I was an ISEF student . . .

. . . and now I'll be an ISEF teacher.

The regional science fair was tonight, and we (AFHS) did extremely well! Three boys out of the lab class are going to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). I will be traveling with them to Albuquerque, NM in May. I am, to say the least, ecstatic!!!

We also had several 1st place finishes, 2nd place finishes, and special awards.

Hooray for science fair!

Hare Krishna's Festival of Colors (and some odds and ends . . .)

Last night I went to the festival of colors at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork. The festival celebrates the arrival of spring and the passing of winter. The main event was the flour throwing. At a certain time, everyone throws colored flour at everyone else. The chaos continues for 10 minutes, and everyone is covered in pink, blue, green, yellow, and orange flour in the end. It was exciting. I wish I had pictures (I don't), but I was quite a sight to be seen. It was exciting to get out and experience a new something and to peek into another religion (however foreign it seemed).

There are only 45 more school days. Isn't that exciting?!?! That's only 45 more lessons to plan. I'm feeling re-energized and ready to end the year with a bang.

Regional science fair is this week, and I'm starting to get nervous. The boys are taking it quite well, but we'll see how they fair on Tuesday with all of the scrutiny they will get in practice interviews. We're hoping for at least one to go onto ISEF, so I'm crossing my fingers and doing a whole lot of hoping and worrying.

I think that's it. Crazy that March is almost over and April is almost here! Life seems to go by faster and faster.

Another Quick Vent

Tuesdays I leave my apartment at 6:45am and do not return until about 9:30. I'm at school from 7 to 5, I tutor from 5 to 7, and then I have classes at the gym from 7 to 9.

My roommate just started a new job, and she returns home at 3.

The dishwasher was full when I got up this morning. So I started it.

Do you think it was emptied when I got home at 9:30. The answer is NO!!!!!! She sits in her room. Literally. I'm not joking. She had six flipping hours to empty the dishwasher. I was so upset, I didn't even ask her nicely to come and help unload.

Grrrrr. Good thing I'm out of here in a little more than three months. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to tell her I'm done, but more and more I feel like not doing it nicely at all.

A Post for My Heritage

I felt compelled to post and say, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" even though I am a day late. I guess I owe it to my Irish great-grandmother, Rose. So, I hope you all had a pleasant, if not regular, St. Patrick's Day.

PS Did you know that there are only 49 more school days?!?!
PPS Did you know that means only 49 more lessons to plan?!?!?!?!?!?!? Hooray!!!!

It's Cheesy Even for ME!

I was perusing www.ksl.com today, when a sidebar on the side of the weather page intrigued me. It was for a new "LDS" movie entitled "Beauty and the Beast: A Latter-day Tale." I went to the website, clicked to view the trailer, and proceeded to laugh for the next two minutes.

This movie is over the top, even for me. I'll be the first to admit that I like cheesy movies, but this is WAY too much.

If you'd like a good laugh, go to:

beautybeastmovie.com

I think I'll go see it for a good laugh. ;)

This is me, BEAMING!

Tonight was district science fair night, and it was emphasized to me again why I am a teacher. Bastian and I sent 24 projects to the fair. Here are the stats about winners:

22 out of our 24 are going to the regional fair

There were only 50 slots for 9-12 graders to move on. Our kids took 22 of those 50 positions. In case you can't do the math, that's ALMOST HALF!!!

Bastian and I were pure giddiness as we watched our kids come up on the stage. The students who had said before that they didn't care if they won or not were all smiles. After the awards ceremony, I went down and talked to "my boys" (the lab class), and they were all so proud and happy. And I was beaming too. It was so great to see them so happy and so proud of their hard work. I felt like a proud mother.

I am a teacher to help kids feel successful and to succeed. If you saw me right now, I'd be BEAMING!!!