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Washington Terrace Elementary

Washington Terrace Elementary has been my home away from home for seven years now. I started there as a first year teacher, clueless to what teaching was really about. I was this young, stary-eyed teacher with dreams and a passion for educating young children. Those dreams came to realization while teaching at the Terrace. I have been surrounded by incredible teachers who have taught me what it really means to teach. Children have come into my life that have touched my heart, pulled on my heartstrings and brought me so much joy, and maybe just a little bit of stress :). I have become the teacher I am because of the children I have taught, the parents that have supported them and the teachers that have guided me. What an amazing opportunity I have had to teach at this incredible school! But as often happens things have to change and my life is no exception to this rule. This will be my final year at Washington Terrace Elementary. I have accepted a position as a kindergarten teacher at Roy Elementary. I am so excited for the opportunity to be back in the classroom! I can only hope that I can continue to learn and grow at my new school as much as I have at Washington Terrace.

Faith

This weekend as I was cleaning I came across an old journal. It happened to be the journal from my last year at Utah State. This was one of my most memorable years; I learned and grew so much that year. I came to know people that would influence and shape me for the rest of my life. One friend in particular came to mean more to me than I had ever before imagined. As I read through this old journal of mine his name filled the pages. Then I came across a letter, this was a letter I had written to him but had never managed to give him. As odd as it may sound I wanted to share part of this letter with you today.

We have been friends for a while now and I feel I have gotten to know you pretty well. I think at times I see you in a completely different light than you see yourself. You are an amazing person and you have so many wonderful gifts to share with those around you. You have so much inside of you just wanting to come out. For so long I have wondered why you choose not live up to that potential. I wonder if you can see what I can see? Do you realize that you are not only hurting yourself by holding back? You are hurting those people who love you. What are you afraid of? What is it that holds you back? Let go of your fears and look within yourself, search your soul and become the person that you and I and God know you can become. Because as wonderful as you are now if you could just let go of all that fear and doubt you could be so much more. “Mike” I know this church is true. I know if we have the gospel as our foundation we can succeed. The Lord will not let us fail if we put Him first. The love he has for us is something we cannot even comprehend. The blessings and gifts he wants to give us exceed anything we could imagine. We just have to be willing and worthy to accept them.

I never gave him this letter and to be honest I don’t know if I ever told him what was in it. Who I wrote this letter to and why is not all that important. What is important is the effect this letter had on me as I read through it again more than 7 years later. Because this time the words were directed towards me. The words I so badly wanted to share with a dear friend all those years ago were the exact words I needed to hear today, in my life right now. I am not a perfect person. In my life I have made mistakes, big and small. Lately though I have let these mistakes hold me back. I have let the thoughts I have about myself be tainted by the adversary. But as I read through this letter during this amazing Easter weekend I realized I need to have as much faith in myself as I have in others. As personal as it may seem to share this story, I felt it was something that needed to be written down and shared. The Lord reaches out to us in mysterious ways. He loves us, He loves me. He made the greatest sacrifice for us, so when we are in our own Gethsemane he can reach down and lift us out.

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

How cool is this! You just type in what you want your Voki to say and it does. Can you imagine how much fun you could have with this. You can also record yourself. This would be a great motivator to get little kiddos to read fluently.

Reading Rocks!!

This week I was in charge of my schools family literacy night. The theme was Reading Rocks! We all came dressed as rock stars. Some looked a little more rock than others, but what a fun evening it was! To start the night off some of us teachers put on a rock concert, singing a new version of the Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feelin' called Gotta Keep Reading. There was no doubt left in our mind that we certainly had not missed our calling in life. We were certainly entertaining because one could not help but laugh at us, but I think I think for all of us when I say that was our first and final performance. I wish I could post it all for you to see, because we all need a good laugh once in a while (and trust me this would make you laugh) but I don't know how so here are some pictures we took after the concert.

The girls all loved Justin Beiber! Or as we called him Bustin Jeiber. We couldn't ever decide who I looked like.

Teachers Posing as Rock Stars!! Guess I should have cropped the whiteboard and books out of the picture.

What a fun and crazy night! The kids and their families had a ton of fun and so did the teachers. As an added bonus we got the kids excited about reading.

The Rest of the Story

I suppose I should finish telling you about my blind date to Settebello's. When I left off last time I had just arrived at the restaurant. It was a weekend night and it was packed. I arrived before my date (I can't even remember his name anymore) so I figured I would put my name on the list to be seated. I didn't think it made any sense to wait until he got there to get on the list. I waited for a while, and they were ready to seat us. Only my date had still not arrived! He was a few minutes late and I was not sure what to do. I hated to be put back on the end of the list, especially with how crowded it was. Luckily the table they had for us had a perfect view of the entrance. That way I could still get us a table and see when he arrived. I ordered myself a water and waited, and waited some more, and continued waiting, still no date! He was now at least 30 minutes late! I didn't have his number, and could not call him to see where he was or if he was coming. Here I was sitting at a table clearly set for two, waiting for a date that I now realized was not going to show up. I was so embarrassed, and figured I had two options; 1) I could slink out of the restaurant and hope nobody noticed I had left or 2) I could order myself a pizza and enjoy the evening on my own. So I did what any self respecting girl would do! I ordered myself a pizza and enjoyed every bite of it! That was my first and hopefully only experience being stood up. Although I never want to go through that again, it does make for a good story.

Doubt and Change

I know I am supposed to finish telling my blind date story, but I just can't right now. I need a place to vent and cry and try to feel better! I found out today that there will not be a place for me at my school next year, not if I want to be back in the classroom. And I want to be back in the classroom more than anything. So it seems that I will not be at Washington Terrace next year, and my heart is absolutely breaking! I have been at WTE since I started teaching, it has been my home away from home. The people I have met and the friends I have made have impacted my life in so many ways. I can't imagine myself teaching anywhere else, and then I begin to doubt my decision to be a classroom teacher again. DOUBT, now there is a 4 letter word for you!! And yes I know it actually has 5 letters but you know what I mean. There are very few things in life that I believe I am good at, but I KNOW I am a good kindergarten teacher. I love being with those little people and the thought of not being with them is worse than the change of a new school. Now I just hope I will be able to find a position .

Dating Stories...Or the Lack There Of

I was spending time with a good friend tonight and she mentioned the restaurant, Settebello's. The most amazing Italian Pizzeria I have ever been too! Although I have never been to Italy, I have been informed it is the most authentic Italian Pizza you can find in Utah. Every time someone mentions this restaurant now I remember one particular experience I had there. You see living in Utah and being of the age of 30 many people love to set me up on blind dates. Amazingly I have had some great blind date experiences, but I also have had some horror stories as well. Shortly after moving to Provo my dear friend Tricia decided she wanted to set me up on a blind date. Since he lived in Provo (this should have been my first warning sign :)) and I lived in Layton we thought it made the most sense to meet in Salt Lake, that way neither of us had to do a ton of driving (warning sign number 2, clearly both of us had been on many blind dates and were not quite willing to put forth too much effort). After talking back and forth through Tricia (warning number 3, I never actually talked to him) we decided to meet at Settebello's on a Friday night at 6:30.

The night of the date had arrived. I of course left work much later than planned and was rushing home to get ready. Because I certainly couldn't go as I was after work. I needed to get all gussied up for a complete stranger. Maybe I am the only girl like this, but whether I am excited about a date or not, whether I know the guy or not I still feel the need to look my absolute best. I could be going on a date that I am absolutely dreading and I will still fuss over my outfit and how I look. I know it is pathetic. Anyways, amazingly after redoing my hair and makeup I was on my way back out the door with a little time to spare and actually arrived at the restaurant early. I couldn't decide what I was more excited for the date or the pizza! Okay, really, if I am being honest here I was totally more excited for the pizza! But I will have to tell you more about the date and the pizza in my next post.