A Day at a Time: school

Showing posts with label school. Show all posts

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Graduation Time!

My baby has graduated from high school and seminary!

Here's what I wrote about this milestone on Facebook (the first time I've posted since Christmastime):

We called Ellie our "bonus baby" when she arrived at the end of our five kids. She was our easiest going baby by a mile and she really did feel like a sweet gift to round out our family perfectly. She's had a bit of a rocky road in her life including a seizure disorder that started right at the beginning of her kindergarten year. Despite visiting several doctors over the years and trying countless medications (and natural approaches), she never has had perfect seizure control (even now), she has faced fear and ignorance from her peers, can’t get a driver’s license, and ended up in a school situation that became untenable when she did not qualify for an IEP and the 504 plan the school came up with was completely worthless. So her education has included 3 years of public school, 8 years of homeschool, and 2 years at a private school....plus 3 moves in the last 4 years. Yet she’s still a rockstar! She has found wonderfully supportive friends, has an optimistic attitude, is thoughtful and empathetic, and has grand plans for the future. We are so proud of all she’s overcome to get here and we are excited for her to start at BYU-Idaho this fall. Happy Graduation (from high school and seminary), Ellie! We love you!

Here's a little glimpse of some of her graduation events:

First, there was a senior dinner at her school. We enjoyed a delicious meal together...

While we ate, teachers read a 3-5 minute tribute for each of the graduating seniors. Ellie's graduating class was about 60 kids, so it was doable for one night, but a little long. Ellie's tribute was sweet and meaningful and read by Mr. H--one of her favorite teachers.

It was a long night, but a wonderful thing to be a part of. Ellie attending American Heritage School is absolutely one of the reasons why we needed to live in Utah and I love, love, love that she got to attend there for the past 2 years. It's a truly special place and was the perfect step away from homeschooling that we were looking for when we moved here.

Next on the graduation docket was seminary graduation!

This age got a rough road with seminary because COVID made things difficult right when they were just starting out as freshman. As such, it definitely took an extra bit of tenacity to be able to finish all 4 years and we are proud of her for this accomplishment. This picture is with a couple of the seminary graduates from our ward. There were a couple more that we couldn't track down for the picture.

During her high school years, this girl has lived in 3 different houses, 4 wards, had 2 of those years marred by COVID, and she is still smiling!

We are so proud of her hard work, positive attitude, and ability to go with the flow.

Her future is bright and we are grateful for the light she brings to our family and to the world!

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Teacher Appreciation Dinner

April 28:

A lot of planning came to fruition tonight, as about 20 teachers/coaches/mentors from our community showed up to be honored at our 2nd Annual Teacher Appreciation Dinner.

The youth invited people who played a role in impacting their lives for good.

It was great to see the sense of pride on the youth's faces....

as they interacted with and honored the men and women who work so hard to teach and mentor them.

The menu for the night was lasagna, breadsticks, salad, and berry topped cheesecake. Ellie enjoyed helping in the kitchen.

And it was fantastic to see Mrs. A and Ms. P again! Emma had Mrs. A TWICE as a teacher (Kindergarten and 5th grade) and Adam had Ms. P in 2nd grade. They're both talented and dedicated teachers and we were excited to honor them tonight.

It was kind of crazy to see how much Adam has grown in the last year...

2015 vs 2016

Ms. P brought her guinea pig, a fact which delighted Ellie immensely.

It was a lot of work, especially with two members of my presidency out of town for it, but I had a lot of people chip in to help and I thought it turned out beautifully well. Though I homeschool my kids now, I am immensely grateful for those who have worked so hard to love and teach my children over the years.

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Monday, October 27, 2014

Homecoming: Part 2 (the dress)

Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to shop for or with Cami?

I think she'd qualify as picky by anyone's standards, but for a non-shopper like me it's downright tortuous to take her on a shopping trip. To my department store hating brain, it seems like she tries on a gazillion things, kind of likes approximately .0003% of what she tries on, and then begs me to take her to another store. I try to be patient, but in the end always end up a tad bit grumpy and begging her to settle for something that's "good enough" so that we can go home already!

I really have tried over the years, but I have no doubt that Cami would probably not hesitate to call me a shopping curmudgeon. Each year that passes, I find myself more and more willing to relinquish my motherly shopping duties to anyone who might be willing to take them from me…whether it be friends or my sister or even Glen. It ends being a win-win situation for both me and Cami's wardrobe.

When Cami's formal events, like homecoming and prom have rolled around, I try to make a concerted effort to be more engaged in the shopping process and helping her to find the perfect dress. It feels more high-stakes because of the deadline, higher price point, and the desire to find that ever-elusive something that is beautiful, fits right, and is somewhat modest, but I still try…really I do.

This year she went to homecoming with Gary again. They have been in many of the same classes all through high school and decided it would be fun to go together as friends again.

After hours and hours of deliberating and trying friends' dresses on, Cami ended up ordering two different dresses, hoping one of them would work. Not surprisingly, neither did and she is returning both.

In the end, she opted to borrow her friend Ashley's dress. The color and style looked stunning on her and I was just thrilled that she found something that she loved.

I liked hers best out of all the girls in her group.

Here she is with the group of seniors from her elementary school. There were a couple of them I hadn't seen since they were in 6th grade, so it was a crazy sight to see them all grown up and graduating later this school year!

All the girls in her group.

Her friends Ashley and Katy came to see her off. The three of them have been best friends for a long time and Cami was happy that they came.

As a mother, I am happy to say that I couldn't ask for better friends for my daughter.

It's fun to watch them laugh together and know that theirs is a friendship that will likely continue on far past their high school days.

Matt came along with Ash and Katy as the official phone holder.

Cami and Gary opted to skip the dance and went to dinner in Alexandria, then to Cox Farms for a haunted hayride.

Although it was a tad sad for me to think that this will be her final high school homecoming, I am happy that it ended up being a good experience for her.

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Friday, May 9, 2014

School Prom 2014

Cami hadn't planned on attending her school prom this year, but about a week ago this handsome guy asked her and she changed her mind.

She had to scramble to borrow a dress and order a corsage, but in the end she looked stunningly beautiful and was excited to go with her friend, Ruyer.