How to Give Your Fifteen-Year-Old a Heart Attack Early on a Tuesday Morning

Last week we were informed that Matthew had won an award at school. It is the same award that both Daniel and Nathan received when they were in middle school, but the school admin has changed things up a bit. Rather than making the announcement of the winners in an assembly for all the kids in each grade level, they invite the families and recipients to a small ceremony and breakfast before school. We were asked not to tell our students they were receiving that award, so we put the event on our mental calendars, and I made a small batch of cinnamon rolls so Matthew would be able to enjoy the same treat-disguised-as-breakfast that everyone else would have. 

While most of the families were able to take their kids to school a bit earlier than normal under the guise of having a 7 a.m. meeting or something, getting Matthew to the event was a bit trickier. Jazz band is held at 6:30 in the morning so Matthew is already in class during the time the event would be held. Kev and I opted to take him to band as normal and just pull him out just before 7:00. When we arrived at the school, I headed to the media center to save several seats and Kev headed to the band room to fetch Matthew. When they both walked into the library, Matthew was looking just a bit wild eyed. Apparently, Kev showed up in the band room and said, “Grab your stuff. We’ve got to go.” With no other information, that gave Matthew a license to conjure up the worst possible scenario and gave him a good adrenaline rush. 😂

Humor aside, I am so proud of Matthew for his selection for this award. This is one where the teachers nominate the students and then as a faculty, they discuss all the nominees and decide on one boy and one girl from each grade for each month of the school year to receive the award. Along with making the actual receiving of the award an event for families rather than inviting us to attend and event held for the student body, they have made it a bit more special by giving each recipient a personalized plaque and some written comments from their teachers. Matthew’s faculty comments made me laugh because he had comments from one of his seventh-grade teachers as well as the choir teacher, who has never even had Matthew in his class. I know that being on stage crew allows him to work with all the performing arts teachers, I just thought it was so great that he has made good impressions both in and out of the classroom.

To sum things up, we gave Matthew a bit of a heart attack, provided him with cinnamon rolls that are far tastier than the cafeteria fare we sampled, and are so proud of him for being a force for good in his school community.

He's a Winner!

Our middle school has an award they call the Diamondback of the Month. Basically, one boy and one girl or selected by the faculty each month to be honored. Every three months they hold an assembly to honor the six most recently selected students. Daniel was selected when he was in 7th grade and this month was Nathan’s turn. Unfortunately, the parents of all the boys notified in advance like usual. This morning the phone rang at 8:45. It was one of Nathan’s teachers asking for a brief bio or some stories about Nathan. The assembly was already underway and they had just realized that there were parents who had not been notified. She told me they would leave Nathan until the very end and I blasted out the door, dropped Malia off at preschool and rushed over to the middle school to arrive just in time. When the assembly was over, the teacher in charge of notifying the parents found me and apologized profusely. She had been on maternity leave and today was her very first day back at school. Totally acceptable excuse in my book. Anyway, I’m very proud. Nathan is a good kid. And I’m so glad I was able to get to the school in time…even though I was in my yoga gear. :-)

There are Good Snakes in the World

Daniel’s middle school has an award called the Diamondback of the Month. It is basically a student of the month award and the diamondback part refers to the school mascot, the diamondback rattlesnake. Every month each teacher nominates one boy and one girl who are outstanding in terms of academics and citizenship. The nominees are compiled into a list and then the teachers vote. The boy and girl who receive the most votes are then selected as the Diamondback of the Month. Once each quarter they hold an assembly (by grade level, of course, because the school is way too big for all three grades to fit in the auditorium at once) where they announce the nominees (who receive a nice certificate) and then they announce who has won by reading a short biography of the winning students written by the parents. The winners are then given a nice plaque and a stuffed diamondback. The parents of the winners are invited to attend the assembly and a cookies and punch reception afterward. The school makes a really big deal out of the whole thing so all the kids know it is a huge honor. Out of approximately 500 kids in each grade, only a total of 27 will be honored in all three years at the middle school.

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail informing me that Daniel had been chosen as Diamondback of the Month for April. I was one proud mama. Kev, Malia and I headed over to the school before the assembly this morning and although we had trouble keeping Malia quiet (“There’s Daniel!”), Daniel did not know we were there and didn’t know he was a winner until they were reading his biography. When they finally announced his name, he stood up to cheers from his section (he was sitting with all his bandmates) and did a big fist pump. Funny kid!

In addition to his plaque and snake, each of his teachers wrote him a letter telling him why they had selected him. It was nice to hear all the ways he is doing well at school. We’re so proud that he is doing so well.

After the award ceremony, I joined my mom and my sisters Rachael and Esther for lunch and my first pedicure of the season. As always, it was delightful.

Kev worked from home so I could leave Malia here. She watched “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Tangled” and I came home to find “Tangled” running for a second time and Malia hanging out on the couch.

She got to watch princesses until she was too tired to stay awake. So it was a great day for all of us!