Class Trip

Thursday and Friday we took 42 of the 44 fifth graders to Tallahassee for their annual trip. We had almost as many parents along, which made it really fun. Honest! The kids were great, and we received many compliments on their behavior. I'd take them on a road trip again any time...

We ran through rain on the way down, but it had stopped by our first stop. Still overcast, but do-able. We went to Wakulla Springs State Park for a boat ride down - and back up - the river. Saw a few gators (why do 5th graders go ga-ga when they see a gator on a trip?), lots of vultures (they congregate along the river in the winter, sort of like black snow birds), the usual river birds, and a half dozen black crowned night herons. That was special! We also went to the Leon County Nature Center on Thursday. They have a good display of live Florida animals and birds, and great docents. I think the kids learned a great deal.

The high point for Thursday was the all-you-can-eat buffet and the trip to Governor's Square Mall in the evening. The kids got to wear their casual clothes, i.e., no uniforms. We stayed at the Cabot Lodge - nice, nothing fancy.

On Friday we had a tour of the Old Legislative Building. Lots of good stuff for kids to explore, including an interactive presentation where the 5th graders sat as representatives and "voted" on an education bill. We toured to 22 story new legislative building -- not a lot of character, but it gets the job done. The 4.5 hour trip home gave me a good opportunity to get to know some of the parents (and a granddad) that I did not know well.

Spring Break...and Then Some

Thursday, March 9: Took my elementary math team (13 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders) and a team from the middle school to The Cambridge School in Tampa for the annual Christian Schools of Florida math competition. We rented a 47 passenger coach and had 16 parents along also. Four schools attended - elementary got 3rd place and the middle school got 2nd place. Flew in to GR at 10 pm. Stayed at the Prince Center for two nights.

Friday, March 10: I had CSI board meetings from 8:30 am - 10 pm. GB spent some quality time with Uncle Paul. They had lunch with Aunt Julie, saw Aunt Cark, and also saw Paul's new condo. Mom also saw Bob at work in the art studio and they had supper together.

Saturday, March 11: I had CSI board meetings for a couple of hours and then we collected Bob and drove to Chicago. Had supper with Emily and then enjoyed a well-done The Secret Garden. Helped a bit with the set strike and stayed overnight at Emily's house. Drove back to W. Michigan; stayed in Hudsonville at Uncle Hank & Aunt Marideen's house.

The balance of the time in GR was spent visiting relatives & friends. We watched some snow fall and were glad to get back to Florida on Thursday. Friday was a catch-up day. Saturday GB had a women's retreat in Viera, just south of Cocoa on the Atlantic coast. I had a men's breakfast and then watched neice Kim, of the Calvin College women's tennis team, whup her Otterbein opponents in both doubles and singles. Sat with Uncle Tim & Aunt Pat and caught up on stuff. They're here for the week, watching the tennis team, and enjoying the sun and warmth of a Florida spring.

Let the Good Times Roll

Saturday night was the annual Christ School Mane Event and Auction. We had both silent and live auctions, and a great sit down dinner with filet mignon and shrimp. The silent auction went for over 2 hours; of course, the last 20 minutes was frantic with some parents camped in front of the item they wanted. The assistant principal and I offered Bowling with the Big Boys again: time off from school for the winner and 5 buds to bowl 2 lines and eat a hot dog with us. It went for $400, so that was good. I offered 4 hours of woodworking for 2 kids, and that went for double last year's price...$180 this year, and one of my parents bemoaned that she really wanted it but so many people were around the sign up sheet that she couldn't get to it...yadda yadda. I said it she really wanted it I'd offer another for her daughter and a friend at the same price. So I'm doing it twice. The moms of all the classes put together class baskets that sold for large prices. Both of our classes did well; the Born to be Wild (just like Mr. B) 5th grade basket sold for $300. And the parenthetical statement was really on the ticket!

The real deal of the evening was the live auction. There were 26 items and a great auctioneer with a flashy green vest. Your mom's class quilt was fifth on the list; she got up on stage and held it up while the bidding was going on. Top bid was $2,000! Your mom got teary eyed, the auctioneer pulled up the quilt and they talked behind it, and started bidding again for a second quilt. That one went for $1,400 so your mom has her work cut out for her. She's so pumped she's going to the Orange County Quilters' meeting tomorrow evening, and is bringing one of her quilts to talk about.

This had to be the most successful Mane Event ever for The Christ School. Joanne Fleming, our development director, did an outstanding job. (That's Joanne behind the mask with GB in the first picture.) The theme was Mardi Gras, TCS Style and it went over well. You can see from the pictures that some people really got into it. We were invited to sit at a table with four school board members right down in the front, and were honored to be included. Another fun thing about the evening was that our new school head was introduced - Dr. Jason Powell and wife Amy attended and were warmly welcomed. The staff had met Dr. Powell last Friday after school, and we introduce him to the students at our chapel on Monday. It is a relief to be finally done with the Search Committee work and see that it was worth all of the effort. Dr. Powell is a godly, humble, talented man who, for the first time in his life, feels called to his work. And he's just 33 years old. He's a keeper! Monday's chapel will be a bit longer so the kids and parents in attendance can learn a bit more about Dr. Powell. He will begin shadowing the interim principal after spring break and take the helm June 1.