Spirit Assembly

As much as I feel I have to miss now that I have two school age kids and still only one me, I received a note from Clara's teacher last week letting me know I might want to attend the Spirit Assembly this afternoon with my camera. So I did.

Clara at the Assembly

Turns out, Clara was selected to receive the Kestrel Award for her class in October! Here she is on stage with the other Kestrel Award winners from other classes.

'Kestrel Award for Excellence in recognition of outstanding student achievement'! Need I say more?
We're SO proud.

I asked Clara if she knew she was getting something before today. She said she knew when Mrs. Cope (her teacher) told her she could come give me a hug and kiss. (That was after she'd come down from the stage.) In other words, the whole time she stood up on stage, she had NO idea why she was up there, besides that they had called her name!

After all the awards were given, it was time to rev up the spirits with a pie eating contest. 1st with the students, then it was the teachers' turn. Mrs. Cope was a willing participant!

Trying to eat it in the tin

Trying to flip it out (it took a couple tries!)

Once she flipped it out on the table, she made quick work of it!

Unfortunately, she came in 2nd, but she was such a good sport. She won MAJOR cool points with her class by doing this!

We are so lucky to have Mrs. Cope as Clara's teacher this year. Clara is excelling, but not just academically. Her spirit and her confidence is up. Mrs. Cope possesses the fine balance of control and support. She is able to challenge and encourage all at the same time, no matter the academic level of the student. It has been a pleasure to start to really see Clara gain confidence in herself and become more independent. We owe a lot of that to Mrs. Cope.