First Day of 8th Grade / S2 / U4

As the pandemic continues to rage on, the girls and the parents were all so excited to be able to go back to school in person (unfortunately, for what we would soon find out to be only a short while).  For someone as social as Brenna, online learning became tiresome and dull.  She was happy to be back with her friend!  

Our rhythm of school now follows the routine of dropping Brenna at a friends house every morning where the girls all congregate and walk to and from school together.  Its a good group of kids, it saves me from a little traffic congestion at the school's entrance, and the girls appreciate they're new found freedom, so its a win-win for everyone!

This is officially 8th grade middle school by US standards, S2 high school by Scotland measures, and Upper 4 according to St. Georges classifications.  

7th Grade (S1) School Highlights

This school year has been an adventure on so many levels!  It will certainly be one that won't be forgotten.  Brenna started St. George's all-in, being completely enamored with all the choices.  The course selections were incredible!  In total she was enrolled for 17 classes for her regular school day.  What we consider as core classes (Math, Science, History, and English) were broken down into Physic, Chemistry, Biology, Modern History, Religion and Philosophy, Geography, Double Math, Double English, and Library.  Then add in supportive classes like Food Technology, Drama, Art, Music, Physical Education, Product Design, Information and Communication Technologies, and finally a wide selection of Languages to chose from, of which two were required.  Brenna chose French and Spanish, although she's trying to convenience me to switch one to Mandarin for next year.  She also jumped right into extracurricular activities with things she already loved and picked-up lots of new activities that would only be available to us here in Britain.  She signed on for Choir, Debate, Judo and Self Defense, Field Hockey, and Lacrosse.  Needless to say her schedule was packed with both before and after school activities four out of the five days a week and the sports competitions spilling over into the weekends.  Normally, I would have pumped the breaks on all these activities, but the school made everything very accommodating.  School actually felt like an extension of home.  I contribute it to the boarding school environment.

Her broad range of activities connected her with lots of friends.  And since the school is very international, her friend group was a wide collection of nationalities, not just from Scotland, but also England, Switzerland, Spain, and France.  It's been a very enlightening cultural experience.  The school also did a great job of supplementing the all-girls experience with joint activities with our brother school, Merchiston Castle all-boys school.  There were sports days, ceilidhs (a traditional Scottish country dance), and dances.

1st Day of High School (not really, but kinda)

It was the first day of S1 Senior School by Scottish measure and 7th Grade Middle School by US standards for Brenna.  She was off to St. George's School for Girls and yes, it is an all-girls school. Jacob was especially pleased with that particular aspect.  I had my doubts about an all-girls school since that concept is completely foreign to me, but the opportunities that it’s provided have been incredible.  The school is very different from any of our previous ones (this is her 6th school, poor kid).  It stretches over a large campus similar to a small college, and the girls move freely about from building to building managing their own class schedules, lunch, and free time.  It is a boarding school, though Brenna doesn’t board, and the school is divided into houses that compete in various events throughout the year, much like our very own version of Hogwarts!  Brenna loves the cafeteria and all the food is homemade.  The school does feel very homey based on the way the girls are looked after.  The uniform policy is very strict compared to US standards.  While I've never considered Brenna to be overly dramatic, the uniform did incite some very intense conversation. The idea of wearing a blazer and skirt everyday was not met with enthusiasm and I thought we might have to call the whole thing off when she found out that she had to wear the standard uniform shoes and socks instead of her tennis shoes.  They must have their hair tied neatly back and away from their face.  Also, no make-up allowed, which I didn't think would be a big deal since she doesn't wear make-up, until we discovered that finger nail polish is indeed included in the school's definition of make-up. She lamented the loss of her hot-pink nails for hours last night!

Senior 1 (S1) is the first year of high school here in Scotland.  Initially, the thought of her being a high schooler was a little unnerving.  I thought we had more time before that happened!  But, she jumped right in with both feet and joined the Charity Committee, Debate Team, Choir, Lacrosse Club, Self-Defense and Judo, and the Field Hockey Team.  And that’s after I said no to a whole list of other clubs that she wanted to join!  By far, her greatest joy has been field hockey!  It’s played on AstroTurf and has very similar concepts to soccer, except you play with a short hockey stick and a small ball.  Now we spend every weekend on the hockey pitches

She spent the week before school started in pre-season sports camp at the school showing these Scottish football girls how we play American soccer and in return they taught us field hockey!  It was a great way to connect with the other girls and she already had friends at school by the time the first day of school got here.  St. George's has certainly been a blessing for us.

6th Grade at West Lake Middle School

Brenna's sixth grade and first year of middle school was a big transition for both Brenna and me.  Brenna was super excited at her first chance to have some control over her class selection and to move throughout the school from class to class without supervision.  It was my first year to step away just a little and give her some independence.  I've always played a very active roll in all of Brenna's classes throughout her primary years.  So much so, that I still remain friends with several of her past teachers.  I was always there for every school activity, field trip, and presentation.  Now seemed like the right time to let her maneuver through this new school and new way of learning on her own.  She met the challenge with enthusiasm!  She joined choir as her fine arts selection and it was the best and funniest choir that she's ever been a part.  Her choir teacher was fantastic.  She also selected Leadership Development, Drama, and Computer Technologies for her other electives.  She also picked up all advance placements classes for her core subjects of Math, Science, English, and World Cultures.  Her after school activities were committed to soccer and choir, but she also decided to join the Library Club and dedicated her early mornings before school started as a library manager.  I was a little concerned that she may be taking on too much for her first year as a middle schooler, but somehow she balanced everything and was going strong.  It helped that she plugged into a really great group of girls that were just as active as she was.  The crew stuck together throughout the school year and made the most out of their opportunities for fun, from volunteering together at the school's Christmas Celebration, to water park choir field trips, and two school dances.

First Day of 6th Grade

Christmas 2018

As I mentioned on our Thanksgiving post, our time in Texas is coming to close much quicker than we expected.  Thanksgiving and Christmas proved to be challenging as our normal holidays routines competed with other immediate priorities.  We discovered that despite our short time in Texas, we were moving...again.  This is an unplanned change for us.  We had hoped to have a longer stay in Houston (or even just the USA) since it feels like we’ve barely just returned from Canada.  But God had other plans for us.

This time we're preparing for a move to Britain.  Jacob has been transferred to the United Kingdom.  Our new home will be Edinburgh, Scotland.  If fact, Jacob is already there, which is what caused the disruption to my usual holiday routines.  He moved across the pond in early December.  We’ve spent the better part of the holidays managing the mountains of paperwork that goes along with international moves, arranging temporary living for Jacob, applying to British preparatory schools for Brenna, and searching for a new place to call home.

Because of all this, we were just excited to have Jacob back home for Christmas.  We mostly spent our time close to home, enjoying the downtime.  We finished up school with some fun Christmas themed activities and hung out with friends in the neighborhood.  Brenna was excited to be pick for a solo in the schools Christmas Choir Concert and we were also proud to find out that she was selected by the WLMS staff as Student of the Month.

6th Grade School Pictures

5th Grade Highlights

Wow!  5th grade was awesome!  As we were preparing to move back to the USA, I was really concerned about returning to Texas public schools after spending 1st-4th grade in Canada.  The curriculums differed dramatically and school days were managed in completely different ways.  I worried about her grades, whether she would be behind, and how she would adjust to time management.  Turns out it was all unwarranted.  She jumped right in with both feet and really flourished this year!

Of course, I've already covered that she joined the choir, but she was also admitted into the Groves Rangers.  Rangers is a leadership development program that students were selected to based on their responses to written essay questions describing their views on leadership, responsibility, and community involvement.  While school hours were from 8 am until 3:30 pm, Rangers were required to be on duty at 7:20 am and stay until 4:15 pm.  The kids were responsible for an array of different duties.  They would help with set up and take down at all school functions, they assisted in car rider drop-off and pick-up, they helped the younger kids in the cafeteria during breakfast, they managed the school's recycle program, they raised and lowered the flags each day, and they assisted teachers with special requests.  She loved the program and it really helped instill a stronger understanding of responsibility and community service.

One of the reasons we had such an awesome year is because we had such an awesome teacher!  Mrs. Amanda Kopp and our team of 5th grade teachers worked so hard to make sure these kids had a year to remember.  There were so many special events throughout the year.  We had Colonial Day, where the kids dressed in pioneer clothes, made wax candles, sewed satchels, and churned butter.  We had Spy Day where the kids all dressed in black like secret agents, Groves Olympics where Brenna was chosen to carry the flag for 5th grade, CSI Day where kids solved science mysteries, Star Wars Day where they made there own light sabers, Karaoke Fridays where the whole school would break out into song and dance during lunch in the cafeteria, Career Day where Brenna chose to be a chemical engineer, Field Day, Book Tastings, a Snow Day, Kickball Tournaments, Manner's Banquet, and so many others.  It was a jammed packed year.

The kids also got a very personal lesson on how hard work pays off.  Our teach was nominated as Groves Elementary Teacher of the Year.  She continued on through written essay submissions and interviews to be selected as Humble ISD Teacher of the Year and she won a new car!  I had the opportunity to get to know Mrs. Kopp well throughout the school year and saw first hand the work and effort she poured into these kids.  The honor was very well deserved and we were so blessed to have Mrs. Kopp as our teacher!

Also, Brenna really shined in her studies.  Not only did she pass all of her STARR tests, but she mastered Reading and Science scoring in the 99th percentile.  She made all A's for the year and received the "All A Honor Roll" award during the year end awards ceremony.  She also received the awards for "Out of the Box" thinker and "Author's Eye" insightful reader as voted on by her peers.  Finally, our school focused on five primary mindsets to instill during the year.  The kids began every day with the phrase "We are Reflective.  We are Innovative.  We are Connected.  We are Intentional.  We are Global.  We are Groves!"  The staff and principal selected one boy and one girl that most represented each of these characteristics and Brenna was presented the award for "Innovative Mindset"  We are so very proud of all her hard work and her accomplishments this year!

Our school functions on a strong social media platform, with the idea to teach kids the impacts and responsibility of using social media correctly.  Thanks to this, the parents got glimpses into the classroom daily.  I didn't take a lot of school photos this years, but it didn't matter because nearly all the pictures below were curtesy of our teacher!

5th Grade Manners Banquet

In May, with just one week of school left, the 5th grade held it's 1st annual Manners Banquet, which was basically the equivalent to a 5th grade prom minus the "boy asks girl" part.  Everyone dressed up in pretty dresses and suits and ties.  Each girl was "assigned" a boy as her escort.  The boys were responsible for escorting her in (without touching!) and pulling her chair in and out.  It was held at the beautiful banquet room of the Walden on the Lake Country Club and the Atascocita High School Orchestra was in attendance to provide musical ambiance.  The purpose of the banquet was to demonstrate table manners and etiquette while carrying on appropriate dinner conversation topics.  A teacher or school district representative was assigned to each table to monitor and grade the students.  A few of us volunteers dressed in white tops and black pants to serve the kids a 3-course meal that was followed by a presentation of photos showing each of the kids at birth, Kindergarten, and 5th grade.  It was very graduation-ish and alittle unnerving for parents since this was the first time I'd ever heard the words Class of 2025 spoken out loud.  The girls had a great time.  The boys did too, but there was a bathroom incident that resulted in a follow-up that called for adult supervision in the restrooms for next year.  

It was a really special event and felt like an beautiful finish to Brenna's elementary school years!

Grove Elementary Choir

Boy was it a year for choir!  At the beginning of school we joined the Groves Elementary Choir, which was an after school extracurricular activity sponsored by our school's music teacher Mr. Huertas.  Since Brenna loved choir at Sarnia Christian and always participated in the children's choir at church, she jumped on the opportunity to join the Choir Club.  This became one of her most beloved activities and she practiced constantly, singing all around the house.  

The choir practiced twice a week after school and had a number of weekend performances.  Mr. Huertas worked hard with kids and they were the best sounding choir we've ever been a part of.  Their first performance was the Christmas Program where the kids had an opportunity to audition for one of six short solos.  About 15 kids tried out and Brenna was thrilled to get chosen.  The next performance was at a fundraiser at our local Barnes and Nobel inside the Deerbrook Mall.  The choir picked up a new song, Best Day of My Life, and again the kids were allowed to audition for four solos that were much bigger parts.  And again, Brenna was chosen!  She loved performing this song and it is by far her favorite of all the choir pieces.  

The next performance was the Humble ISD Fine Arts Festival at Kingwood Park High School.  This was their first real-deal stage performance.  Mr. Huertas decided to add a new performance piece and rather than holding try-outs, he selected two students, one boy and one girl, to do a duet to A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman.  Brenna was so excited when she found out she was chosen, however, she was also alittle heart broken because she had to give up her Best Day of My Life solo.  

The choir held what we thought would be their final performance the last week of May with an End of Year Concert.  However, the owner of a local performing arts studio was in attendance that night and was so impressed with our sound that she invited us to perform as the opening act of her studio's summer recital.  The kids had one final opportunity to shine on stage in a beautiful performance hall.  I was so proud to see her up there singing her heart out! 

Over the past three years, Brenna has sung songs with the choir in English, French, Spanish, and German.  Some of the other choir pieces from this year included a fun Disney melody, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a Spanish Lullaby, and Remember Me from Coco.

Looking ahead, there was no question what electives she would pick for her first year of middle of school.  While other friends chose dance, orchestra, or band, it's choir all the way for this little song bird!

5th Grade Field Trip

Despite the fact that I was at school a lot and help helped out with all the class activities, I did not bring my camera along until the last two weeks of school.  I helped chaperone the 5th Grade Field Trip to Sheldon Lakes.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful May day.  The kids had a great day watching the wildlife, alligator hunting, and fishing.

5th Grade Spring Pictures

The Rest of Christmas

I'm ridiculously behind on blogging for a lot of different reasons, but mostly because life just keeps getting in the way and I don't take my big camera out as often as I used to.  Still, after nearly 10 years of blogging this journal, I'm determined not to let this digital memory album lapse.  So, in my attempt to catch back up, you get Christmas in July!

The rest of the Christmas holiday was slow paced and laid back.  My Mom and Dad came for a visit. Brenna got some fishing in with Pawpaw at our neighborhood's fish camp and she enjoyed the Christmas themed dress-up days at school. 

Fifth Grade School Pictures

1st Day of 5th Grade

Since our new school was opening for its very first year, there was lots of build-up to the big day.  We attended two different meet and greets for The Groves first graduating class prior to the start of school.  One mom hosted a party at her house for everyone and then there was a meet-up at the local Bahama Bucks for snow cones and smoothies.  It was really great for us since it gave Brenna a chance to meet some new friends and have a few familiar faces on the first day.  We attended Meet the Teacher Night and toured the new school, which is awesome.  Brenna even submitted a poster for an art project to celebrate the school's inaugural year.  After all the excitement, it was a bit of a let down when Harvey came and delayed the start of school by two weeks.  We did eventually make it to the first day of school.  Brenna loves her teacher and we soaking up every minute of our last year of elementary.

Wrapping up 4th Grade

EDIT:  By the time this post gets published I will be far behind on updates, we will have made yet another move, and life in general will have turned upside down and then right-side up.  Due to my inability to post while the things were fresh in my mind and the fact that a lot has happened between then and now, the posts that follow will likely be heavy on pictures and light on words.

In May we took our final class trip to a recreation of a First Nations village (or some would say Native Americans, but that only applies if you live in America.  First Nations is the Canadian descriptor), complete with defensive wall fort and longhouses.  There was a lot of running through the woods in the rain, but fun was had by all none the less.  We heard stories about the First Nations history, how they lived in long houses, and we got to view First Nations crafts and weapons

Christian Education Week and the Celebration of Learning

Each year we celebrate Christian Education Week with a list of fun activities for the kids through the week and wrap things up with Grandfriends Day on Friday.  This year the school did a Spring Festival for the community that was themed Celebration of Learning on Wednesday night with a repeat performance on Friday for Grandfriends Day.  Brenna loves being a part of the Junior Choir and had been practicing the songs for weeks singing in the shower, at dinner, and during homework sessions.    

Easter

Brenna's class lead the Easter Chapel with a dance routine to God's Not Dead.  Brenna is always excited to perform and I thought they did a great job.  Also, Brenna was chosen to give the closing prayer for the chapel.

Christmas 2016

At least the first post of 2017 is the Christmas post, even if it doesn't show up until the end of February.  Christmas was alittle different than we had planned for this year.  Jacob was away for work the first three weeks of December, so it was just me and Brenna leading up to Christmas.  The original plan was that once Jacob returned we would enjoy a quiet Christmas here and then afterward we would fly back home to Mississippi to visit with his family.  Unfortunately, the plant has some significant issues and it impacted our plans.  Our two-week holiday turned into weeks of work with no down-time and a lot of stress, for Jacob of course.  Brenna and I, while disappointed about the sudden change of plans, still enjoyed the break and the time off school.

We did all of our usual Christmas activities here in Sarnia.  Brenna kicked off the season with her Girls Alive Christmas Tea.  She enjoyed getting all dressed up for a fun and fancy tea party with her church friends and favorite stuffy.  We made a shopping trip to Detroit to check out the Christmas decorations and finish up our Christmas lists.  This year we even marched in the Santa Parade and collected canned goods and donations for the Inn of the Good Shepherd, our local soup kitchen.  It was Brenna's first parade to actually be a part of.

Fourth Grade School Pictures

Brigden Fair Field Trip

It's not unusual that I'm very behind on blogging, but for the first time ever, it's not my fault!  Despite having posts lined up all the way back to October, I've been unable to update the blog due to an on-going maintenance issue with my image hosting site.  I'll spare you the technical details, but it's prompted me to invest in a new management system for this blog.  My entire digital profile now rests with the giant Google, so let's hope I put my eggs in the right basket for long term security.

Anyway, way back at the beginning of the school year we took a field trip to the Brigden Fair.  We spent the day touring the barns, visiting the animals, and enjoying several "How To" lectures on farming and agriculture.  The kids had a great time and we came home with lots of corn in our pockets.