Ritz Camp 2008 "The Wiz"

My thanks to the Missoula Children's Theatre Directors! At the end of tonight's show he thanked the Christi Thomas Memorial Foundation for the scholarship and also spoke of Arabella's saving her allowance to sponsor a second child this year! I thanked him after the show and he said he wanted to do that. When he found out he was traveling to Tiffin, he "googled" it and the first thing that popped up was about Christi. The second was her Memorial Fund page. After what happened earlier in the week with a Ritz Director, I was very touched that he mentioned Christi and that I got to tell him how much she loved the Ritz! I feel so much better! (He also told me "Mooch" is very smart and was really into her part. I told him how she's taking a Theatre Project for 4-H.)

I had it wrong. Shayla (Toto) is NOT called Manco, but Mooch. Regardless, being "a dog" has been a total thrill for her. Often the girls would play "animals". In this picture, taken July of 2006 (Christi, age 9) Christi is covering herself with "fur" as the girls were playing dogs at Aunt Marty's pond. I'm so glad Aunt Marty snapped this picture for me while I was in class and she was babysitting. I just wish Christi could have been at Ritz Camp this week too. Tonight, watching what would have been her "class" perform as coyotes and as munchkins, it was hard to see and to wonder what her role would have been. On the way home, Shayla said, "I wish Christi would have been 'Top Dog' and we would have had a dog fight together on stage!" I told her Nonee and I said nearly the same thing in the audience!

We recently attended a fundrasier for a sweet women with a host of medical issues. At that auction, I bid on a "spa package" so today after taking Shayla to camp I treated myself to a body wrap, facial, hair cut, make up application and then met Mom and Joe at the Ritz. It was exactly what I needed to end this long week! I emailed my Advisor yesterday inquiring if many quit at this point because I could easily see how this one could! She told me to hang in there. This is my time to prove I am an expert in these four areas of education. (Well, quite frankly, I now know how much I don't know and I don't feel like an expert in anything! How am I supposed to be pulling together nearly 20 quarters of work! It's crazy!!)

(Fun with Donna!)
Things have improved a bit now; I've now completed four out of seven sections of my first paper. It is 22 pages in length and I'm certain by Wednesday, my due date, it will be well over the 30 page limit; however, I think that's ok. I don't want to ask because I don't want to have to cut out anything I wrote. I've sort of become attached to it (smile). I'm now debating if I should end this first question with "Parents should stop fund-raising and start hell-raising," but I am contemplating if that's a very scholarly way to end my paper, or not. (I know it'd shock my committee members to read that in MY paper, but maybe that's exactly why I should include it, hmmmmm. What do you think?)I believe until parents start advocating for what's best for their kids, schools are going to continue to be a disservice to them! This testing garbage simply must be changed! This year I lost well over a week of instructional time with my students because of these blankety-blank tests and they've dumbed down the curriculum, not to mention the fact that each time I see a student crying during state test week I want to call my elected officials (actually grab them by their shirt collars) and tell them to get into my classroom to see what they are doing to my kids! (OK, sorry about that, I'm really done venting now! This insanity must be changed!)