*semi-related photos from Martin Luther King,Jr day at school last week. I love that we celebrate him by having a day of organized community service for the children (and us adults!) instead of a day off.*
When I opened our latest school newsletter my eyes instantly fell on a certain article. I saw the name of one of the most amazing individuals I have the pleasure of knowing, the man who taught Kevin's friend growing up (back in upstate NY - where I am from), our favorite neighbor, and (most importantly) the person who will be teaching K for the next 8 years of her life. (In Waldorf schools the children have the same teacher and class from 1st-8th grade) That's an awful lot to say about one person, huh? Well, now you can imagine why my heart skipped beats and tears fell down my cheeks as I read this. I instantly felt that I had to share these sentimental words with all of you.
Goodbye, Grade 8....Welcome
Grade 1
By Susan Lake, 8th grade parent
I believe Mr. Conlon won the hearts and respect of our
children when early in their first grade year, he introduced
them to the Wild and Wooly Waterman. He would bring
them out onto the school field and from a distance, shout
out "I Am the Wild and Wooly Waterman...Catch Me If You
Can!" That's all a spirited class of first graders needed as
they charged forth trying hard to catch the swift and agile
Mr. Conlon.
Bringing learning while in motion became his signature....
going out and gathering thousands of acorns to be used as
counting tools for math, tossing beanbags while in a circle
reciting the multiplication tables, or the many mornings
spent in the gym playing "cat & mouse" and other favorite
games. Mr. Conlon's numerous field trips are legendary.
They have ranged from a simple walk to Elk Rock Island in
Milwaukie, to a grand sixth grade adventurous geology field
trip to central Oregon exploring Newbury Crater and the
lava fields and the more recent trip downtown to Occupy
Portland on the city bus.
Mr. Conlon has a tremendous awareness that children
thrive when they can move around. Their minds and
bodies are challenged, enhancing their confidence, their
respect for each other, a love of learning and the pure joy
of the teacher child relationship. Mr. Conlon is a master
teacher and a dear human being. He has often said, "your
kids are great....they are amazing! I can take them
anywhere." A child, who has gone through the grades with
Mr. Conlon, will be deeply rewarded for a lifetime.
How could my heart not help but soar above the clouds after reading this?! I feel like we are the most blessed family in the world right now, and I know we are not the only ones.
In other news - The Dandelion Dream giveaway winner will be announced shortly in the original post. Also, I wanted to say thanks to all of you for your responses to Keep Calm Craft On. Wow!! It seems that most of you are ok with pretty much any day of the week but there was a slight lean towards Tuesdays so let's go with that day. Of course you are always welcome to post your WIPs on your blog any day of the week and then just link it up in the KCCO post for that week. Did that make sense?
So, starting next week I will be posting all Keep Calm Craft On posts on Tuesdays. My Rhythm In Our Home posts will be a bit more sporadic now but they will still happen. I'll go more into that later.
Have a most wonder full weekend!
