6th//3rd//1st//2s

I know it’s been like four weeks since we finished school, but I’m finally back in blogging mode and wanted to share a little recap of the past school year! We finished up 6th grade, 3rd grade, 1st grade and the 2s class. I finished up my 6th year of teaching 1st grade, and Theo finished his first year as executive director. We have been at our lovely school for 7 years now – since Tera started Kindergarten!

Tera // 6th Grade

• Tera really hit her stride in independent schooling this year! Independence is kind of “sink or swim” skill at our school, since they are in instructional days two days a week with the classroom teacher, and then managing all their assignments at home the remaining three days a week. While I would check her homework and often have to “nag” her to get it done, she did a great job staying on top of it all!
• Tera tried out for volleyball, but didn’t make the team. It was really hard, not going to lie! BUT! One thing that she learned from the whole situation is that she loves to work at the concession stand. LOVES IT. I mean, she would work a shift with grown adults who would be asking HER all the questions. This was a totally unexpected skill that we didn’t know she has, and we are so thrilled we discovered it! She has also used this skill serving at One Bistro.
• Tera started attending youth group at our church this year, and it was a big change for us all! The youth group is for kids ages 6th-12th grade, so sometimes the preaching/content is a lot to sit through. However, she has started to learn and grow so much spiritually- she spends time in the word every morning, unprompted. I’m really proud of her 🙂 She even attended an overnight youth retreat.

Kiah // 3rd Grade

• Kiah used to be our quiet guy, but this year he really came out of his shell! He always wants to be where the action is, and is always looking for fun things to do. He’s our least homebody kid, and will be go go go any chance he gets. He made tons of friends in his class this year, and truly is one of those kids who is just friends with everyone. It’s a delight, and also a full time job trying to manage his schedule!
• Kiah received a scholarship that covered all the funding needed for tutoring, so he has been doing that for the last year. He hates it, and constantly asks when he will be done with tutoring. I always tell him that I don’t know- it could be something that he does for the rest of his school life- but his standardized test scores SHOT UP this year, so clearly something is working! We tell him all the time that we don’t care what his grades or standardized test scores are, we just care how hard he is working, and he sure is working hard, even doing something he doesn’t love.
• Kiah does LOVE basketball. He comes absolutely alive on the basketball court. He had a great basketball season this year, and was a starter on his team. They played very competitively and were undefeated until the championship game, which was a tough loss. We were all sad when basketball was over! Kiah also excelled at cross country, his PR for a mile is 6:23!

Ezra // 1st Grade

• Ezra is good at academics, but loved recess the most! He’s a super active kid who loves to engage with his friends and thrives when he doesn’t have to sit still. He claims he can’t read, but he actually can…and he really excels in math!
• Ezra is extremely good at detail oriented projects. He started a sewing project at home that amazed all of us, and he loves to mow, trim bushes, and even weedwack. We are fully convinced that he could have his own lawn business at 7 years olds, except that it would require me driving him all around to do it!
• Ezra ran cross country and played basketball this year! He did so well at both sports- he was always the top runner in his age group for cross country and he did a great job chatting with his friends during basketball 😉

Orion // 2s class

• Orion LOVED his class and LOVED his teacher. She was amazing. Magical, even. She had a group of 7 two year olds (almost all boys), and they adored her. The classroom environment was so sweet and special and we are all sad that they can’t stay with Ms. Sarah forever. Ori also started to make some friends, which is so fun to watch!
• Ori is almost all the way potty trained- finally. It took us a good 9 months to get it all down. Honestly, we gave up a couple times in there, but in the end it all worked out 😉
• Ori was a very sweet and patient little brother who attended so many practices and games for his older siblings! I hope that when they are all teenagers and Ori is doing sports, they will return the favor and come cheer him on 😉

Theo // Executive Director, Year 1

• Theo had up to 12 months to return to Dayton as a police officer, and they would take him back- no questions asked. Well, that day passed on May 18th with no fanfare, and he decided to stick with the ED position instead of returning to policing. Not going to lie- we did talk about it, though.
• He will tell you that this has been the hardest thing he has ever done (yes, WAY harder than being a police officer) – and also the thing that has grown him in a hundred positive ways.
• He would also tell you that he has the best team surrounding him. It’s always hard to step into an already established business as a new leader, but it’s been made even sweeter by the wisdom and support that he has been able to step into. That has been a huge blessing in the middle of any turmoil that has arisen.

Suzanne // 1st Grade Teacher

• This was my 7th year teaching; my 6th year teaching first grade. It was a tough year, not going to lie. I had a class with a lot dynamic personalities (my own child was one of them!), and it was one of those years that I felt like I spent 90% of my energy on classroom management and very little time actually teaching.
• I LOVE my co-workers so much. I got to do all the planning with one of my besties, and while we got a lot of work done, we also got a lot of life lived in there, too. That has been a highlight of my year! My classroom aide is an amazing woman, and my co-workers down and across the hall are also some of my favorite parts of my job.
• A few times this year, I got to sub at the front desk on my non-teaching days and I absolutely loved that position. It’s “peopling” to the max and I was in my element!

Here we come…7th, 4th, 2nd, 3s class, executive director year 2….and…..(wait for it)…..stay at home Mom/substitute teacher (blog post on that announcement coming soon!)