School Days

Somehow, all of my photos from March are school-related events. Imagine that! 

In early March, students were able to select Maker Day STEM activities. 

Shortly after Maker Day, the boys both participated in the annual variety show. Evan played Spinning Song on the piano. Ryan played along with a medley of classic rock favorites. 

This was Ryan's last Brown School variety show. The 5th graders traditionally do a dance to celebrate and build some fun memories. I had a blast helping out with that. They did great! Lots of Fortnite dance moves.

March is Reading Month, and a team created a full month of activities to celebrate and encourage the joy of reading. The theme was One World, Many Stories, so there was a travel, continents, countries focus. One of the dress up days, was Dress Like a World Traveler. The boys took that opportunity to swap their backpacks for suitcases.

The students had Reading Passports that got stamped weekly if students completed designated reading activities. One activity was make a meal from another culture. Ryan suggested sushi, and Burke was happy to help out.

I am sponsoring our school's Student Council this year, and the boys are both members. Student Council recently organized a Pennies for Patients collection, which benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The boys and I headed to a local Coinstar machine to count up donations. All in all, Brown School donated just over $1600! Wow!

The PTO sponsored an enrichment experience for all Brown students to go ice skating! Many students had never been on skates before. We all went with our classes, so my 5th grade class went with a 1st grade class. Here is Ryan helping his buddy skate using the blue skate trainer. 

And he's down... 

He was pleased he didn't fall as much as he thought he would. So, progress...

I even got on skates to hang with the classes. It was fun! I didn't get to see Evan skate. That was a rough day for him. Prior to leaving for skating, he hurt his thumb pretty badly on playground equipment. Then at skating, he took a fall and chucked his chin on one of those skate trainers. Luckily, the injuries healed pretty quickly, and he was resilient.

Ryan completed a scientific process project on how quickly water freezes. He presented his method and observations to the class. The projects were not mandatory, and no incentive was offered. When all was said and done, 7 students submitted projects, and we celebrated their efforts with a special surprise lunch.

[Evan doesn't show initial interest in completing science projects, but after he watches Ryan, he gets into it. I told him he HAS to do one next year.]

Later in March, Ryan's pottery was displayed in the elementary art show. It's the green one in the back row. He called it Green Explosion.

To wrap up the month, the 5th graders went to the middle school for an orientation experience. A lot of questions were asked and answered, they got a tour, ate lunch in a cool new space [a highlight], and more. Students from the other two elementary schools were there, as well. Here is Ryan [just right of and below center, maroon shirt] with next year's combined 6th grade class! Class of 2026! Exciting times ahead!