The NEW 4th grade Program, Heritage Days, and This Is The Place!

We had big changes this year with losing all of our program costumes, backdrop, and props because of the fire at GES. We thought of not even doing a program at all. However, we just couldn't see not letting this group have the celebration of UTAH!! So we decided to go ahead and do a slightly scaled back version. We asked parents to buy their student a T-shirt that we had made up with Utah on the front. They were only $6.00 and would be a good memory of 4th grade. We did one program in the morning and one in the afternoon. Since we had 8 classes of 4th graders and had 4 dances, two classes each learned the same dance. On performed it in the morning and one did it for the afternoon. We had an indian shawl dance, the Mexican Hat dance, a pioneer dance (Oh Johnny Oh) and a square dance that went with the Golden Spike song that we sing called Iron Wheels. We sang songs and had some speaking parts. It was much shorter than in the past, but we had a lot of good comments about it. I think parents were just happy that not everything had been taken away because of the fire. The kids seemed happy to show what they had learned also. I think some had their doubts on how it would work out, but I think the kids did an awesome job and made the program a BIG success!!












This year we had our first "Heritage Days"!! We decided since our program was scaled way back that we would love to do something that the students could really enjoy. As you cansee I was in charge of the "Pony Express Relay"!! Since that is the only station I was at, these are all the pictures that I have. These are pictures of my class doing the relay. They each had a stick pony and a hat and a pack for the letters. The had to run to the first basket to pick up their bundle of mail and then down to the end to trade for a fresh mount and exchange their mail to a new pack. On their return trip they then had to deliver their mail to the other basket before coming back to give their mount to their next team mate. It was fun I think, and since it is the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express we had studied quite a bit about it this year. As the day went on I started letting some of the team mates be indians and other hostiles that would try to thwart them from making it back safely. I think I did that for my own entertainment after doing the same thing for the whole day.. LOL!! Other things that the kids did was make butter and enjoy it on a hot roll. They had to do a little math to figure out how they could "Pack their Wagons" to make it out west as a pioneer. They made button spin toys, some military marching (representing Johnson's Army), and some pioneer games. They also had to make their own 3D covered wagon out of construction paper, and learned how to use the Deseret alphabet. All in all I think the kids thought it was a GREAT day!!



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We were able to do our annual Field Trip to This Is The Place Heritage Park again this year. Thanks to parents helping with fees and the PTA giving us some grant money. We as teachers always look forward to this trip as it really brings everything our students have been learning about Utah History to light for them. Being there makes a lot of things more real to them. As you can see most of them wore their Utah T-shirts and they thought that was a ton of fun. They sang their Iron Wheels song as they rode on the train around the park. They thought that was great. There was another 4th grade class up there from Tooele (my daughter Jamie's class) and my students had fun having song wars with them as they had sang the same songs in their program just the day before. There's a few things that they have to do at the school house that I wish we could bring back....the paddle for example.. LOL The kids always think that's pretty amazing along with some of the other consequences teachers use to have. All in all it was a great school year with my students. I had a great class that really helped me through a rough year. I'm moving into a bigger portable next year and I hope the extra room will make my life a little easier, and just being farther down the road from all that has happened to our school. I look forward to a great year next year even if the class size is rising. But for now I'm looking forward to the rest of my summer!!

Loss of a Father-in-law and a dear Nephew

I have about 5 topics that I want to catch up on. So I thought I'd just do a few at a time and then I'd be caught up with some important things that have happened in the last few months in my life.
I feel like I've talked a lot about deaths lately, but it seemed as though it is something that has happened a lot this year. FIRST.... I want to talk about my Father in law. Ivan J. Walker was born in 1920 on May 31. My dear mother in law passed away last June 4th. I really felt like Larry's dad had stayed through all his pain mostly just to take care of her...so I thought his death after her death would be fairly soon. He shocked us all by making through the summer and into the fall. Then we just didn't know...he might live a lot longer than we thought. Then early winter his mind seemed to be wandering and he would talk about odd things that we knew were not happening. About a month before he passed Larry and I had gone up to visit him and I think that is where we began our mourning for his loss. He was really out of it and didn't know what he was talking about and he was also very weak. We put him to bed and both of us sat there with tears in our eyes. I know that is the moment that Larry knew he really had lost his dad. What a blessing for him that he was able to return to his Father in Heaven on April 21. He was just over a month shy of his 90th birthday. We're happy that he can once again be with Mom Walker and all his brothers and sister and parents. What a grand reunion.

Then after just settling back into the norm....a phone call turned me inside out again. May 5th, I was at school and had just given my kids a needed break after a state test. My kids heard my phone ringing inside my purse. I told them that they knew I didn't answer the phone and that whoever it was would leave a message...so since it was a Wednesday and the kids went home at 1:00, I then went to my phone to see who it had been. I had a message left on my phone. It was from my brother in law, Richard. He said that they had some sad news and that would I please call. I could tell from his voice it wasn't good. I called back right away and they had just reached Grand Junction, Colorado. Richard told me that his oldest son, Dustin, had been killed in a accident early that morning and that they had come to be with Ashley. I was stunned and just sat there in my chair, I didn't know what to say. In fact, I don't really know what I said to him or Georgia, but I felt the pain that they must have felt. Since I lived in Vernal....these kids became very close to my heart. I just want to share some memories that I have of my dear nephew.
I moved to Vernal in 1983 to take my first teaching position. I lived with Georgia and Richard for the first few weeks until I found a place of my own to live. That first day of school I got up to get ready and so did Dustin. We started school on the same day. He was 5 and was headed off to his first day of kindergarten and I was off to face my 1st class of 4th graders. We were both nervous and excited. I can still remember his beaming face. I can remember taking care of all the kids when Richard and Georgia would be off to a furniture show somewhere. We'd always work it out so that they'd be taken care of for the day and I'd take care of them at night. Thank goodness Dustin never had one of his accidents during my watch. He seemed to break a few bones here and there. :) I remember one time when a furniture show was in March and Georgia and Richard were going to be gone for Dustin's birthday. They were giving him a basketball back board. I had to keep it hidden...boy was he excited for that. I know I took a picture...but I have no idea where it is. I was living in some apartments across from the tabernacle (now the temple), we went over and had a picnic on the tabernacle lawn. We did that a lot when the kids were at my place. As the years went by, and I had moved into a rental home, I asked Dustin if he would come and mow my lawn for me and I would pay him. We had some good talks when he came to do that. Nothing specific that I can really remember, but we would talk about school and life and how things were going...sometimes he's ask me questions about a problem and I hope that our talks helped a little. I can remember helping him ask a girl out to a dance. Dustin called and asked if I could bring my video camera up and help him. He had put a piece of paper that asked her out in a bowl of water and had frozen it. We would video it melting for awhile and then we stop filming and he'd get out the hair dryer and melt more ice before we taped again until the message finally appeared through the ice. We then set it to some music and made the tape complete. It must of worked because she went with him to the dance. Another great memory was he had just turned 16 and I had been invited to go with families from the Millett neighborhood on a Spring Break vacation to Disneyland. We all had our radios to keep in touch. Dustin came with me in my fairly new White Honda Accord (our handle was "White Lightening") He was a pretty good driver and was getting some Highway experience driving with me. We made a stop in Victorville to see Richard's sister. We were following Richard (Old Fossil) I kept telling Dustin that we were now in city driving and that he needed to not follow so close, because you never know when the vehicle in front of you may need to stop. He said okay...but kept inching closer, so I would remind him again and he'd back up and then inch closer...this happened several times...when all of the sudden Richard put on his breaks and bang right into the hitch my bumper went. He was so upset and cried and cried. There was no use being mad or upset he was already punishing himself enough. I told him not to worry about it and not to let this ruin his vacation. He was always so soft hearted and loving...that's one thing I really loved about him. I never did fix that bumper and then a whole other story Nikole finished that bumper off.
Soon after I had married and was living in Stansbury Park with my husband, Larry, we had a lot of the family out to go boating on the lake behind our home. Dustin and Ashley came and Dustin decided to go canoeing. Now here is an Eagle Scout...you'd think they'd know a few things about a canoe. I can't remember if he was just going out or just coming back...but he decides to just stand up in the middle of the canoe. Now even I know that doesn't make a canoe very stable and all of the sudden the canoe began to rock back and forth as he fought to keep his balance. All of the sudden backwards he fell into the lake. Good thing the lake isn't very deep right by the dock. Up he stood with a great smile on his face. I had to find him some sweats to wear while we got his clothes dry. I really laughed at that one.
Dustin sometimes seemed quiet to others...but he was really quite the life of the party. Unexpected things would just come out of his mouth...you couldn't help but smile and laugh. His wonderful smile and great personality will truly be missed. He was such a wonderful nephew and I appreciate the time that I had to be with him. I pray for his sweet wife, Ashley and his 4 beautiful children that he loved so much. Some part of me understands what my sister and brother in law are going through...for to me he was just like a son. I love you Dustin and know that someday I'll see you again and can wrap my arms around you and tell you how much I loved being a part of your life.

Update coming soon

I have so much I need to blog about and I just haven't had time. There have been funerals and end of school things that I want to talk about, but school has really taken up a ton of time as it always does at the close of school. I've worked a lot of late nights just getting portfolios, grades, awards and many other things finished. I now have Girls camp this Tuesday through Thursday and then maybe I'll get a chance before the Willard Reunion that is the week after that. I have pictures to share and just things that I've wanted to say that I haven't had a chance to do...so just so you know that I haven't forgotten my blog... I'll get to it I promise. I will leave you with this picture of us this Memorial Day weekend up at the cabin. It isn't this bad at the cabin, but as you go out on some of the trails you come across some areas like this. I'm sure with the warmer weather it will be much more snow free the next time we're up there... Anyway I'll get back to everything else soon so talk to you soon!!

A Torn Meniscus

Well..it's been a week since I had a scope on my right knee for my torn meniscus. I thought I came through it quite well. Although when my surgeon came out he told me that there was a bit more to it. I was so out of it that I'm not really sure of what he really did. He talked to Larry, but I'm still not sure other than I know he told me I also have some Osteoarthretis. That's not good for down the road, because it means most likely knee replacment. I'll talk to him more about what he thinks when I go in to have my stitches out on the 15th. I'll ask him to tell me exactly what he did other than fix the tear too. Saturday, which was the day right after, I felt really good. I got up and was walking on it fairly well. I even went up the stairs so we could watch conference on the big screen. I stayed down and kept it iced and kept on my pain meds so that I could stay ahead of any pain. I thought wow this is going to be great... however.... by Sunday night it wasn't so good. I was actually thinking I might go back to school on Monday, although I had made plans for a substitute just in case. I knew by Sunday afternoon it wasn't going to be possible. So, I stayed home on Monday and I even called the Physician Assistant who had been doing therapy before that to ask him if he thought I had done too much or needed to excercise it or what. He said that it was a pretty normal story and that I had just hit the top of my pain Sunday. He told me to keep icing it and to stay off it as much as I could, so I did. Hey, it got me and extra spring break vacation day, I can't complain too much. All my teaching Nephews can be jealous of that. Anyway, I went back to work on Tuesday and have to say I did fairly well limping along. Each day this week has gotten better and better, although I have to say at the end of the day it felt good to come home and put it up with ice on it. I think as soon as the stictches are out I'll be bending it much better, for now they are pulling just a bit. Even if down the road there could be a knee replacment, which I feel runs in my family, I hope for now it will feel a little better and I won't be limping around.

Spring Break

Well... this week has been my spring break. It actually started last Friday, because it was furlough day for the teachers. Anyway, I've been enjoying it. I get up and get Larry off to work and then I have been very good at lounging the morning away. I have been working on my homemade birthday cards as I've not had much time to work on them for a long time. I'm sorry to all my family because I just haven't gotten too many cards out this year. Now that I've been making some more of them will see a card. I've also made a dog bed for our two kids.. lol. They totally tore the last one apart. I left Larry home sick one day and thought the dogs would be fine going in and out since he was home. Well.....while he was sleeping the two of those wonderful lab pups, got the "huge" dogbed through both of the dog doors and out in the backyard and proceeded to have a party. I would loved to have had a video of that. At any rate I saved the stuffing and have now produced a new bed. Yeah...for me!! I'm also going to have a scope on my knee for vacation. Doesn't that sound like fun. I found out last week, after having an MRI that I have a torn miniscus and some damage on my cartilage. I hope that it isn't too bad. I wanted to do it at the beginning of break, but it ended up that I'm having it done on Friday. I'm hoping that I can be back to school on Monday. The doctor's said that it was a possibility. We shall see. I'll have to write a blog about that later. I also went into Salt Lake City yesterday to play with my friend Heather. We went out to lunch and did a little shopping. Always a fun day. All in all it has been a nice down time, before all the craziness of getting ready for State tests at school begins. It's been a pretty good spring break even with all the snow yesterday.

Family

I wanted to take time and write about the funerals that I've been to this past month. I'm so glad that I was able to go with Bertie and Georgia to Idaho to Aunt Velma's funeral. I haven't seen so many on that side of the family for awhile. I have to admit that it was so noisy in the family room. I'm sure that the Bishop wondered what in the heck was going on in there. In our defense...Aunt Velma had lived such a long life (94 years)and had lived without Uncle Chance for since 1982. What a blessing for her to finally return to her family and our Father in Heaven and to be released from her aging body and it's problems. We were enjoying each other so much as a family, It was wonderful!! It was so great to see my Gisler cousins that I hadn't seen for probably close to 30 years. And of course my dear cousin Lisa Lackey. I grew up with these cousins and have such fond memories of my time with them in California. I also loved seeing my other cousins of course, whom I see more often. It felt so weird to think I wasn't seeing any aunts or uncles...we're now the next generation. It makes you think about how precious life really is and that family is such an important part of that life.
I then went in the very next Saturday to Salt Lake to my Aunt Eileen's funeral. She was married to my Uncle Lee for 18 years. It's a long story but even though they were divorced the reason for that being so didn't change that she was my aunt. Again I saw Roberta and Keith and I told her that we had to stop seeing each other for this reason. I was glad that we could support my Uncle and his children. What a special lady with special understanding with her health problems which made her have such a childlike disposition. It was great to see a few more cousins on my mother's side of the family. So between the two deaths I was able to see many from both parents families. What a wonderful week even with the sadness of the occasions. I couldn't feel bad for either one, that they had finally been relieved of these bodies that had kept them back. What freedoms they must feel at this time, and what wonderful reunions are going on in the next world.
Family is so important and I hope that my nieces and nephew will feel the importance of that also. I see what importance the Lord's plans of families being linked together really is. "FAMILY" What a wonderful word!! I love my family!!

An End to an Era

The first picture here is a picture of my wonderful portable that I lovingly call "The Ghetto". It has become my tightly packed yet wonderful new home away from home. I still want Brenda and I to take a picture sitting out on the stoop with our old lawn chairs, maybe grilling on the Hibachi. However, this afternoon after school, I went over to the old school, my GES, to get a brick and a piece of the gym floor. When I got there and saw it coming down before my very eyes it was rougher than I thought. The 3rd grade hall was all the way down and they were working on the gym. What a great old gym. It was the oldest part of the school. I believe it was built in the 20's and so it was about 80 years old. They don't make gyms like that any more. It had this wonderful balcony and really took you back in time. As I smelled the wood that I got from the floor it smelled just like being in the gym. I was amazed at the feelings. I've done 6 wonderful 4th grade programs in that old place. It is so much more than a building. It was like a family home. I had a wonderful family there. People that I trusted and worked with that I would have done anything for. I'm so thankful for the memories that I've been able to make there and it feels totally like an era has passed. As my fellow teachers and I talked and walked around it was wonderful to share our memories. I have to express some unbelief at the waste though. I went around to see my room for the last time, because I'm sure that it will be coming down tomorrow. In the window of my room I could see an expensive Califone CD/Cassette player just sitting there waiting to be plowed under. I could also see my box of Legos and many other things sitting there. What a waste of things. If I knew then what I know now I would have emptied my room and taken it to the junkyard myself rather than let it be plowed under like that. Like it meant nothing. When I think of all the time, effort, and money that I put into that classroom and the things in it and to know it is just about to become rubble I just shake my head.
I know that I must just take it in stride and move forward. I thought I had moved forward, and I think I have very well....but going back over there really took me back to this past summer with all the feelings that I had back then. The future is so uncertain, who knows where I will be the fall of 2011. Seems as though the district office just dumps the feathers in the wind and lets them fall wherever they will. Last week they moved our principal from being over with the 5th and 6th grade to a new school. I couldn't believe they would move him especially right before CORE testing after all these kids have been through. If I were retiring this year I would definitely be over to the district office at the end of the year giving them a piece of my mind of all the things they've done wrong. Making me feel less than a great employee which I know that I am.
However there will be a beautiful new building there come the fall of 2011. I think I'd like to be there when all is said and done, however I guess at this point it depends on who's the new principal and many other factors. I don't think I'll have a lot of choice of where I'll be since that is what the district has been doing anyway. Time will tell I guess. Wow that felt good to just get off my chest.
Not to have this blog be a total downer..I am so grateful that I have many wonderful memories there with many wonderful people. I'm also grateful that I still have many of those friends with me now and that we are getting through this year together. I'm sure that will only continue to go on and the bond be even stronger. Thanks for all the good times at G.E.S. and the people that I appreciate so much!! Good bye old friend.