A Parent's bragging rights

Hello Friends,

It is 6:30 am on the last day of school. Summer means so much to a teacher. The most important thing is that summer represents a time for renewal. So...over the next three months I am going to renew..and renew again. Life is good!

Yes, life is good this morning but there are lots of times when life is a struggle. I am sure that all of the parents that are reading this can relate to what I am about to say. Parenting is the most difficult and most rewarding jobs that we can undertake. My children bring me more total joy and more intense worry than I could have ever imagined. This year has been no different. My kids are truly wonderful people but they have all of the flaws that the rest of us have. The only difference is that it is our job to condition our kids so that these flaws don't interfere with their life. Not an easy job but so important.

Lately, we have had a month of "prouds". Gabe is doing a wonderful job on his baseball team and is a real contributor. My brother John is his coach and I love the fact that they are interacting on their own level. Devon has completed her freshman year in college and is taking summer classes to help her along in the fall. She is also working a very difficult job this summer and earning minimum wage for doing it. I am hoping that she gains an appreciation for those that struggle day to day to simply exist and that she gains a deep appreciation for her education. Mariah is finishing her junior year in high school and has established herself as a really wonderful singer. She has done very well in lots of local, regional and state level singing competitions and truly works very hard.

Which brings me to my next point. Don't you just love when a plan comes together? Mariah has been taking French for the past 3 years and has developed a true affinity for the French culture. She has a wonderful teacher that inspires her to learn and examine the language for all the beauty that we associate with French. This teacher has exposed Mariah to music theater in French. One of the musicals has a song that truly captured her heart. I won't try to spell the French title but the English translation is "You are My Everything". Mariah listened to the song and she and a fellow classmate researched the music and put together their own performance of this song. They didn't practice a tremendous amount and they recorded this at 8 am with no warmup or thought to quality. They just sat down and made music. The results are lovely, and honest. I am particularly proud that Mariah has become a true student in her own right. She didn't do this because her parents expected it but she did it because she had a truly inquisitive mind that led to this discovery. Below I am including the link to "You are My Everything". The actual link might not work so you might have to cut and paste it into your address bar. Please enjoy. I am quite proud and Cathy and I claim "bragging rights" on this one.

http://cchs.k12.pa.us/high/senior_projects/collaborative_learning/

Sincerely,

Paul