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Category: school

  • Dahlia’s birthday week at school

    Dahlia’s birthday week at school

    This week Dahlia had a chance to celebrate her birthday at school. She wore her birthday crown and everybody sang Happy Birthday to her before eating their donuts. She made an “All about me…” poster this week to display in her classroom. It was very easy to tell who had helped her make her poster. All you needed to do was to read the responses written down on it. For example under the categories “my favorite people”, “my favorite things”, and “what I like” you could find the same answer for all three of them…Montserrat.

  • Eric Carle project

    Eric Carle project

    As part of the Art Docent program at IVE, Dahlia's class put together a
    mural imitating Eric Carle's books. First the class painted large
    pieces of paper with lots of different colors and patterns. Second we
    pulled students over to our table in the back of class to cut out shapes from the paper they had made earlier. Then we took the shapes they had cut out and
    we stapled them to the hallway bulletin board in the appropriate spot. The final village looked great. Eric Carle himself would be impressed with their work.

  • Cat and fishbowl

    Cat and fishbowl

    Dahlia's artwork.

  • Finale at night

    Finale at night

    Our act was a complete success except for the fact that I had it in my mind I would be meeting Joe at the ER with Dahlia right afterwards. All the moms had a great time doing the act even those who had their own fears and doubts.

  • Dites-moi

    Dites-moi

    Monti sang the song “Dites-Moi” from the musical South Pacific at the
    IVE Variety Show. She sang her little heart out. In the musical this
    song is sung by a couple of Polynesian children. Monti and I searched the
    internet to find an appropriate costume. The dress came all the way
    from Guam — we found it on ebay. I will post video when I get it.

  • Dahlia’s heart

    Dahlia’s heart

    Moments before the variety show evening performance began Dahlia told
    Joe her heart was “beeping” fast. I had to manage the backstage area 
    during the performance so Joe had to care for Dahlia. He took her out
    to the car to see if she could relax and get her heart back to normal.
    Relaxing wasn’t working so I would leave backstage every once in a
    while to try something new to get her heart to slow down. I tried
    gagging her, holding her upside down, and splashing her face with cold
    water from the drinking fountain. If anyone saw me doing these things
    they would have thought I was just plain abusive. Nothing was working
    so I finally told Joe to start driving towards the ER. On the way over
    she feel asleep in the car. The little nap did the trick! As they
    pulled into the ER parking lot Dahlia woke up and she told us her
    heart was OK. At first we weren’t sure that she wasn’t just saying
    that because she didn’t want to go in but it truly had slowed down and
    no doctor intervention was needed. Thank goodness!

  • Cougar Mamas

    Cougar Mamas

    The teachers never perform at the evening performance of the variety show Liz (dark hair in front) had the idea that the volunteers that ran the show should get their moment in the spotlight. People agreed very reluctantly. I was on board right away. Liz also came up with the name “Cougar Mamas” for our act since the cougar is the mascot for IVE. At least half of our act had no idea of the double entendre of “Cougar Mamas”. Here is a picture from our one and only practice. Liz provided lots of liquid courage and Trish, our drummer, provided lots of laughs. We all wondered at the end of the night would it be as much fun on stage without the wine.

  • They will talk about this finale for years

    They will talk about this finale for years

    The surprise act at the end of the Variety Show included a group of
    teachers rocking out to the song “Old Time Rock N’ Roll.” To set the
    stage for their act we used some fog in a can. We had tested it before
    hand and used it in the opening number but this time the fire alarm
    went off after spraying some backstage. The fire alarm occurred right
    in the middle of three first graders dressed as angels singing so
    sweetly. The kids were so efficient and calm when it came to getting
    out of the school. The whole school had to evacuate and wait for the
    fire department to arrive and clear us for re-entry. There were at
    least 8 kids from the show outside barefoot including Monti. By the
    time we got back inside the kids had to catch buses to go home so the
    teachers never made it on stage.

  • Nerves

    Nerves

    Monti woke at 5:30 am the morning of the Variety Show full of nerves.
    When asked what was making her so stressed we found out it wasn’t the
    fact that she would be singing a solo in front of more than 300
    people. Instead she was terrified she would hold up her sign the wrong
    direction during a skit act she performed with her friend Morgan.
    Right before she went on stage for the skit she started to tear up
    regarding the issue of the dreaded sign. I quickly resolved all fears
    by volunteering to walk out on stage myself carrying the sign when the
    appropriate line was read. During the daytime performance I walked out
    with the sign covering my face. Lots of kids in the audience were
    whispering things like “That’s really her mom.” After the performance
    Monti asked that I not cover my face with the sign. She wanted me to
    really act mad which she said I should be very good at doing.

  • Continuous line art

    Continuous line art

    The project seemed very simple but even “simple” with a class of
    kindergartners can have its fair share of frustration. The kids were
    to create a design using straight or curved lines but they had to do
    it without ever lifting their pen off the paper. As a parent volunteer
    you want to help several children instead of focusing on your own but
    Dahlia just wasn’t getting it. I finally took her hand and physically
    helped her make some designs. These are the moments when I crave more
    patience.