(This is from November 15th, 2007)
Here is Curtis and Simone having fun in my classroom, the GYM where I teach every day. I am so thankful to work in such a nice building with such a great well rounded staff. I am so thankful that I have a wonderful job to go to every day so I can make a difference in the life of children.
This unit is called Mail Town USA. The gym is set as a fitness obstacle course. While getting a fun work out that focuses on community the children also get to work on their writing skills by writing post cards to teachers, staff members, friends or family members. You can see in the above photo the Post Office building where the children can write their post cards and then mail them. They also receive mail from the above people at the end of PE class.
Simone asking Curtis for more rides around the race track where there is a Chevron gas station, race car ramp (you can barley see it on the top left of this photo) and trampoline jumping area. Curtis is driving the Police Car. After police officers arrest people they get to take them to Jail.
I am so Thankful for Curtis. Curtis is a former student of mine and the son
of my friend Andrea at work.
Curtis comes in every now and then just to say Hi and help me out. He is so sweet and very helpful as he knows about my expectations and how I run my classes.
On this particular day he was so helpful!! I had an extra busy day as I had rescheduled a class during one of my prep times so I did not have much time to do the things I needed to do that day but Curtis came to the rescue.
(The night before this day I needed to make a cake for my friends bridal shower, Karen. So that night I made a bunt cake with homemade Chocolate icing, thanks Melissa for the recipe, but when I took the cake out of the pan it fell apart. By this time it was 9:30 and I did not feel like going to the store to purchase some more ingredients. I thought I could hide the issue with the frosting but Rick told me no and I had to agree because it did not look Yummy.
I just thought I would ask my friend Alona if she needed me to go to the store to purchase a cake on my lunch I would but if we had enough stuff then I would not need to. After I talked to her that morning it did not seem like we needed one so I worked on other things during my lunch. Then by the
end of the day we decided we needed more.........but Simone would be coming after school to go with me to the shower and she was not in the mood to go looking for a cake at the store....So during my quick brake I called my husband to see if he could go and pick one up for me. He said he could. Then my friend Jeni said she could do it, so I said OK thanks. So off she went to get a Cake. But I forgot I needed to tell Rick not to pick up one. I could not get a hold of him and it was time for me to go back and teach. I thought I was going to have two very nice cakes. This is when Curtis came into play.)
Curtis walks in the gym to say Hi. I said Oh, Curtis I am so glad to see you! Could you please call Rick on his cell phone (Rick is currently his Fitness/Health teacher) and let him know that Jeni is going to get a cake so you don't need to. Well Curtis could not get a hold of him. I asked him if he could keep trying and he did. To make this long story even shorter we finally got a hold of Rick so we did not end up with two cakes.
Then after school came and I still had not wrapped the gifts for the party so Curtis played with Simone in the gym so I could get that done. He was so patient and kind to Simone. He really did no mind her bossing him around, telling him to SLOW DOWN, GO FASTER!!!
I am so thankful for Curtis. Thankful for a former student coming by to say Hello and for helping me from time to time.
Simone getting a little braver. Behind them you can see the Fire Station. here they get to work out like a fireman/women. They can climb or swing on the ropes or jump rope.
Ah, that was fun. Thanks Curtis!
As you can see the yellow lists that I made, which are on the top left of this photo, the students have many staff members that they can write too. All staff members end of getting mail. It is amazing. I love their sincerity when they write their post cards and I see how many amazing staff members I work with that touch so many children.
This is one of my favorite units that I do.
All of these buildings were made by Cheryl Richey and her husband. Cheryl is now retired but use to work in the same school district as me and was a valued member of our PE Team. It was so nice of her when I came to this school district for her to "share" and so willing for me to take a spin off of her Scooter Town idea. I am also thankful for Amy who took her place because she is so patient with me driving to her school and setting aside the equipment for me to borrow and then when I need to return it she spends extra time putting it back away for me.
I also want to thank my husband and teaching partner Paula for staying late on a Friday evening so we could set this up. And for Simone hanging in there while we do this. I try not to come in all the time but she does spend extra time at school so I am
thankful that she can handle it now.
I am thankful for so many things. I will never get them all down in writing but I would like to try and reflect on positive things in my life as I am thankful for my every day and my teaching plays a big role in who I am and what I love doing.
Happy girls!!
.jpg)
