May 28- Early Morning Helper

May 28, 2016, Year 5 Day 28 

FREE PRETZEL #28

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the MayFair in Collingswood.  It is a ridiculously long street fair spanning Haddon Ave from Penn Ave all the way through the main area of Haddon Ave to the new Lumberyard Condos. It is a crazy day for bounce houses, carnival type rides, hundreds of vendors, singers and plenty of food to feed small armies.  It takes place from 10-5 and can be a lot of fun...if it's not too hot.  Today was very hot, creeping close to the 90s.  Too hot for me.

My brother Anthony and his family were in town from Florida because his oldest daughter Anna was playing in a soccer tournament at Rutgers in New Brunswick.  She had games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the first two days being 1 pm games, in the middle of the heat.  I decided to venture to these games instead of braving the Mayfair.  It may have been 2 hours up and back, but in my opinion it was an easier day than dealing with the heat and crowd of the town wide block party.

Molly had a holiday themed outfit for the Mayfair

Today's FREE PRETZEL recipient had to wait the whole day to receive her treat, but I was told it was worth the wait, after putting in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Molly Horn is a pre-med student at Rowan University and the daughter of Megan Irwin, who is part of our Tatem crew of friends.  She has been giving us her time just about every morning from 7:45-8:15 to stay with the boys and walk them to school. Rain, snow, heat, she is there ready for the day.  Molly has been amazing with our boys.  She gives us reports, good or bad, and has told us about some pretty colorful conversations.  She does not take any crap from them and it is exactly what we want in a babysitter.

Katie and I cannot thank her enough for helping us out.  Let's just hope she is still okay with this when Tibby joins the crew.  She has signed on for next year, so I guess she is okay with them, even though it will only be 3 days a week.  If anyone out there knows someone who might be able to fill in the other days let us know? Please!

Molly was excited to get her pretzel telling me a story recently about how she had to pick up a box of them for the dance studio she works for and the smell in her car lingered for a few days and made her hungry.  You were more than welcome to get just the ONE today.

I was able to deliver the pretzel in the evening while hanging out with some of our Tatem friends at the Cislo home.  Tom was the recipient on Day 18.  The day was winding down and the kids had been playing all day while the adults had been enjoying themselves.  I would not say that things got out of hand, but...you be the judge.

No one pulled a Jason Pierre-Paul and fun was had by all.

Until tomorrow...

May 27- A little kindergarten time

May 27, 2016 Year 5 Day 27-

FREE PRETZEL #27

Friday Day 27 started off very similar to yesterday, hot and sunny.  Since I had forgotten to bring a treat in for my birthday on Tuesday, I decided to bring in a snack for my students today, complete with spicy mustard. 

Early morning meeting treat, although it would find a home somewhere else. 

Gina Klinshaw is a Kindergarten teacher at Johnson School, who has been there for 18 years, all in Kindergarten and all in the same room!  Almost unheard of in today's teaching profession, but pretty cool. Gina and I tend to arrive at school around the same time.  She coming from Marlton, while I'm coming from Collingswood, so it looks like she is getting an earlier start.  She has a freshman son at Cherokee this year, another in middle school and her youngest in kindergarten so you know her life is busy.  We often chat about how much time we don't have and I feel like I know all about her kids, even though I have only met them once. 

She has a large group of little ones in her class this year, at least it seems large.  Whenever I walk into the GIANT kindergarten rooms it always seems like there are so many of them.  I do not know how she does it. Recently Gina has been having a 5th grade visitor to her class for the purposes of helping out and being a mentor to some of her cherubs.  We shared some stories and given all that she has going on, I thought it would be appropriate to share a snack with her this morning.  She admitted that she saw my posts on Facebook, but that she really did not have time to look at anything.  She's running kids everywhere from sun up til sun down.  I didn't care.  I was glad she was pleased to get the treat.  She is just a classically genuine person, who comes to work, does her job well and then goes home to be with her family. Her second job.  

After the meeting I noticed she had not eaten the FREE PRETZEL and she said that she was headed back to her room to but it in a baggy for her middle child to eat later that day as she transported him from one sport to another.  A pay it forward, from the pay it forward!  I love it.  That's just the type of motherly love that I would expect from Gina too.  Thanks for all the early morning chats.  It's always nice to know I am not the only one with a crazy, busy life.

Until tomorrow...

May 26- Second grade timeout

May 26th 2016 Year 5 Day 26

FREE PRETZEL #26

Thursday our heat and nice weather continued.  Day 26 was a perfect day to present a FREE PRETZEL to second grade teacher Christina Hughes.  Mrs. Hughes has been at Johnson for her entire career, since 1998.  She is a pretty big Flyers fan and like many of the FREE PRETZEL recipients before her, could get a pretzel just for being a Flyers fan.  Sorry, had to be said.   Mrs. Hughes has become a friend at Johnson and someone who is easy to joke with and easy to talk to about anything. Whether it is discussing Notre Dame football, (she has family that are big fans), her husbands obsession with the tv show Making a Murderer or me helping her scale down a wall to escape an extended stay at Kaminski's Christina has become a fast friend.

Mrs. Hughes grabbed a bite before her kids got to class

I often pop into classrooms when I am walking around the building just to check out what other teachers and grade levels will be working on and I have happened into her room a few times this year. On one memorable pop-in, her students were making kites with different colors on their sails.  She was doing a great lesson about fractions.  I asked them many questions, that might be asked of students even much older than her second graders and she continued to say "We just started this today!" But she was selling her kids a bit short, because they nailed every question I threw at them, even when I tried to trick of confuse them.  I was very impressed and I said I should be doing this lesson with my kids!  I loved it.

Christina said she loved getting the pretzel and that it made her day.  I know that its sounds like a stock answer that every person gives, but she really did say it and people just really love soft pretzels, especially when the are FREE!!!  Maybe we will have some more Kaminski's adventures soon?  And maybe we can start collaborating on some lessons, since clearly you have all ages in mind as your do a great job challenging your crew already.  Glad you enjoyed your treat.

Until tomorrow...

May 25th Justin (bleeping) Carle

May 25, 2016 Year 5 Day 25-

FREE PRETZEL #25

Today was a day that had been planned for a long time.  Nothing could screw it up.  I found out a few weeks ago that my childhood friend Justin Carle, Jut to most of us, would be driving back to Boston from Florida this week and that he should stop by so I could give him a FREE PRETZEL.  Duh.
It was perfectly planned and I was excited to see him.

Road Pretzel companions

He even brought along a friend for the ride.  His buddy Jill, who works for Ocean Spray in Boston, gladly accepted Jut's invitation to enjoy a road trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Boston.  They made a few stops along their three day journey. In Charleston South Carolina, they took in some minor league baseball and in Baltimore, the sampled some delicious hot dogs before arriving in the hallway of Johnson School for a nice lunch out.  We went to Stella Pizza around the corner from my school and enjoyed some nice South Jersey slices.

Jut has been a loyal follower of the blog and with him being either in Boston or Florida, or wherever, I was not able to get him the FREE PRETZEL until today.  Jut is another one of my friends, that's two in one week, that is up for anything.  He has always been awesome like that.  We played soccer together for 4 years and although we were closest in high school, have known each other since elementary school.  Jut was the student body president our senior year, while I was our senior class president.  Jut even came out to Notre Dame for a weekend.  Man those quarter dogs were good huh? That was a fun weekend and way too much to discuss here.

Jut and I will be linked forever in a pretty funny tidbit.  We are part of the 1996 graduating class of Delran High School.  The year before in the fall of 1994, Delran crowned their first ever Homecoming King.  Before then only queens had been crowned.  Well as amazing luck would have it, the following fall in 1995, Delran crowned Co-Homecoming Kings.  Pretty crazy right?

Pretzel action shot

Justin and Jill made it back to Boston on Wednesday night safe and sound.  It was really great to see him.  He even gave me a few beers that he picked up along his journey.  I was much obliged.

The Casale clan is excited to possibly be seeing Jut at work this summer, when we venture to Boston for a few days and take in a Duck Tour, with Jut as our guide.  I may have to do a special blog for this vacation!

Jut, you are and will forever be the man, mostly just because, but you're a great friend.  Loyalty might be your middle name, so I'm glad you (and Jill) enjoyed your FREE PRETZEL and was happy you could stop by on your way home.

Until tomorrow...

May 24- Birthday Twin!!!

May 24, 2016 Year 5 Day 24 

FREE PRETZEL #24

My birthday is the best day of the year.  It's the one day that each of us have to ourselves. I am always reminded of a quote that I used in year 1, from a book that we once taught in 5th grade a few years back.  The book is called Masterpiece and the quote is:

"A person's birthday should be a special day, a wonderful day, a day of pure celebration for the luck of being born!"

I just love this quote. I love birthdays and I am even happier when I find out people either have their birthday in May, happen to be a Gemini like me, or even better share the same birthday as me.  As luck would have it I have a birthday twin at Johnson!  Susanna Esposito has been teaching in Cherry Hill for 17 years, most of them at Johnson and in 4th grade.  She currently team teachers with Beth Pease, one of the the recipients from two weeks ago.  I thought I had remembered Susanna telling me that we had the same birthday last year and I was glad I heard it again so that she could get the FREE PRETZEL today.  

Birthday Twin!

Susanna had been sick over the weekend and was absent on Monday so I was nervous that she might be absent for her birthday.  Luckily she was not absent, was feeling better and seemed pleased to receive an early morning treat. It was nice to bring a smile to her face on her birthday and I hope she enjoyed her day.  

As for me and my day.  Here is my birthday in pictures for me:

My birthday presents

I was awoken with a big hug and card from Declan.  Then the greatest gift giver ever, Katie, provided me with the above goodies.  Yes those are Batman swim trunks.  After school we managed to survive an evening at Outback steakhouse and we were supposed to head miniature golfing, but we cam home instead, played for a bit and then had some ice cream cake that Katie made herself.

Chocolate Peanut butter, oreo cookies and cream cake with cool whip. 

We ate it on the porch as the sun set. 

It was another very nice birthday.  Thank you goes to Katie and the kids for always making me feel special on my birthday.  

Until tomorrow... 

May 23rd- Immediate Family in the House!

May 23rd, 2016 Year 5 Day 23

FREE PRETZEL #23

The final member of the Immediate Family (the name we call our group of guy friends) Joe Tabella, is today's FREE PRETZEL recipient.  Joe moved in across the street from my parents house when he was in first grade.  We have probably been friends ever since, but never closer than we were in high school and beyond.  Before Joe's family had moved in, I do have an early memory of me taking swim lessons in the pool behind that house.  I have no idea who I was taking them with, but I have that memory.

A light snack

Through most of elementary school through high school, Joe played opposite sports from me other than baseball and golf.  I played soccer, he played football and then ran cross country.  In the winter he wrestled, while I played basketball.  It was the spring seasons that we would come together to play the same sports.  During little league I have a distinct memory of being on the same baseball team once.  Joey is a lefty and was damn good at baseball.  When we got to high school, Joe was on Delran's golf team with me.  We had a lot of good memories.  We still get out every once in a while, but not as much as we should.

Boys night!

Joe happens to live the furthest of the hometown group.  He lives down in Morton, PA, out past Philly airport. That never stops him from hanging out when he can though. Joe is the one in our group who is up for anything.  His wife Kara just gave birth to a third boy this past winter. Baby Ryan, joins Luke and Joey. His life is pretty busy and his job keeps him moving, but the man does not stop.  He is also for the past two years or so, an avid Crossfitter.  I am not sure if that is the word, but the man is in good shape.  I have no desire to be doing this kind of stuff myself, but more power to the guy that can do this:

Crossfit Champion!

All along Joe is a great friend, who again, is up for anything.  He gets the FREE PRETZEL for that alone.  But then look at that crazy idiot.  Look at that picture!  He's 38 with three kids!  Maybe the real hero is his wife Kara, but that's a story for another day.

Joe was excited to get his FREE PRETZEL since we almost connected on a different day and we thought we had blown our chance.  It was great to see him and I was glad he was included in this little adventure.

Until tomorrow...

May 22: A Grugan weekend!!

May 22nd, 2016 Year 5 Day 22

FREE PRETZEL #22

The weekend with some of my favorite people continued into Sunday.  Kevin Grugan, my friend for more than 15 years, and the husband of my friend Kate Davies, who I have known for more than 35 years, was able to spend some quality time with me on Sunday.  It has started to become a tradition that the Sunday of my birthday weekend,  I would be able to play golf with whomever.  Last year my birthday was on a Sunday and I even played on Saturday too.  This year Kevin graced me with his presence for a quick 18 at the Moorestown Field Club, my home course. He recently joined McCall Field Golf Course around the corner from his house and is looking to get his game in order this summer. It was a mostly overcast day, but we basically had the course to ourselves, played in about 3 hours and had fun.  I shot 76, with two birdies, one being a chip in.  Kevin putted well.

Comeback #1 vs Michigan

Basking in our glory

Comeback #2 vs Stephen F Austin

Comeback #3 vs Wisconsin

Kevin and I go way back in our adventures.  We met while beginning the Notre Dame ACE program in the summer of 2000 after we completed our undergrad at Notre Dame.  We knew of each other while at ND, even taking similar paths (from the Philly area, dorm presidents and RAs senior year.)
It was not until the ACE program that we became fast friends.  The select 3-6 guys who sat in the very back of a crowded stadium style classroom in DeBartolo Hall, just waiting to NOT be called on was our newly formed crew for the summer.  It was an easy friendship that has grown exponentially.  I introduced Kevin to my high school friend Kate and before you knew it, he was leaving Baton Rouge for Chicago, where she was living and then eventually making the way back to Haverford where he works at Lower Merion as a Math teacher.  He has three kids, Jack, Hope and Erin (to which I am godfather) and he is the godfather to our Patrick.  He continues to coach basketball as an assitant and even was part of the State title winning team in 2013, GO ACES!

Through all of our adventures, and there have been many, there was never a better example of our amazing will power than the NCAA tournament run of our beloved Irish this past March.  With the first round games being announced in Brooklyn and the possibility of the sweet sixteen and elite 8 games being in Philadelphia, there was never a time, probably in our life that this would have worked out any better for us attending these games.  We discussed on Sunday the improbability of this happening ever again and the insane availability of the tickets and seats we were able to snag.  I am not going to recap all of the games.

 If you are a big enough fan you saw them, but for those first three, each time it was under 4 minutes we both thought no way this happens and each time we left the arena and we looked at each other and said "What just happened?"   It may have been the best sports event(s) that I have ever attended.  It was definitely the best ND games I have been to, at least I think it was. It was just a shame that Kevin had to initially decline going to the UNC game in the Elite 8 and then after getting cheap tickets, inviting ND poison, my ND roommate Brian Churney, which effectively ended our run.  For Shame.

A snack for the ride home

I could go on and on about our friendship, but it has been a long and winding road.  I was happy to provide him with the FREE PRETZEL after our round today and he said it would be great as he headed home to eventually attend a birthday party for his brothers kids.  Thanks Grugs for spending my birthday round of golf with me.  Next time it will be at McCall Field.

Until tomorrow...

May 21- Hope never ends

May 21st, 2016 Year 5 Day 21

FREE PRETZEL #21

One Saturday in May each year is reserved for the Philadelphia Angelman Syndrome Walk.  This was the third year in which the walk was held at Cumru Elementary School in Reading, PA.  The entire family ventured in the car to join the Grugans, Davies and their friends and family to support a good cause.  This year the rain would not damper our spirits.  The set up was mostly inside this year, but when we did finally begin the walk, the rain actually seemed to let up and I was able to take our umbrella down.  It was another great day had by all and even though we did not stay that long,  I am sure that they raised a wonderful amount of money for a great cause.

Large crowd despite the rain

The crowd was large, but still able to fit in a tiny cafeteria.

Hope with a special treat

Hope was radiant as ever and seemed to enjoy her pretzel and the motto this year could not be more perfect for our group.

This is always a special day for our family and I am sure for our many friends.  Only extreme sickness has ever kept us away.  The foundation continues to report that strides are being made in search of a cure and any little bit helps.  If you would like to know more about the foundation or even donate, please visit, http://www.angelman.org/

If you wish to donate to our team, it is Team Hope led by Kate Grugan.

Until tomorrow...

May 20th- Hooray for Miss Yohanny!

May 20th, 2016 Year 5 Day 20

FREE PRETZEL #20

For the final 26 days of the school calendar year, Johnson School has been counting down the days until the last day of school using he alphabet as its guide.  Each of the final 26 days coincided with a letter, starting with A and working our way to Z on June 16th.  This past week we had "D" for Dance day, "F" for Fancified Johnson day, when all were asked to dress in their Sunday best and "E" for Extra recess day.

Students lining the halls 

Friday was letter "H" and at Johnson its meant "Hooray for Miss Yohanny Day" celebrating our pretty awesome custodian.  At 2:15 the students and staff from our school lined the halls and Miss Yohanny took a walk as everyone gave her a standing ovation.  All of the classes even had a designated student give her cards that the children had worked on during the week and some students even gave hugs and flowers!  It was a pretty cool few minutes.  She was very emotional as would anyone would have been if they had received the same ovation.

Collecting her cards and recognition on a job well done

Miss Yohanny has worked at Johnson for about 15 years.  In the short two years that I have been here, she has helped me get desks and chairs for my classroom when I have needed them, and immediately.  She helped take care of a termite problem last year and even rearranged my room in the summer, much to my liking, that it saved me a few days from having to come in the summer.  That last part was a happy accident, but it was much appreciated.  She does so much for our school and it was really cool to see someone, who we know works hard every day, get a few minutes to be fawned over.  I think she was very touched.

Oh and I explained the blog to her in the morning and gave her the FREE PRETZEL.  It wasn't a card, an ovation or even flowers.  It was BETTER!  But seriously she said that she likes pretzels very much and she would enjoy it after her morning routine.

Thank you Yohanny for all you do every single day.

Until tomorrow...

May 19- One for the subsitute

May 19th 2016, Year 5 Day 19

FREE PRETZEL #19

Yesterday I needed a substitute while I was out during my eye exam.  That substitute happened to be Pat Moran, who is an educational assistant in our classroom. Pat is a graduate of Cherry Hill West where he played baseball, went on to Penn State Abington campus and now coaches the JV team at Paul VI and during the day works with us.  Pat was give the daunting task (just kidding) of working with my kiddos all day.  The day was not too bad, given that there was to be an assembly in the afternoon, along with a 30 minute break for chorus as well. 

Action pose

Pat is a trooper.  He is often pulled for many different sub positions, because of unavailable or unfilled substitutes. He is supposed to be working with students in Mrs Miller and Mrs. Potter's 5th grade class, but more recently he is usually on the move.  Pat filled in admirably for many different teachers during the PARCC testing and he is also required to do recess and lunch duty, usually whether his is subbing or not. It's a lot, but he is young and seems to handle almost anything with a very laid back and carefree attitude.  Johnson is lucky to have him.  

Pat was thrilled to get his FREE PRETZEL and was even able to snack on it during recess.  I am sure that the entire Johnson staff would join me in thanking Pat and all his hard work around the school. Thanks Pat. 

Until tomorrow...

May 18- Another amazing volunteer

May 18th, 2016,  Year 5 Day 18

FREE PRETZEL #18

Today was an interesting day on so many levels.  Today I scheduled my first ever eye exam.  Since my recent diabetes diagnoses in the fall, I have had to change a lot of aspects of my life.  I have my very own "days of the week" pill container in which I take a cornucopia of pills and vitamins every morning and evening. Along with the pills, diet changes and exercise, my diabetes has been well under control.  My recent April numbers actually fell below "pre-diabetes" levels and my doctor did not ask to see me back until August.  Good for me I guess.  As for the eye exam, not only is it something that everyone should do if they suspect their vision may be getting worse, but it is a prerequisite for anyone diagnosed with diabetes to make sure that everything is working correctly in the eye department.

It was very weird having my eyes be numb and then having them dilated to take the exam.  The sensitivity to light did not help during the sunny afternoon, which is why the FREE PRETZEL is appearing with my shades. I was slightly lucky as the sun dipped behind the clouds in the evening.  Just in time for the boys second travel soccer try-out.  It seems very young for them to be trying out for travel soccer, but the hard working folks of the Collingswood travel soccer committee or board or group, finally said enough is enough and is getting things ready for BOYS travel soccer in the fall. So my boys will not be left out if there is a team that they can play on...maybe.

High above the fields view from atop the Collingswood High bleachers. 

So we ventured to the second of our travel soccer tryout days for the boys.  Getting this off the ground has not been easy and the club has enlisted the help of the girls coaches to do the evaluations.  One of those wonderful volunteers is Tom Cislo.  For those of  you loyal blog readers out there, you may remember him from last years May 17th- the pretzel gets religious entry.  He was the boys mini-soccer coach when they were 5.  He played against me in high school, for Riverside High and he and his family have become fast friends with our clan, despite the fact that the boys are at Zane North now.  It has been awesome having town friends and the Cislos are always up for a party.

Coach Tom with  sweaty Declan

Tom was out there both nights, working with the boys and overseeing all aspects of the try-outs.  He actually did not directly oversee our boys at all, but did claim to sneak a peak every once and a while. Tom is a loyal blog reader and I was happy to provide him with his FREE PRETZEL snack during a break in the action, before he had to evaluate the second group.  Since he coaches his daughters team and since I am debating whether or not to help out with the boys, I am sure we will be working close in some capacity with this club in the future.  Despite some of his complaining, Tom loves being involved with soccer and with FOUR kids, he will probably be involved for a long time.  Thanks Tom for all you do!

Until tomorrow...

May 17th- Two lovely ladies

May 17th, 2016, Year 5 Day 17

FREE PRETZEL #17

Today was a day for my grade level partners.  I have been at Johnson the past two years and Karen Potter and Debbie Miller have been co-teaching one of the 5th grade classes for those two years. These two ladies are two of the hardest working teachers I have met in this district.  I know I seem to say that a lot, but seriously these two deserve a FREE PRETZEL every day.

Debbie and Karen have welcomed me to Johnson with open arms and continue to guide me in the ways of Johnson.  Debbie has been at Johnson for the past 10 years.  Karen, the special ed teacher of the co-teaching class, has been in the district for even more.  These two professionals love teaching children and have made it their life's work.  We have quickly become friends because we all share a great sense of humor, both crass and vulgar at times, but all in good fun.  I am happy to call them friends and glad to learn from them on my new journey at Johnson.  Both ladies were happy with their morning treat.  It's always nice to see smiles

The other fun part of the day was that the Pretzel Factory was running their 6 for $2 special.  So I was able to get double the pretzels.  After our PLC in the morning, I walked through the halls and just handed the extra out to whoever wanted them.  It wasn't hard to give them away and it was great to see the extra smiles on the recipient faces.

Today was also our annual 5th grade field trip to the Barclay Farmstead in Cherry Hill.

The Barclay Farmstead remastered

The Forge barn (blacksmiths tools)

Here the students learn what life was like in the 1800s.  They get to learn all about the time before technology and when dinosaurs roamed the Earth!!!  Just kidding, but they did churn butter, learn about bathroom practices in the 1800s, how to make their own clothes and all of the wonderful chores they would have had to do if they lived back then.  It was another successful trip and my class was extremely well behaved.  Happy students make a happy teacher.

Until tomorrow...

May 16th- I ate it. It was good

May 16th, 2016, Year 5, Day 16-

FREE PRETZEL #16

I ate it. It was good.

Until tomorrow...

May 15th- Sunday Funday

May 15, 2016 Year 5 Day 15

FREE PRETZEL #15

Sunday tends to be a fun day in our house as most weekend days are.  This Sunday, we attended church in the AM and then Katie and I split up with the kids and ran errands.  The boys and I went Produce Junction, Del Buono, and Wegmans, while Katie and Tabitha when to return clothes at Hanna Anderson.  We all reconvened around lunch time and then ventured back to the Kroc Center for our Sunday Family swim.

On the way to the Kroc Center we again stopped in for the FREE PRETZEL and it was shared between all of us in the car.  I cannot describe to you how perfect this pretzel was.  Hot out of the oven and then I put a little bit of spicy mustard on it.  The five of us each had a bite or two.  It was delicious.

Until tomorrow...

May 14th- A little fun in the sun

May 14, 2016, Year 5 Day 14

FREE PRETZEL #14

Today the FREE PRETZEL went along for an adventure.  The boys and I took it golfing with us in the afternoon, but not before our family ventured to our favorite Saturday morning past times.
We walked to the market and the library before hitting the links.  It was a day to be had in pictures

Collingswood Farmers Market

After sampling cider donuts and zeppoli's and buying up veggies, we needed to head to the local library to return and then check out books.

Declan trying to decide

Patrick taking in a good book

We had to browse.
We had lunch and then it was time to get the FREE PRETZEL and head to golf..

Boys dress like daddy

The boys will be competing in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition again this summer.  They will be competing at Trump National Golf Club on June 21st, so they probably need to get practicing.  Today was a great day for it,  They are definitely getting better, but still need some work.

I don't know what this is. Anyone?

Then Patrick working on his setup.

Good approach

It was a gorgeous day and the boys love the cart. It is really nice to spend the time with the boys.  It was also convenient that the course was relatively empty.  Too bad Declan spilled the spicy mustard, all over the seat of the cart, on the first hole.  I hope that this continues as they get older and they fall in love with the game just like I did.  I can't force it, but I hope it just comes.  Maybe it will be a weekend and summer thing?  A guy can dream right?

Until tomorrow...

May 13th- Who wants to volunteer?

May 13, 2016 Year 5 Day 13

FREE PRETZEL #13

Yes it is Friday the 13th and when I went to the pretzel Factory this morning, I knew exactly who I wanted my recipients to be.  On Thursday the student's from our 5th grade student council had taken over my room during the lunch and recess hour and they were being led by two parent volunteers and two teacher volunteers.  Those teacher volunteers are the subject of today's FREE PRETZEL(s)

Donna and Beth our super volunteers

Donna Friedman and Beth Pease have been colleagues on the 4th grade team for the past 4 years.  Beth has been in the district for 10 years, Donna for 14 and both have been teaching much longer than that.  Both of these awesome ladies have been leading our student council for the pats two years, since I have been at Johnson.  They give their time and effort without anything in return.  They organize fundraisers, hold lunch and recess meetings, and even stay at school until 10 pm organizing rose orders for the entire school.

Donna currently shares a movable wall with my classroom.  We both can hear each other teach all day. I think I am learning a lot about 4th grade this year. Beth is the special education teacher across the hall from Donna and teaches with Susanna Esposito in a co-teaching classroom. The two ladies are two of the hardest working teachers I have ever met.  They are always on the go, moving at high speeds through the hallways and always so purposeful.  It is a pleasure to call them my colleagues and an honor to work with them

I was happy to give them both a FREE PRETZEL today on a day after I saw them working so hard trying to get the students ready for the Art Marketplace at Johnson this coming week. When receiving their pretzel, both were very touched.  Beth even said "These are my cocaine."  I took that as a compliment for the goodness of pretzels.  I would call that more satisfied recipients. Their reactions made me very happy.

Until tomorrow...