Lake George NY!

Thank you for any help you can offer!

Wayne's Last Middle School Concert

The school year is close to over. That also means that Wayne's education at Glover School is coming to a close. This afternoon he had his last middle school concert.

Miss Newton, the band and jazz band director gave the 8th graders corsages. When she started teaching, they were her very first class of 4th graders.

Cole is also in the jazz band.

Wayne has a nice trumpet solo here.

Wayne and Cole are also both in the big band. (Cole is in the chorus as well. I didn't get very good pictures or video of the chorus.)

Some of the 8th graders pose with Miss Newton (on the right). She looks young enough to be one of the students.

The good news is that in high school, the music department is under the care of Dr. Doncaster. She has done great things and I'm sure Wayne will learn a lot with her as a teacher. The high school has been short on trumpet players for a few years now and she has been eagerly awaiting his arrival!

Softball

Heather had her first softball game of the season. It was a beautiful evening. After all those winter afternoons watching basketball inside, in a crowd of  coughing sneezing spectators, I am thankful for spring and summer sports beginning!

 Heather his a good single here.

 She looks so much like Wayne out there when he was younger.

Being shortstop, below.

They lost to Derby by one run, but they had a great time.

Random Notes

A few random notes to send off April.

One of the hens must have been eating her Wheaties! Ouch!

Cole and I went for a bike ride. Here he is at Lakeside Haven. We had to cut it short because my chain kept falling off.

 Wes and Heather got some new chicks. The dark one is a bantam. Heather always like to have a bantam.

 Heather and Cole are part of the running club that their phys ed teacher has started at their school. It meets every Monday afternoon.  On Friday evening, they participated in their first event - a Glow Stick Fun Run on the Lake Region cross country trails. Below, Cole declined to be photographed with Heather and her 3rd grade friends.

Harper, Anya, Heather, Kelby

Signs of Spring

There is very little green showing so far, but I have found some evidence that Spring is on its way.

Some people look for the first robin, but we look for the first bluebird. A little family has moved into the birdhouse by the pear trees.

 Bike rides are a sure sign of Spring. Heather rode her bike up to her friend Anya's house.

 Also, the Spring piano recital.  Cole missed this one due to feeling very miserable from a nasty cold. Heather did a great job and it was fun to have Joanie and Grammie there as well.

We're all feeling a little low today - it's the last day of vacation. It will be hard to get back into the swing of things tomorrow morning, but there's a lot to keep us busy in the coming weeks:

-Heather's softball

-Wayne and Cole's spring concert and parades

-Wayne and Cole's music festival in Lake George, NY

-Wayne's softball (school team co-ed)

-Wayne's baseball (Babe Ruth)

-Wayne's class trip to Hershey, PA (amusement park, museums. dinner with an Amish family, trampoline park)

-Wayne's 8th grade graduation

Countdown to summer begins now.