EXCELlent Report Cards

Joshua and Jayden received excellent report cards and as always, we are extremely proud of them both!

At the parent-teacher conferences, both Joshie's teacher and Jayden's teacher had nothing but positive things to say. Apparently, they are both the high achievers in their class, are leaders, respectful, independent, and well-liked by their peers. How wonderful!

Congratulations to our boys!

To celebrate, we took the boys are to see the Harlem Globetrotters. It was a fun night!

First Trimester Awards

Before Thanksgiving break, Joshie and Jayden received their First Trimester awards. Only two students per class are given the Academic Award and we are proud to say that both Joshie and Jayden received this award. Joshie also received an award for Perfect Attendance.

We are very proud of both of our boys and know that they will continue to excel in everything they do!

Awesome Teachers

This year, Joshua and Jayden have the most wonderful teachers. Jayden has Mrs. Pennington who has been teaching for 35 years (Joshie had her in Kindergarten). She is the reason why Lance stood in line at 4:30 a.m. in the freezing cold to make sure Jayden was placed in her class. She is the warmest, most loving, patient and positive teacher you could ever imagine. She's like a baby whisperer or in this case, a "kindergartener whisperer". Children and parents adore her and we feel truly blessed that Jayden is in her class...what a wonderful start to his education!

Jayden is constantly surprising Mrs. Pennington with his knowledge of basketball. She is always praising him for his writings and reading skills. For example, at "free choice" when most kids enjoy playing dress-up, trains, and play-doh, Jayden chooses to write the full names (correctly spelled), team they play for, and jersey numbers for all of his favorite players. He has a list of approximately 10 favorite players who he places in order.

Joshua has Mrs. Taxara who is by far the most creative and challenging teacher he's ever had. Joshua has always excelled in school and zipped through the curriculum. Mrs. Taxara is always on top of things and comes up with such creative and exciting projects to keep her students enthusiastic. Mrs. Taxara has a group of "high achievers" in her class and Joshua is one of them. For these students she gives them extra work and projects. For example, for their book reports, she chose to teach these students how to do a power point presentation. They met once a week afterschool and worked on their presentations. Joshua absolutely loved it! He got to use cool graphics, sound effects, and music. Soon, he will be starting another afterschool project called, the Odyssey of the Mind. Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.

Joshua is naturally competitive and loves that he is always at the top of his class and "ahead" of most. He scored 100% on his state testing in math and is the only one who scored this high out of all the third graders! From the start of the year, he was placed in fourth grade math and he is continuing to excel in this as well.

Another exciting thing that Mrs. Taxara did was nominate Joshua for the National Young Scholars Program. The National Young Scholars Program is designed and created specifically for the nation's most highly acclaimed 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students, each of whom have been personally selected for nomination by a teacher. NYSP is a renaissance of interactive, hands-on learning for young leaders eager for knowledge and ready to celebrate the joy of discovery. No other program of this depth and magnitude exists exclusively for the high-achieving 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade student.

The four of us are fully enjoying this terrific school year and are looking forward to the rest of the year. We are so thankful and feel truly blessed to have these wonderful teachers guiding our children!

What Was That Holiday Again?

In between the ghosts and goblins, the black and orange and the snowmen and reindeer and the red and green, there's another holiday tucked inbetween.

If it weren't for the "biggest shopping day of the year", most would probably have bypassed Thanksgiving. Once the Halloween decorations go to 50% off in the stores, the Christmas ones are set up right beside them. The commercials with Santa start popping up on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network...but what's this holiday called Thanksgiving?

Something about pilgrims, turkey's, feasts...and oh yeah, the start of the holiday shopping. In school I remember Thanksgiving being a big deal, we celebrated, we studied. Well, they still study and celebrate now, but we are overwhelmed by the retail industry and their desire to "capture the dollar" for the end of the year profit report.

Interesting to read about the history of Thanksgiving. You can re-introduce yourself to it as well here: History of Turkey Day.

If anything it is a day to be thankful...for the things we should be thankful for each and everyday, but I guess some people are so busy, that a day had to be established for people to take a moment and focus on those things.

Each day, I am thankful for my beautiful, healthy and happy wife and two boys and for my health. I am also thankful for all events in my life that have led to me where I am today, as I feel I have become a better person because of them. The list is long, and I won't bore you with them all here. Please take the time today to stop planning your "Black Friday" plan of attack and be thankful for those people and events in your lives and carry that over to each and every day of your lives.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!