dance, dance

Celebration. A word that is often associated with fun, hard work, stress, and countless hours of practice in acting, singing, and dancing--the last of which is what concerns me today. Stoney Creek has an annual lip-sync competition, which I just found out today puts some of the college's club acts to shame. There are teachers who are better dancers than most students around campus. Even after a few kids these moms know how to move and put me to shame. I wish I was better at learning choreography faster! lol I'll keep you posted, but this is going to be funny to say the least.

see you at the pole

Alright, alright, ALRIGHT! You caught me. I admit it. Right now I am, in fact, journaling/blogging from school...gasp! I know, I know, I KNOW! You caught me. I admit it. I am, in fact, a horrible example. :) If it makes any difference though it's before school and technically I'm not on my website, but in fact, I'm writing what appears to be an email at this moment. I did want so badly to wait until after school to get this down, but that's when I have a team teaching meeting with Sarah and Emily then I'll just barely have time for dinner before curriculum night--also know as parent-teacher conferences....sooooo I'm writing now. :)

This morning was tough. I was exhausted from yesterday (being that I worked at school all day, did school stuff all afternoon, and then had to go into work all night) and I felt like staying in bed. However, I did somehow manage to find the strength to get up, get ready, get in my car, and get to school. Driving here was a challenge being that is was so foggy outside. It seemed as though I had transported to the cloud city on the plant of Bespin in Stars Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. (yes, I love all the Star Wars movies. Don't judge me because they are AMAZING.) After parking I walked through the fog and happened upon a group of no more than 30 standing around the flagpole.

You see, today is "See you at the Pole" which is a Nationally recognized event where students across the United States gather at 7a.m. at their school's flagpole and pray. Growing up I attended a private school and went every year. My brother was typically involved in the prayer and the majority of my school attended. I mean there were at over 100 people there every year. This might not seem like a large number, but when your school only has about 35 staff members and approximately 200 students 50% is a good turn out for an event that early in the morning. Now, here I am at a school with over 100 on staff and just over 1,600 students there were only 30 people here? It just blows my mind!

"See you at the Pole" always made me feel so special. It was like I was apart of something so much bigger than VCA (Valley Christian Academy) because 1,000s of other schools, private and public, took part in this event. I have nostalgic memories about singing and praying then having a nice breakfast with all my fellow Christian classmates and teachers to kick off another Wednesday. I even recall it being extra special one year because it fell on the same day as my sweet sixteen. Now, 5 years out of high school I find myself teaching at one of the biggest and nicest schools in the state, and it is filled with some good people. Some of them religious too I am sure; however, there is still something missing for me.

I want to be a Ms. Griffin, who used to pray with me if I was going through a rough week. A Mrs. Fox, who always had a smile on my face at school or when I would run into her at church later the same day. Maybe a Mr. Turner, who was cheery, had bible verses on his walls, and used to always say "every day is a good day, some days just happen to be great days!" There are so many others I could mention, but basically I just want to say as many wonderful things as this school offers there is just something these students are missing that I was so blessed to have and that is a Christian centered education. Other resources might have been lacking due to funding or class size, but I wouldn't trade my high school experience for any of them.

Even now, when I witness every day what public school is like. I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm not saying that if you don't send your kids to a private school you don't really love Jesus. I'm not saying that if you do send your kids to private school they will not only get a diploma but also a ticket to Heaven. I just know that my faith is a huge part of who I am and that part was developed extensively because of my school. Note: my parents are the number one reason I turned out this way, and the fact that they chose to send me to VCA was such a supplemental blessing for me.

Private v. Public school? Not a debate I want to get into right now, but one thing I will say: What you do at home matters far more than the school building you drive to each morning...that is all. :)

22 years

I know I'm a few days late, but I feel as though I should make some remark(s) about turning another year older... Last Thursday (the 18th) was my 22nd birthday. I've never been huge on celebrating my birthday and having a monsterous party of sorts. However, I do feel it is important to acknowledge one's birthday, so I spent it with a few close friends, which was nice. It's hard to believe I'm 22 years old, and I was reflecting back over the past 22 years remembering good time, hard times, challenging times, special times, memorable times, and wonderful, heartwarming times.

22. My first day of school...kindergarten. I sat next to Brandi Miller, who became one of my best friends all the way through elementry school.
21. Building forts with my brother and all the neighbors. I was the only girl and a total tomboy.
20. Playing basketball in the driveway all summer long with Drew.
19. My first sleepover with Bethany and Sarah when I was 8.
18. Learning to play poker with my Grandma. :)
17. Family get togethers with my Mom's side, when we ate KFC for our main course along with everything else being homemade.
16. Picking up a volleyball for the first time in 7th grade, and instantly knowing I never wanted to put it down.
15. Driving to school with Drew and jamming out to the radio.
14. Watching Friends every Thursday at 8 with my family.
13. Getting Chinese food and an old mom with my mom then spending the whole night together, just with two of us.
12. Graduating with Trent, Jamie, Ryan, Brandon, Nate, Anna, and Mike.
11. Driving to away games with the girls in high school.
10. Fallfest and Winterfest trips with the youth group.
9. MDYC trips with Samantha, Amy, Jamie, Jen, Miranda, Angela, etc.
8. Spending a week of my summer from age 8 to 20 out at MCYC, as a camper to counselor.
7. Coaching jr. high girl's volleybal with LeAnn and always going to Dairy Queen after games.
6. Winning Districts my senior year in volleyball with Jamie, Samantha, Jessica, Meghan, Melinda, and Gretchen.
5. Taking my brother to college and crying like a little girl about it.
4. My brother coming home from college to surprise me on my 17th birthday.
3. Pledging Sigma Phi and being apart of it the next 3 years.
2. Living with Lindsay 4 years at RC...so many good times there.
1. Having the best friends and family in the whole world...

it's been too long...

I apologize for the lack of blogging, but the past month has been crazy to say the very least. I'm sure there are just so many out there who keep coming to my page and crying over the lack of an update...haha yeah right. I guess I'll just dive right into what's been going on and if I happen to say something profound and/or interesting in there then that will just be a bonus. :)

Jump Start was great! All of the directors, leaders, set-up crew, speakers, p/w leaders, volunteers, res. life, faculty, staff, and of course....freshman were fantastic! I hate to sound like a cheerleader from the Valley who is way too excited but oh well. :) Although I will admit parts were a bit corny, some sessions might have been a tad boring, and the schedule was hard to keep up with Saturday because of a certain red bus...(that's all I'm going to say, oh and sometimes people mistake this bus for a dog..) I'll just go right into some of the major highlights from the week:
1.) Any time with Shane when he grew a backbone and teased me...bonus points if Terrill was there to laugh at his comments.
2.) Moving around to the different groups during their small group sessions. It was cool to see the differences all the leaders made with the material we gave them and fun to hang out with the freshman too.
3.) The Deeper Still concert...I love them, enough said. :)
4.) The Candle Lighting Ceremony: by far my favorite JS memory from when I was a freshman and each year it has been a favorite.
5.) Zac Watson as a judge for the talent show. Watching him attempt to do math was hilarious.
6.) The talent show in general...it was short and sweet this year. Some of our students impressed me with their musical capabilities.
7.) Getting to know the freshman at the welcome circle.
So...thanks to everyone who "made their mark" on Jumpstart 08. :)