The Scores are In

July 8, 2013

It's the time of the year when kids find out their scores from the AP exams they took in the spring.  Nicholas took his first AP class last year during his sophomore year, and although it was challenging, he really enjoyed it.  History has always appealed to him, so he was really glad that the only AP class available to sophomores was a social science class.  Nevertheless, he wasn't sure how he'd score--he felt solid on the multiple choice, but thought the written portion might be a bit of a downfall.  Today was the day he could check his score online, and he was so excited to find out the he scored a 5 on the exam.  I am so proud of him!  This is the first step on the way to his goal of starting college at at least the status of a sophomore.  One AP class down, three more on the horizon for junior year.

CSF Banquet

May 21, 2012

I absolutely love attending the CSF banquet each year, and this year I was honored to be Lauren Hinch's sponsor.

 What a beautiful night celebrating the amazing academic achievements of our students!  A few more of the incredible CSF honorees:  Sydney Stout, Kaitlyn Sims, Dilpreet Kaur, and Evan Giarta.  I fully anticipate that these kids are going to go out and make a difference in our world.

May 21, 2012

Prom 2012

 May 6, 2012

This year's prom was out at Wolf Lakes again.  Prom duty is one of my favorite duties, because I love seeing all the kids dressed up and getting to meet their dates.  The only thing I ask is that I don't get dance floor duty--sometimes it's a little too close for comfort--and thankfully I've been pretty lucky for the past several years.  This year's duty station was just off to the side of the formal picture-taking set up, at a scenic little lakeside spot where I could take my own pictures.

My A.P. Lit. students, Robyn and Evan--Prom King and Queen

 Dilpreet, Anant, and Sydney are also some of my darling A.P. Lit kids

 JJ made her dress and her date's suit completely out of Duct Tape, as part of the annual Duck Tape scholarship contest.  The details were really quite impressive!  The endeavor took many hours, LOTS of duct tape, and the help of her sisters and her mom. 

 

The lovely Miss Kaitlyn

 

Mo and me

                                                    Lexi and Dasha

In Which My Favorite Drink Turns on Me...

March 28, 2012

In my mini-fridge at work, there is one spot which is inexplicably several degrees colder than any other spot. I mean, I can put three cans of soda in there, and the two on the outside can get perfectly chilled, and the middle one will freeze as solid as a rock. That special 'frozen zone' also moves periodically--you never know where NOT to put the soda can. So today during 7th period, I pulled a can out of my fridge which had clearly found itself in the frozen zone. You know what a soda can looks like when it's been frozen? It looks like this:

And I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that if I let it thaw for a bit, I could pop the top, pour it into a glass, and enjoy a refreshing taste of my Diet Pepsi. I could be patient. I could wait a bit. I set the can on my desk and waited through lunch and even through a bit of my afternoon class. At one point during class, as I'm talking to my kids and we're progressing through our activity, I nonchalantly wandered over to my desk and determined that even though part of the drink was still in solid form, it appeared to have thawed enough to allow me to pop the top, which I did. The POP, in fact, was more like a a POW!! as the soda exploded with force--all over my face, my shirt. Diet Pepsi was dripping from my hair, and from the poor, hapless girl (and, thank goodness, great sport) sitting in the unfortunate seat closest to my desk. Easily the most embarrassing thing I have done in class in a long time. (That, Fate, is not a challenge, by the way!)

In case you're wondering, this is pretty much what I looked like. All I can say is, thank goodness I was wearing a black shirt today. The front of my shirt was soaked. And the biggest downside was that I didn't even get to drink my Diet Pepsi!

A.P. Celebration

December 18, 2011

The A.P. Lit kids get a well-deserved break at the Literary Food Festival....

Farewell Luncheon

August 17, 2011

A.P. Reunion Luncheon--2010/2011 kids. We had a little get-together at Sweet River Cafe before my darlins start life as college students. Not everyone could come, of course, but I'm hoping we get to do another reunion luncheon during winter break for everyone who comes home in between semesters. I absolutely adored my kids this year, and hope to keep in contact with them for many years to come.

Maddy, Olivia, Lyndsey, Shelby, Brendan, Layla, Bree, and Austin

In Honor of Valentine's Day

February 14, 2011

I'm always a little sad when my high school kids who are not currently in a relationship get either cynical or just plain melancholy on February 14th when they see others walking around with stuffed animals and balloons and roses. I think everyone, single or taken, should be able to celebrate love and happiness on Valentine's Day--celebrate the love they have and are capable of, celebrate everything they have to give. I gave my students each a little Valentine's candy with one of these quotes/affirmations attached today, because everyone needs a little love on Valentine's Day.

To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.

Believe in yourself and they may come true; believe in yourself and they will come true.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.

Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.

Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it.

Be content to seem what you really are.

Don’t worry so much about your self-esteem. Worry more about your character. Integrity is its own reward.

I’ve learned to trust myself, to listen to truth, to not be afraid of it and to not try to hide it.

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.

Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.

Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.

Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.

Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.

Love is like an earthquake—unpredictable, a little scary, but when the hard part is over you realize how lucky you truly are.

Love is just love. It can never be explained.

You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.

Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.

Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see.

We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.

Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.

Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.

Happiness is like a kiss…you must share it to enjoy it.

Some pursue happiness—others create it.

**Obviously, these are not all my own words of wisdom--just quotes I've collected that I think are meaningful.

Just One of the Great Things About Christmas Vacation

December 23, 2010

I love seeing former students when they come back home from college for the holidays. It's wonderful to catch up with them and hear about what's going on in their lives. This week I had a couple of reunion get-togethers with kids from the past couple of years' AP classes.

Jackie, Me, and Brittany at Panera
Andre, Adam, Me, Taylor, Raed, James, Jeremy, Mohamed, Tianci, and Megan at Sweet River Cafe

December Literary Food Festival

December 15, 2010

My A.P. Lit. class held one of it's famous Literary Food Festivals this week. The rules are simple: the kids can bring in food, but there must be an allusion to a piece of literature--ANY piece of literature. Even kids' books count. Obviously, creativity is encouraged. Here are some of my favorite offerings from December's feast:

Jeff's Who Pudding, from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Very season appropriate. I'd love to give him credit for the extra effort he made 'wrapping' the Who Pudding, but I highly suspect the praise should go to his lovely mom, Karen. There were enough Who Puddings for everyone in the class, both chocolate and vanilla. For the record, Who Chocolate pudding gets a thumbs-up.

Sam's Sour Patch Kids, an homage to Jonathan Swift's, "A Modest Proposal." In case you are unfamiliar with it, Swift's essay is a satirical response to overpopulation and famine--just eat the children! Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. Sam's allusion made me laugh out loud.
Angel's branded cupcakes, an allusion to Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Forbidden AND tasty!

A.P. Literature

August 30, 2010

I feel very blessed this year, my daughter's senior year, to be teaching an A.P. Literature class populated with several young men and women I have known since they were chasing each other on the playground during 2nd grade recess. I have grown to know and love these kids over the past several years, this band of, on the whole, responsible, respectful, intelligent, humorous, goofy, and talented kids. Even the kids I am meeting for the first time seem to fall right into the 'family." This year with Bree and all of her classmates, my 'adopted' children, I fully anticipate having an enlightening and memorable year. I hope they are looking forward to the journey as much as I am.

Why I Like Facebook

July 7, 2010

One of the things I really love about Facebook is the ability to keep in touch with former students as they continue on in their college experiences and on into their adult lives. In the past, I spent a year (and sometimes even more, if I had them for multiple years) bonding with these kids, learning about them, getting to know them, and watching them grow. Then, when they moved on to new phases of their lives, they disappeared. I had to just hope that all the wonderful things I wished for them--happiness, health, success in school and work and family--were coming to them. With the explosion of Facebook, though, I have been able to follow my kids' successes (and yes, sometimes struggles) as they grow into their adult lives. I have loved seeing them transition into wonderful young men and women, and I have had the privilege to reconnect with them in person every now and again as well.

Recently, I got to have lunch with a couple of wonderful young ladies I had as students two years ago, and just a few days later, joined several students from this past year's class for lunch as well. I love getting to see all the amazing things these kids have in their futures, and I'm honored to continue to know them as the years go by.

Jackie Aldern and Brittany Vock
Paolina Fisher, April Stearns, Jeremy Erdman, Taylor Hellam, Eric Ormond, Jessica Wang, Megan Zwesloot, Adam Nitido, Parmita Choudhury, Tianci Liu, Mohammad Kohrsand
Taylor, wearing a Bob Dylan shirt in my honor (since he loves him and he knows I can't stand Bob). Thanks, Taylor.

CSF Banquet, 2010

May 27, 2010

Monday night was our annual CSF Banquet, and I was honored to attend as sponsor for Miss Taylor Ewy. I first met Taylor when she was a freshman in my Honors 9 class, and was thrilled to have her again this year as a senior in my World Literature class. Taylor is one of the sweetest, smartest, and most responsible kids I know. On top of that, we share a love of movies, so I've had a wonderful time chatting about that with her this year. For the record, by the way, anyone who loves and appreciates The Princess Bride and His Gal Friday automatically makes my list of cool people.

Taylor and me




Jessica Wang and Taylor Ewy




Quincy Barnes, Kyle Cadigan, Taylor Ewy

Paolina Fisher
Kristi Weisbrod and me

Me with my friends Victory Pope and Allison Swearengen

Victory, me, and Lyric Buckner

The formidable foursome: Denise Lum, Connor Winn, Adam Nitido, and Ann Kim
Angela Medina and Taylor Ewy
Connor and Adam
Carlie Flaugher, Angie Neathery, Haley Lunquist, Diksha Punia
Jessica Wang and me
Kira Kaur, Ani Miranian, and Andre Ovalle
Megan Zwetsloot and Tianci Liu
Corinne DenHartog and me