It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week. Time has just flown by this semester. When we return from the holiday break, those three weeks in December will be gone in no time. At times I love a fast pace, but there are also those moments when I wish we could slow down a bit. 
Monday we will take our kids to North Zulch for the final UIL events. Our kids, teachers and PTO volunteers have done a tremendous job so far, and we look forward to another great performance on Monday. On Tuesday, we will release at 12:50 for the Thanksgiving break. Buses will run at 1:00 pm. Progress reporting period will end on Tuesday, but progress reports won’t be sent home until the following Monday.
Fifth grade will be benchmarking the first week in December. Fourth grade will be benchmarking the second week of December. On the 8th, these two grades will go together to the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra and Gattitown for what has become a wonderful annual tradition.
December 18th will be our elementary holiday musical. Mrs. Boehning is already hard at work with the kids and PTO to craft a terrific production for our community. I look forward to seeing what our kids can do!
Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with one of our fifth grade teachers. She shared with me about her class and her students, the kinds of projects the kids will work on this year, and sort of the way she likes to conduct her classroom. It was clear to me in that 15-minute conversation that this is an educator who truly loves teaching. Her passion rang clear as she spoke animatedly about what she enjoys doing with students in the classroom to get them learning and to prepare them to be “big middle schoolers”!
I am so thrilled to be an elementary school principal, but there are many days when I miss the classroom. I too love teaching. Since her teaching field and mine are the same, then it felt really great to listen to her talk and to hear the excitement in her voice about reading and literature circles and language and writing. She extends “an invitation to learn” to the kids in her room, and as I’m sitting in my office late today waiting for the Panther game to begin, I thought it would be appropriate to express my appreciation not only to Marie Gumienny, but to all of the teachers on our campus. We have a group of educators who love what they do and express that passion in their classrooms. They invite kids to learn, even on those days when it seems they might be clinging to the last knot on their rope!
It’s not yet Thanksgiving, but I don’t think there’s a better time to say thank you to my teachers and to teachers everywhere. May your rewards be many!
Mrs. Lee
