What a Year!

With this unusual school year winding down, I wanted to take a little time to share what’s been going on in our lives.

It was a crazy, but absolutely rewarding year! It was so great to be able to help my little learners create some special school memories even if this year wasn’t “normal”: from the classroom hijinks visits of a michievious elf to a silly April Fool’s Day prank (convincing the kiddos we had “new juice” at snack – which was secretly jello!), to reading their first words and solving their first math problems, this year was chock full of special memories – and I’m glad I was able to be a part of them!

Rob had a busy year, too: his students have been learning on a hybrid schedule and have had an academically successful year. His bowling team was able to compete in the high school league and they took first place, with one of his bowlers bowling a near perfect game during the final week. He also helped usher in the school’s intramural bocce league, and his school is one of the only schools to be moving toward having a competitive team in the very near future. 

I was able to produce a series of radio plays with my high school theatre students for Christmas. They did EVERYTHING from sound effects to acting to costuming and some basic set design work – and without ever rehearsing in person! The shows were very well received and have had almost 900 views. In the spring, I was able to offer my high school theatre students a chance to put on a musical – live and in person. We rehearsed and staged the show 6 feet apart and wound up with 4 successful – and (most importantly) safe – performances. And to be honest, I have to say: the kids were amazing. They worked hard, learned a lot about themselves and theatre and had a great time doing it. I know I’m a bit biased, but the show was incredible! I’m very lucky to have Rob by my side as Crew Chief for the musical. He ensures the crew use safe practices and proper techniques in their set construction work and makes sure that my design is executed properly so that I can focus on the on-stage action during rehearsals. 

Throughout the school year, we were fortunate to make special personal memories, too: we went to a local apple farm in the early autumn, went trick-or-treating with our nieces, and baked Christmas cookies together (a big tradition in our house). Around the holidays, we won a contest (!) and won free cookies from Funny Face Bakery, a Manhattan-based bakery that is well-known for their fancy designed cookies – they were pretty AND delicious! We spent two snow days drinking coffee (for me) and cocoa (for Rob) watching movies, and took nice walks on the boardwalk in the early spring. We’re looking forward to enjoying the beautiful parks this summer, too! 

Here’s a few pictures from our year:

Melissa and that michievious elf; Rob teaching from home while we were dogsitting for Melissa’s parents (the dog didn’t care that he had to teach!); us enjoying an afternoon at an apple farm;

The first day of school; Christmas cookies from Funny Face Bakery; Melissa waiting for the audience at the show

Trick-or-Treating with our nieces; April Fool’s Day from Melissa’s classroom; Melissa rehearsing with a few students