Kendra graduated from elementary school this year. Hard to believe she will be in middle school next year. Sigh.
At fifth grade graduation the kids all dress up and look cute so they can receive awards and watch a slideshow of pictures the teachers have taken throughout the year. There are three "special" awards--PE, music and the Principal's award, and then the teachers choose some sort of award for all the kids.
Kendra's award given by her teacher was "Outstanding Character--For Always Doing The Right Thing". Kendra was a little sad because she knew she wouldn't receive the PE or Principal's awards but she sort of thought she might get a music award--after all, she was the lead in the school musical and sang solos, etc. But I told her that the award she received is WAY more important than any music award--when someone recognizes you as a person of exemplary character, you can't ask for better! Later that day I stopped to speak with her teacher, and she was in tears as she told me how she chose that award from her heart for Kendra. I couldn't be prouder.
The last day of fifth grade is pretty fun at our school---our principals cook hot dogs for the kids and they get to hang out on the playground and have a fun lunch. It was lucky for me that my class was at lunch for part of the party time and I could go outside to take some pictures of friends and adults that were instrumental in Kendra's time at our school.
This is D, who has been in class with Kendra since 2nd grade and has designated herself as Kendra's bodyguard. :-)
One of Kendra's besties...K. Her family is moving this summer. :-(
The first friend Kendra had in Texas and the daughter of one of my closest friends. They are also moving this summer. Waaaa!
Mrs. Hill, Kendra's homeroom teacher this year (taught ELA and social studies to her, and the one who gave her the award)
Kendra and S became friends in 2nd grade. She is a total sweetie.
M and Kendra were together in class the last two years.
The awesome Mrs. Meier (our Teacher of the Year, by the way) who taught Kendra math and science this year.
A is another "teacher kid" and she and Kendra have spent many after school hours together
Ms. Karina was in charge of the kindergarten bus-rider team, of which Kendra was a part. She picked up a line of kindergarteners every day at dismissal and took them to the bus. Ms. Karina loves Kendra so much!
To K's right is M, who is just a doll and has been friends with Kendra since 1st grade.
I'm so glad for PACK so Kendra could get to know this cutie, T. She is an amazing actress and such a NICE kid!
M & Kendra were co-anchors on our morning announcements for two years. They had an awesome chemistry and worked together really well! The kids just loved watching these two in the mornings!
Summer is here---wahoo! And then it is on to 6th grade....
Warning: This post is going to have a lot of Momma-Pride. :-)
My friend and teammate teacher (Crys) and I formed an after school club last year called Performing Arts Club for Kids (PACK). This year, we produced a musical for our school called Pirates! The Musical.
A little summary of the story line: Set on a pirate ship, a band of pirates are on their way to a big pirate gathering for...wait for it...a singing contest! :-) A stowaway comes on board--she's wanted to be a pirate her whole life. Well, the pirates want nothing to do with her, until....their "King of the High C's" leader comes down with laryngitis and can't lead them to victory in the singing contest. They realize the Stowaway has a beautiful voice, and they make her a full blown pirate. (Stinkin' cute story with some very clever lines and fun music).
We held tryouts for the musical in September, and Kendra earned the lead part of the Stowaway. Just so you know, I stayed out of that decision because I am her mom and didn't want anyone to think we played favorites. Crys chose, but I can be honestly un-biased in saying that her audition really was the best. The parts were set, and we met with the kids for about an hour after school once per week until
December, and then in January we pumped it up to 2 hours. We presented
our performance to parents and PTA members in April, and we brought down
the house!!!! Our kids are absolutely some of the most talented 10 and
11 year olds we know and we had an absolute blast working with them.
Here's the momma-pride: Ya'll, Kendra blew me out of the water. You know how your kids have to find their thing? Kendra has tried ballet, soccer, baseball, gymnastics, piano. Nothing was grabbing her. Well, she found her thing in theater. Oh my. She's a natural. It has been SO fun to watch her do this. I'm very, very blessed that I got to be one of her "directors" this year with the musical.
Here are some fun pictures, and a video of her solo in the musical so you can hear her sing. Try to ignore the camera-work---the grandpa who took it happened to be sitting where the monitor speaker blocked most of the shot but it got great audio and you can hear her really well.
