Last Week of School Whirlwind

We always think of December as the busiest month of the year. When you have kids in school -preschool through college - or you are in school, you realize that May is the busiest month as projects are due, end of the year activities pop up, yearbooks arrive, graduation happens, and everything else that goes on with winding up the school year. So like everyone else, we packed a gazillion activities into the month of May, many of them in the final week of school.

Here is Adam dressed in pioneer clothes as the 2nd Grade went to Apple Valley School for the last two weeks of school. They took on new identities - Adam was Alphonzo Villea - and learned how it was to attend a one-room school in the 1800's.

Adam may be dressed in pioneer clothes, but he is holding a project he made for ALP (Advanced Learning Program). He was given a piece of plexiglass and told to make a magnetic car. With help from Mom, Adam fashioned a lightweight (very important) car with straws for roll bars and some eyes for headlights. At school they put a magnet on the car and use another to "repel" the car down the raceway.

In 6th grade they have a tradition of studying castles in the final month of school. The 6th graders are given some parameters (size, parts of a castle to be included, etc.) and told to build a castle. Bryce, with help from Mom, worked on his castle for a little over three weeks. He was pleased with the results - which included a working drawbridge and alligators in the moat - and was happy to receive a perfect score from the teacher.

On the next to the last day of school, all the 6th graders put their castles on display and sit by them to answer any questions from the students that file by. Then they bring them home at the end of the day - one more thing Bryce insists on keeping forever. Maybe we can keep it in good shape, repaint it and pass it off as Adam's castle in 3 years!