First, she received an application, submitted it, and was accepted into the National Junior Honor Society. The induction ceremony is next week and we are thrilled to attend. This club honors students with a 3.60 grade point average or higher who demonstrate qualities of leadership, citizenship, service, and character. She definitely fits the bill.
Second, she's been having fun representing her school at the track meets. She's done surprisingly well, has made some new friends, and even though she has to wake up at 5:15 every day for the early morning practices, she really enjoys being part of the team and looks forward to doing cross country in the fall.
Third, last week she was called to the principal's office. After informing her and two boys that they were not in any trouble, he told them they'd been chosen to represent their school with distinction at the AZ STEM School Community of Practice. He sent home a letter stating:
Our science teachers were asked, "Who on our campus has a passion for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and consistently demonstrates the high standards we expect of our students?" They selected you....
So Elizabeth and her teammates will attend a few meetings throughout the next school year conferring with students from other schools from around the state. We're not entirely sure what is involved, but we understand it's an honor so we are very excited about it.
Lastly, today she brought home another letter from her principal. She's been chosen as a "Student of the Quarter." Students are nominated by teachers and then one boy and one girl from each grade are selected by the executive council. He said students are nominated for a variety of reasons including citizenship, helpfulness, scholarship, friendliness, and integrity. She'll get her picture taken, and it will be displayed with the other Students of the Quarter until next fall after the Q1 students are chosen. They also get to have lunch with the principal at a well-known restaurant in downtown Chandler in a few weeks.
Needless to say, we are all very excited and impressed by her awards. When I learned the latest good news today, I couldn't help but comment out loud about how the end of this school year is so different from the end of last year. I said something like, "The end of seventh grade is like Wooooooooo!, and the end of sixth grade was like..."(insert long, slow farting noise). Elizabeth giggled, but Matthew, naturally, cracked up and asked why. After a long pause, Elizabeth simply said, "I vowed to never speak of it again. But Mommy can tell you."
So I will remind you. After reading twelve books twice, taking copious notes, and studying those notes for a Battle of the Books competition for which she and her team were fully prepared, they found out a few hours after the battle that they had missed it. Her teacher got the dates confused, and they were no-shows for the competition. Right after school, the teacher tearfully confessed the mistake to Elizabeth and her teammates, the girls were devastated, and then ten minutes later Elizabeth auditioned on the piano for the school talent show. Now I wasn't there, but she said it wasn't all that bad. According to the music teacher, though, she made a lot of mistakes, and as the talent show approached, he was heard in the teachers' lounge saying, "Man, I'm so glad I don't have to drag out that piano this year." Grrrrrrr. The only other teacher sitting in on the audition was another Battle of the Books sponsor (so she knew what had happened moments earlier), and she took up two spots in the show for her class--one for the girls and one for the boys. Yes, I do realize how bitter I sound, and that's because I still am. I firmly feel those two teachers' behavior was unconscionable because a good kid (who was mixed in with the worst behaved class in the history of the school) was unfairly crushed. Twice. They knew it, too, because they offered her the chance to be an emcee a few days later. That may have eased her feelings but not her disappointment...or my anger, frankly. Finally, at the sixth grade promotion ceremony, when the classless punks and their parents acted deplorably with loud whoops and yelps and ridiculous motions, all I could do was sit there and stew and thank the heavens that she would be out of there in a few minutes. It was a sad way to end an elementary career at a school we all loved, but it wasn't sad the way I thought it would be.
But we mustn't dwell on the bad. Because, man, recalling all that was really starting to bring me down! Her situation has turned 180 degrees from that downward spiral a year ago. Elizabeth is now on top of the world, and that's exactly where she belongs.
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