End-of-School for 2022

May is such a whirlwind month with all the end-of-school activities and sports events! It felt even more chaotic this spring with the twins' pending high school graduation, Ammon's college graduation, and the twins' mission announcements. We had at least one thing on the calendar almost every single day of the month, and as a result, May felt like a marathon! This post includes just some of the school events that happened in May. 

I took my class on a field trip to go to the Jr. Mtn. Man Rendezvous at Krupp Scout Hollow in Rigby on Tuesday, May 10. In our Idaho History class, we had just finished the unit on fur trappers and traders, so it was the perfect field trip to make connections with what we had just learned. It was the first time students from Leadore had ever attended the event, and they all loved it! Even though we had to leave an hour before school even started, they all had a great time. We stopped at a park in Rigby to eat lunch and play afterwards, and they had so much fun! It was a hectic day for me, because it was the same day that the twins and their friends received their mission calls, so I had a lot of business on my phone all day, and my phone ended up dying on the field trip as a result! 

On my way to watch Kanyon compete at District Track in Ammon on Thursday, May 12, I stopped in Mud Lake to watch my students from last year perform their 4th grade play "Lewis and Clark". I was hoping to take my class on a field trip to go see it, but the field trip got denied due to the field trip bus already being reserved for that day (so then I changed the request to go to the Mtn. Man Rendezvous). I'm SOOO grateful I was able to go watch them myself, though. I showed up a little bit early, because I knew I wouldn't have time to talk to the students afterwards since I was leaving to watch Kanyon's throwing events. I walked into the school, and Kylee (my previous student) immediately saw me. She came up and hugged me (which she always did when she saw me), and then she introduced me to all the new students in 4th grade (they were in their classrooms getting into costume) and told me who was playing what in the play, and how her part got revised. I walked over to the auditorium and sat by a friend, ate my lunch, and then watched their cute 30-minute performance. Kylee began the show by reading a report about Sacajawea that she wrote all herself. She was obsessed with Sacajawea last year in my class, and I loved seeing her be so confident on the stage. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the last time I would ever see Kylee in person in this life. She tragically passed away this summer; and I will be posting more about that later. The students all did a great job, and I loved seeing how they've grown and watching them perform in their various roles!

Kylee reading her report about Sacajawea.

Two of my previous students (who are also cousins):
Shaw as Napoleon and Tayson as Thomas Jefferson. 

My previous students Brixton as Seaman the dog, Keaton as 
Meriwether Lewis, and Aaron as York. 

On Monday, May 23, my class had their Historical Heroes Museum (similar to a Wax Museum that I've seen other schools do). It was an event that I started when I taught at West J last year, and it was something I wanted to continue with my 3rd and 4th grade students in Leadore. I never intended it to be done the last week of school, but I plugged it into the curriculum during our biography unit, and by the time we finished individually reading the biography books, writing the reports, and creating our posters, it was already the end of May! We had an open house all afternoon in our classroom, and the students did a fabulous job with their presentations to family relations, community members, and other students that came. It's one of my favorite projects during the school year, and it takes a lot of effort and time, but it's well worth it! The students are given the option to dress up as the person they studied, and more students dressed up this year than last year. Last year, only the students who had Barack Obama and Amelia Earhart dressed in costume. This year, we had students dressed as Andrew Jackson, Helen Keller, Kobe Bryant, Dr. Seuss, Amelia Earhart, and Sacajawea, which was fun to see.  

Salmon High School's Spring Music Concert was on the evening of Tuesday, May 24. Kanyon played tuba with the concert band, and they sounded amazing! This was Jonah and Micah's final choir concert. The choir was phenomenal: they brought me to tears and my heart was full of joy! It was bittersweet watching my sons musically perform. I'm grateful they are part of the music program, but it was sad to know it was their last show. There were 22 seniors graduating from the music department this year! I've never seen this many musical seniors the past 20 years we've lived in Salmon, which is a testament to Mr. Anderson and all his hard work and perseverance in building up the program to its current stature. I hope one day we can have an auditorium built in this town to showcase these students and their talents!

After the band performed, it was the choir's turn to perform. The choir members walked right by me as they took their place in the stands, which made me so happy!

Jonah & Micah were both on the back row

Micah received the Teacher's Choice award for
high school choir this year. Mr. A only gives
out that award to one student in each of his
classes each year. Micah also received it his
sophomore year, so it's incredible that he was
the recipient again!

I had the audience sing "Happy Birthday" to Mr. Anderson
at the conclusion of the concert. 

The 6 pack besties group from our ward:
Erik, Micah, Jonah, Tyler, Boaz, & Nathan

All 22 graduating seniors from the music department.

Mr. A gives a personalized mug filled with sweets every year
to the graduating seniors. It was a large display of them this year!

The annual Awards Ceremony was held over the radio again this spring (it started that way during the pandemic). I actually prefer this method over the old tradition of sitting for 3+ hours as students received scholarships and were recognized in the different departments for their good grades. After the radio broadcast, the students then received their certificates at school the following day. (Jonah opted to not have his picture taken this year with his awards, btw.)

Josh, Kanyon, and I went to watch West J's high school production of "Shrek the Musical" on Friday, May 27th, to kick off Memorial Weekend. It was a hilarious play, and I laughed SO hard! We all enjoyed it and were so glad we were able to go! Kanyon sat by his friend Jaxson, and Josh and I sat by my domino's friends Val & Tanis. Val had been sick, but was recovering. 2 days later, I began to show symptoms of COVID. It's been 2 years since the pandemic started, and I finally got it--from my friend! Thankfully, Leadore schoolyear had ended the day before the play, so I was able to stay in bed guilt-free for several days after that. 

My previous student Brandon played Shrek as a kid.

My previous student Oaklie played Fiona as a child.

Jarett Haroldsen played Lord Farquad and was hilarious!

Josh Reyes was Shrek, and Creed Jacobs was the Donkey.
Their acting was spot-on!

Val & I sat by each other. I caught the disease from friendly fire!

Tanis sat behind us.

Jonah and Micah joined the senior class for Senior Sneak Day at Lagoon on Tuesday, May 31. It was a super long day, but they both had a lot of fun!

Jonah and Micah's last official day of school was Wednesday, June 1. We took a photo of their LAST day at school together by re-creating the picture from their FIRST day of school in kindergarten. Kanyon was included in the photo because when I first took them to school, Kanyon insisted he also be in the picture since he wanted to go to school just like them! Jonah and Micah completed all their schooling in Salmon, from preschool to high school, with the exception of a few months during their 8th grade year when they went to West Jefferson. They have learned a lot through the years from fabulous teachers, incredible friends, and valuable experiences. 

We delivered graduation announcements all month long to various friends, family, and community members. In return, we received more graduation announcements than we've ever gotten in any single year before. I loved having photos of all these great kids on the freezer in our kitchen! 

Leadore's school year ended one week before Salmon's did: Leadore ended before the Memorial Day weekend, but Salmon had to go the first week of June. I said goodbye to another school year by cleaning out my classroom on the last day of May. I boxed up items, stacked desks & chairs, and moved furniture, preparing the room for summer cleaning. It took me about 4 hours is all, which was a record; it was nice not to have to pack it all up and move it elsewhere this year! When I was done, I locked the door, and didn't think about my school any more for several months!