First day of school for Cole and Heather on August 27.
Cole begins 9th grade at Lake Region. Heather starts 6th grade at Glover School
Then the first official day of high school for Cole and Wayne on the 28th. Thought we should have the truck in the background as Wayne was driving himself and Cole to school.
Cole takes an early lead, but around the 3rd corner, this boy from Champlain Valley swill speed past him.
Cole places 2nd but both he and the Champlain Valley kid break the Vermont state record at 57.96 and 58.30 (the state record was 60.?)
Lining up for the 800. The boy on the right is from St. Johnsbury and is Cole's new nemesis. He is the same age as Cole (14) but obviously much smaller and not carrying any body weight. He wins many races.
Cole returned from his 8th grade trip with a terrible illness. He had a high fever and sore throat. A trip to the doctor and a throat culture proved negative for strep. "Must be something viral," the doctor said. He missed most of his last week of school. He made a couple attempts to attend, which resulted in me leaving work early to pick him up and bring him home. The school nurse called one day and said he had fallen asleep on the floor in language arts. The principal called another day and said he was having a hard time staying awake in science. The throat pain did not subside spread to his ears, keeping him awake nights. Another trip to the doctor again resulted in a negative test for strep. The doctor prescribed antibiotics anyway, and with 24 hours, Cole reported feeling 90% better.
In the middle of all this unwellness, he managed to get himself through his 8th grade graduation.
Fintan Letzelter-Smith, Grant Laclair, William Thomas, Cole, Zephyr Hill-Barnes
This class started off with 6 members in kindergarten, but grew over the years.
Cole and Alayni Miller read their speech. The audio is not great, and the crying baby and Cole's hoarse voice make it difficult to hear, but crank up the volume and you'll get the gist of it.
Cole receives his diploma.
There was cake and refreshments afterwards.
With Grammie afterwards.
Cole with best friend, Zephyr, who will go to St. Johnsbury Academy next year.
The Flower of Thanks - during the graduation ceremony, each 8th grader gave one to the person who had supported them the most. Cole gave this to me.
On Wednesday afternoon, Cole and a few select members of the OCSU track and field team traveled to UVM for the Middle School State Championships. The photo below is not great, but it shows Cole awarded 3rd in the state for the 1500m run. He had a time of 4:45 which is a bit slower than his PB at U32 which was 4:38. The same kids that beat him at U32 also beat him here at States, but he has become friends with them and one of them sent him this photo. (Wes went to this meet, I could not get out of work, and special thanks to Joanie for picking Heather up from school that day, amidst the chaos of the "full scale evacuation drill, including emergency responders, with lights and sirens")
On Saturday, June 2, Wayne and his Lake Region team also went to Division III state championships at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester VT. Wayne did great, placing 5th overall in the long jump, 17'11.5"
Wes, Heather, and travelled the 2+ hours to the event. I had to drag Heather out of bed, the younger sister forced to attend her brothers' events - getting old for her. "I've had to go to EVERY baseball game, EVERY basketball game! I'm NOT going. I'm not!" She got over it, but it was very boring for her. Meanwhile, Cole is still on his class trip to Boston.
Wayne did great in the high jump, placing 3rd overall, clearing 5'4". His PB is 5'6" but didn't manage it this time.
Today, shopping and lunch with Heather for putting up with her brothers.
Glover School had their annual Variety Show. Heather and her friend Alyssa and some other kid played Camp Town Races.
You may wonder why Heather and her classmates are wearing graffiti painted outfits.
It's because they did this dance. The boys in the class did not show up for the performance.
Wayne's Lake Region Concert Band and Jazz Band had a concert. Here he is with the jazz band playing something you may recognize.
Cole and friends at a track meet at Lake Region against North Country.
I left work early to pick Heather and friends up from school, then go see some of Cole's meet, and then take them all to their softball game in Glover.
I like the view from the ball field.
I can't remember who they were playing against. I think they won this one.
The OCSU (Orleans Central Supervisory Union) Middle School track team participated in the U32 invitational. Cole placed 1st over all in the 100m dash and third overall in the 1500m run, but achieved his personal best time of 4:38.
Cole came in first place, overall, for the 100m dash. See below:
Cole also finished up his AAU Basketball season. He worked hard, learned a lot, and became a greatly improved player.
Heather and I visited Shadow Lake Beach for the first time this season. No swimming, but a picnic and playing in the sand.
She looked very grown up and ladylike at Uncle Jake's funeral.
This year all 3 kids marched in the Memorial Day Parades with their school bands. They were all in the Orleans parade. Then Wayne and the high school band went to the Barton parade while Cole and Heather went with the middle school band to the Albany parade and ceremony.
As you can probably tell, Cole was completely uncooperative with this photo, refusing to "put the saxophone together" which really just means putting on the mouth piece. Don Whipple does all the sports photos, but the school never has band photos done, so I did it myself.
Wayne with his high school band.
And Cole and Heather with their middle school band.
Wayne won some awards at Lake Region's Academic Award Night.
And last, but not least, all that hard work fundraising all year long, beginning last summer at Glover Day, is finally paying off, as Cole and his classmates embarked yesterday, on their 8th grade class trip to Boston. Here are some photos that were sent to me of the stops they made along the way at Monkey Trunks and FunSpot.
Today, Friday, they will go to the New England Aquarium, Fenway Park, and see a Blue Man Group performance. Tomorrow, Hard Rock Cafe, Duck Tour, and Codzilla Speed Boat ride, and Escape Room. Sunday return to VT with a stop at Canobie Lake along the way.
8th Grade Glover School Graduation Thursday evening.
