Well, here we are, a week into the 2016-17 school year. It's a whole new routine for all of us - Riley's started kindergarten and we're at a brand new school. With that new routine, I'm hoping to spend a lot more time blogging again, and so...we need to do A LOT of catching up. Hopefully, this will be our last big catch up and I can get back to this more regularly.
So, even though he's now a third grader, let's look back at the end of Gavin's 2nd grade year. I already blogged about Riley's preschool graduation, so it's time to give Gavin some of the spotlight, too.
Gavin had a rocky end of the year after his teacher began having health issues and missed the last six weeks or so of school. He had a lot of substitutes coming and going, and because of that, there was a lot of chaos in the classroom - because, you know, kids can't behave for subs... But, he kept working, kept reading, and even completed his first diorama! They had to pick something Arkansas related to research and create a diorama/write a paper about, and he chose Bill Clinton.
We were all kind of processing the fact that as the school year ended, so did our time at Elm Tree. We loved the school and really LOVED the calendar, but with our town growing so rapidly, the school board felt the need to get all elementary schools on the same calendar, and thus rezoned everyone. That meant no more year-round school and no more Elm Tree. I received this key chain from the PTO for volunteering, and I love it. The kids recited a student creed every single day, and this is how it started. It's a good reminder that you get a fresh start with every sunrise. We all need that reminder sometimes...
On a scorching hot day, Riley and I headed to ETE to help out with the 2nd grade end-of-the-year party, which was a sports/Olympics themed event. It was HOT, but we still had fun.
And the class was SO excited to Ms. Behnke come back for a visit. They had missed their teacher, you could tell.
And, of course, mama had to get her traditional last day pictures before we left 2nd grade in the dust....
Thankfully, he obliged. It's not often I get good pics of this one these days...
Riley helped me hang the end of the year decorations to celebrate the start of summer, and instead of baking something, they asked if we could do ice cream this year, so we headed to Yum Yos after our last Elm Tree carline.
Elm Tree was good to us. The three years we were Wildcats helped shape Gavin. He matured, and slowly worked on becoming more confident, more outgoing, and more social. I remember dropping him off at kindergarten like it was yesterday... We are so thankful for our two years with Mrs. Ruffner and our last year with Ms. Behnke. He had wonderful teachers that helped him grow, continued to nurture his love of learning, and inspired him to keep going. He made amazing friends, and I know that the true friends will hang around even though we're leaving for a new school. He tried out Cub Scouts, and learned that he loves Running Club and soccer. He learned to read, and left 2nd grade reading on a 5th grade level. He is growing into an amazing young man. And we love him.
Goodbye, 2nd Grade. Goodbye, Elm Tree. We'll miss you both, but we have bigger things ahead, and new adventures to be had. <3 font="">
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