Family

The reason to get together was Granny's funeral, which isn't something to celebrate, but ..... death is part of life and her funeral was a celebration of a long life well lived.

And some fun photos of family from Thanksgiving.

Elementary - science fair & performances

School days keep us busy.  

The girls came to campus with me and, of course, wanted to spend some time in these cool chairs.

Both girls chose to do the science fair this year. 

It is a lot of work, but work that we enjoy doing together as a family.

Carolyn's project was called "Listen to your parents and take a deep breath - the effect of meditation on stress."  She used a pulsoximeter and had people record their pulse and blood oxygen level at times when they felt stress, and then again after they engaged in deep breathing or meditation for about 10 seconds.  Each person did this at least 10 different times over the course of a few weeks. The results were impressive.  Taking a few deep breaths really do make a big difference on your heart rate and blood oxygen levels.  She won third prize in the school for her project. 

Lizzie wanted to learn about electricity.  She used a device she got as a toy and learned what an open versus closed circuit was, and also what materials were insulators and conductors.  

The fifth graders presented their annual performance.  It was about US History.  Each kid was a different historical figure.  Carolyn was Sandra Day O'connor.  They sang "Fifty Nifty United States".  As they did their performance, I had a sense of deja vu.  I remember doing this same performance, probably when I was in the 5th grade.  Perhaps all 5th graders do a US History performance and sing the 50-Nifty song.

Lizzie and the 1st graders will probably have their assembly soon.

Climbing

The activity of choice right now is rock climbing.  

Both girls are doing it.  

Here is Carolyn scaling a wall, though she says prefers to boulder, over sport climbing.

JA Biztown

A highlight of 5th grade is the all-day Biztown program.  Students learn about businesses and communities each year throughout elementary school. Then, in 5th grade, they get to spend an entire day running a city.  This year, leading up to this activity, they had to learn how to write a job application and did interviews at a job fair.  Each kid was then offered a job, and had to work with their team to prepare for how they would run the business.  Carolyn got the position of treasurer at City Hall. 

Each kid got paychecks, had to deposit them at the bank, could shop at all the businesses (as long as their checkbooks had money and were accurately recorded in a log).  Every business had to apply for a loan and run their business for the city.  Carolyn said she and her team at City Hall had to approve business licenses for every business, collect taxes, run an election, decide how much insurance they should purchase, order supplies for their office, create articles for the newspaper, etc. 

Here are some pictures of them running their city. 

Junior Theater Festival, 2019

Earlier this winter, Carolyn decided to audition for a "competition theater team" -- to her and all of our surprises, she made the team.  It is not that she did not practice for the audition, or that she doesn't have some talent.  We just did not know what to expect since it was her very first audition.

There were 15 kids selected to be on the team, ranging in age from 10-17.  For five weeks this winter, they worked three nights a week on a piece from the show "Into the Woods" and then took it to the Junior Theater Festival, where they competed against teams from all over the country.  Teams were not allowed to use props or costumes, and were judged by three expert panelists.

Their team ended up winning an award at the festival- excellence in music.  They brought home a large trophy for their theater company, and were even more thrilled when they got on the airplane to come home and the flight attendant announced it over the PA, and when they saw this short article in the local news when they arrived back home.
https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/u-of-u-theater-students-win-national-award/1776829622

In addition to the adjudication, the team participated in a number of workshops related to voice, drama, improv, and dance.  They saw countless performances, learned for child actors, had a dance party, and even had a final concert by one of this year's Tony Award winners.  What a great group of kids, and what a fantastic opportunity.  I am pretty sure one of the highlights of the long weekend was traveling to California without parents!  She has already asked if she can audition to be part of this team again next year.

The adjudicators 

  

And, if you made it this far in this post and want to watch their team's 15-minute performance of "Into the Woods" check it out here.  Carolyn was a narrator.