We are almost done with the 1st quarter of Rachel’s sophomore year. I would say she and we have had an outstanding start to this school year. Now, as you check this out I want you to remember that a lot of behind the scenes work goes into building success. A lot of collaborating and a lot of relationship building. That’s a blog for another day. Today, I would say her year is very typical. A few thoughts and pictures to illustrate.
Homecoming 2015 was Saturday night. She invited her friend Kyle who goes to another school. He loves to dance too.
They were invited to join our fabulous friend Andrea’s group for dinner. You may remember Andrea was Rachel’s peer mentor last year. We know her from Christian Youth Theater. She’s a senior and I already know I will miss her next year. She’s an amazing young woman and a great example for all of us.
Kyle and Rachel had a great time eating out with the group and dancing. One interesting tidbit for you. Kyle really wanted to get their picture made in the photo booth. The line was very long. There is no one who likes dancing more than Rachel. She reluctantly joined him in the photo booth line but she kept getting derailed because she would hear a song and she would take off. Finally someone helped them navigate the photo booth line and both of them were happy!
One of Rachel’s summer activities is to read some of the upcoming school year’s novels. This past summer she read Fahrenheit 451. Then she read it again with the class. I didn’t really think she would like it but she seemed to like it okay. She told us it reminded her of The Book Thief. I wanted to know how so and she said, “They don’t like books in The Book Thief either.” That’s enough for me.
Again, Rachel has an amazing English teacher who is great at differentiating instruction and providing variety for the unique needs of the students. A couple of weeks ago she sent me this: “I just wanted to let you know that during class today students wrote a script based on Mildred and Guy Montag’s relationship—the presentation is a “date night” for the couple and their scripts needed to reflect the student’s understanding of Mildred and Guy’s relationship as depicted in the novel. Rachel’s group was so welcoming and the three of them knocked it out of the park! Rachel was all in with her body language, her tone of voice when reading her lines, and was super supportive to all of the other group performances.” Kudos to a teacher that is doing a great job in the classroom but also recognizes the value of making sure parents learn about some of the positives happening in class.
Last little tidbit is from Parenting and Child Development class. Rachel LOVES this class. Again, she has an outstanding teacher. She has been taking care of Baby Sally for a long time and she loves little children. She has shared with the teacher some of the things that she has found inappropriate in class movies and subject matter. She will be bringing home “baby” one day soon and that should be interesting. This week they had the opportunity to wear the “pregnancy belly.” Rachel told me she was a little scared about this, and we talked about it. They sent me a picture and she doesn’t appear to be afraid! I hope she remembers that inappropriate list she shared with the teacher!
