Winona Rotary Club

They SING at Rotary! Oh! To have been born blessed with a singing voice!

I lip synced as I often do in public at the Rotary Club luncheon today during "In the Good Old Summer Time". It is better for everyone when I do. There is nothing worse than exuberant, off key singing. I was so happy to be invited out to lunch to share my TOY story with the fine group of Rotarians at Westfield. Sometimes I feel like Winona is small enough to know everyone and then I am invited to hang out outside of my usual circle, like the Rotary Club.  What warmed my heart though was knowing at least one person at each table. It is those kinds of connections that make for a wonderful community to raise children.  Kids do better when adults take the time to get to know one another in clubs, around the quilting table, on soccer fields, in churches, and in schools. Adults do better too.  Thank you for the invitation, the kind introduction, and the opportunity to thank you for the work you do in our community.



Teacher Appreciation Week in Osseo

When you ask the ECFE staff in Winona to gather, we fit nicely around the lunch table. I was amazed to see how big the staff is in Osseo and so delighted to be invited to visit.  The Osseo ECFE PTA had rolled out the red carpet and some fantastic food in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week. I timed it perfectly to join the staff just in time for lunch, what a treat! I spent some time with the staff sharing my teacher of the year story and some of my concerns about childhood.  We had fun, we laughed, we cried, and we enjoyed our time together. This ECFE is full of caring, dedicated teachers.

I was treated to dinner with a smaller group of teachers before I spoke to the community at Maple Grove Junior High. It is heartwarming to see babies, moms, dads, teachers and grandparents all in the same room  because they all care about kids.  I loved my time in Osseo and was treated to the most beautiful sunset of the spring on my way home.  Thank you, Sally for the invitation!

Happy Motors Day!!

I suppose she was in third grade when my oldest daughter gave me this handmade refrigerator magnet.  I remember being so happy to get a gift that she had made and then I saw it.  My oldest daughter is a freak about all things grammatical.  I am not sure when she realized that she had written motors instead of Mother's but I remember that it took awhile. Nearly twenty years later, the magnet hangs on my fridge and we still call it Motors Day around here.  I hope you had a lovely one!

Thank You Lincoln Center PTA

I met Erin Tracy last year at the Minnesota State PTA Conference.  She worked tirelessly to have me come to her school.  The PTA was fantastic!  They put on a wonderful spread of bars and fruit, they invited an interpreter to join us, and rolled out the red carpet for me and the parents who spent the evening at school.  I was so happy that  Superintendent Dr. Dave Webb introduced me and stayed for the whole evening. Powerful things happen in schools when parents, students, teachers and administrators all work toward a common goal.  I needed to scoot out early and Dr. Dave facilitated the discussion after I left.  He called the next morning to tell me how happy he was to have been there and to have connected with parents in a commitment to community parenting. It was a wonderful evening!  Thanks for making it happen Erin and thanks for the "rock star" parking!  I hope to see you all again.

Connecting With My Girls

This kind of thing happens more and more often.  We Smith women laugh alike, talk alike, and even dress alike at times.  It has been wonderful to be in the cities much more often this year to catch them for dinner or a quick visit before I head down river. I was able to get in lots of quality time with them this week.

We share the same taste in moccasins and music!  James Morrison was fantastic at the Fitzgerald theater.  It was Erin's idea to celebrate Mother's Day with a concert (at this point in her life, asking me to attend was my Mother's Day gift...I still had to pay for the tickets!).  In order to make it she needed to attend my community presentation at Lincoln Elementary Center in South St. Paul. So fun to have her there! Erin continues to campaign shamelessly to be my favorite child and many days of the year, she is!

Avatar!

It looks kind of scary to be an avatar, and rightly so! Gay Mortensen, our district's "Can Do Gal" has been working on a project to promote our great school district on the "Visit Winona" website.  She asked me to be the avatar.  Lots of reading, pausing, reading and acting natural (ha!). When I was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Gay was in charge of making sure that everyone knew it! Gay has been as excited about each step of the journey and so supportive of me that I would do anything for her....including being an avatar! Thank you Gay!

Miles To Go Before I Sleep!

You would think that the last post featuring the 2012 Minnesota Teacher of the Year would be a fine place to end the blog journey, wouldn't you?  The fact is, I have a long way to go in representing this old state of ours! I travel with the National State Teachers of the Year until early October of 2012.  We have trips to Atlanta, New Jersey and New York City on the calendar, and Space Camp to boot!  I will blog till the finish for you and for me.  I am so happy to  have made a record of this journey.  I would have never remembered it all! My next adventure is my trip with the Global Learning Fellows from the National Education Association Foundation to China!  Stay tuned, there is much more to share with you!!