I Left My Heart In Hopkins

I was surprised at how emotional I was returning to my high school to deliver the opening day address to the teaching staff.  It has been years since I have been there.  What used to be Lindbergh High School, my alma-mater is now Hopkins High School, home of the Royals.  You can change the colors, you can add on to your hearts content, but it still felt like home to me.

Before I even started, I was met by a classmate,  Laura Thompson (she has a different last name now but I was so happy to see her that I don't remember it). She has been teaching in the Hopkins School District for 30 years. It was teachers like her that I was there to honor by honoring the many wonderful teachers I had in that district.  I know that many of them would have been surprised to see ME on that stage without a clarinet in my mouth.  I was an emotional hot mess until I knocked the first story into the balcony.  From there, I was on a roll.  I told story after story of lesson plans that still echo with me.  We laughed, we got teary, and we all felt so proud of our profession by the time we left.  I am forever grateful to the Superintendent, Dr. John Schultz for capturing this wonderful moment that I wont soon forget.

I can check another Minnesota Teacher of the Year off of my list of folks I long to meet.  Barb Stoflet teaches in the Hopkins School District and I was so happy to give her a hug!

I was able to have thoughtful conversation with the Early Childhood staff at Hopkins before we were all treated to an amazing picnic lunch served by the superintendent and the school board....YUM!  Becky Allen, the Staff Development Director, was my buddy all morning, thanks!  The very next evening after speaking to the staff and heading out of town, my high school track coach called.  He had heard that I was talking about him......it really is a small world and indeed, you can go home again.

Back to School!!

It's official, I am going back to school! I hemmed and hawed.  I putzed and pondered.  I weighed and measured, and finally decided that the offer was too great to pass up.  I am enrolled in another masters degree program at Walden University.  In less than two years, my new degree will be in Early Childhood Public Policy and Advocacy, a perfect choice for me.  I have a full scholarship from Walden that I am so grateful for.  It's never too late to learn something new and I am excited about starting a new learning journey.

As I spell check this entry before posting, it tells me that putzed is not a word.  Really?  Spell check has never met my friend Mary.  Take a road trip with Mary and you will know what it means to putz!

Goodview Days Grand Marshall

I was so honored to be asked to be the Grand Marshall of the Goodview Days Parade this past weekend.  My ride was amazing, a '61 Cadillac Convertible in mint condition.  It took my breath away.

It is the most humbling of experiences to ride through your community on the back of a car and have people shout and wave at you.  I heard such wonderful things like "thank you for representing us" and "we are so proud of you" that I was thankful that I had my sunglasses on.  I live in a great community!

PTA Rocks.....Again!

Each of these women, including myself will be mortified that I put this picture on my blog.  I am wearing shorts that I found in my daughters dresser that I remember wearing in high school, way to small and way too yellow for me but perfect for painting, right?  On one of our painting days, I took what I thought would be a quick trip through the gym to go to my office.  I breezed through the Key Kids Summer Talent Show in front of gobs of kids and dozens of parents.....yikes, I am so sorry!

The point of this post is to thank this partial crew of painters. My classroom has been transformed with fresh coats (three to be exact) of color!  The room make over was compliments of the ECFE PTA and I can't tell you how gorgeous it is and how warm you feel when you walk in. Speaking of walking in, please do! Registrations for fall term were due yesterday.  I can't wait to see you all in just a few days!

Heroes, Real Ones

I have decided that if I am ever granted a super power, I would choose time travel.  If that is not a super power, I would use my super power to declare it one.  I would love to sit down with these seven men who all raised their hand eagerly to man a mission into space for the first time.  I looked at all those rockets, that space station and those teeny, tiny space capsules with a lump in my throat and such admiration for the men and women who sign on to work in them.  I stood with a space suit weighing heavily in my arms and wondered how they ever found the calm center they needed to find as it took more than four hours to put it on.  I got anxious just looking into the space capsule knowing that astronauts spent two weeks in them.  My car looks enormous in comparison.  I would ask these guys why they did it.  I suspect that they would tell me "because it was there".

I have a renewed sense of admiration and gratitude for space pioneers and the scientists and engineers who got them there.  I also have a deep respect for the folks at Space Camp who ignite imagination, innovation and the real sense of possibility.  Each camper is lead by a Space Camp Counselor.  I spent the week under the guidance and care of Wesley Kennedy.  You just won't find anyone else more knowledgeable about the space program.  His wife, Jennifer Kennedy (the 2002 Iowa Teacher of the Year) felt the same way when she met him at Space Camp for Educators. Their geeky love story is charming and inspirational. It is an absolute joy to hang out with people who have found their life's work, Wes is one of those guys.  Heroes love their work and it shows. "This is CAPCOM to Space Camp. Keep up the good work, over!"

Space Camp, The Final Chapter

It was even before I woke up on the third day at Space Camp that I realized that I was really liking science!  I had kind of scratched science and math of my list of strengths somewhere between my sophomore and junior year of high school (I had crossed singing off by the time I left elementary school or you just know I would be blogging from Vegas).  I loved the hands on science lessons of space camp.  We built rockets.....

And then shot them off with a dramatic countdown!  We tested heat shields by wrapping them around eggs and testing them by holding a blow torch to them for three whole minutes....wow!  We learned about gravity by strapping ourselves into a crazy twirly chair and flying through the air on a trapeze! We even traveled by zip line!

Space Camp is an amazing place for kids, kids who love science and math of course but also kids who don't think they do.  I left with a renewed interest in all things space and wondered how I might share what I learned with the parents of small children who fill up my classroom every day.