Words escape me.
What do you say to wrap up a year like we've just had? Weeks and weeks of at-home learning, connecting through Zoom calls. It's just not what any of us expected or wanted.
But God.
God was - and is - in it all. He held us together...and will continue to do so.
This class is so exceptional. I knew they were exceptional BEFORE we were separated, but it has become even more evident throughout this last marking period. They exude JOY and POSITIVITY. I have been so blessed by each and every one of them.
We wrapped up our work and year during yesterday's final Zoom call. Here are a few final reminders:
- Plan on attending the Drop Off/Pick Up Celebration at Pine Ridge TODAY from 1-2:30pm. Mr. Howell sent out specific instructions earlier, but you will enter from Graafschap and exit out to 40th. Look for the 5th grade tables - we will be set up on the drive that faces 40th.
- Please bring: classroom books, PR library books, and school-owned instruments.
- You will receive: your fifth grader's desk and locker supplies, some surprise goodies, and a HUGE, HAPPY GREETING from me.
- Please send me an email if any of the following "mystery items" belong to your fifth grader:
- Report Cards will be emailed this afternoon around 3pm.
- Mr. Howell asked me to pass along the following information:
Dear Parents,
In past years, the fifth grade teachers and I would send out a letter in May explaining the upcoming lessons that we would be teaching as part of a short health unit on “Changing Bodies.” Topics include the following: How we treat our bodies as temples, Changes that adolescence brings, God’s plan for sexual relationships, and Growth and development of a baby.
We have made the decision to wait with these lessons until next fall (in sixth grade). We do have copies of the book, How You Are Changing, which some parents have borrowed and found helpful. This book can be a guide to discussing the topic of human reproduction with your children. We do not plan to use this book as a textbook, but if you would like to borrow it to use as a starting point for conversation of these topics, please contact the school office.
Sincerely,
Mr. Howell
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In closing, let me say a HUGE THANK YOU to you for the grace you've shown during this time of at-home learning. I know it hasn't been easy, and is not what we all would have preferred, but we would not have been able to do it without your support.
And THANK YOU for sharing your amazing fifth grader with me this year! They have blessed me so, and are ready to move on the middle school. I will continue to be their biggest cheerleader!