It’s Sunday evening and we have just been blessed by a brief, but beautiful shower. My garden will love that, as will the wildflowers. I am resting today; last week was just too hectic for these old bones! The reading teachers had two days of training for a reading program that we are introducing next year. We all liked the depth of it. The trick will be getting it done within the prescribed time frame. I believe the presenter said several times, “if presented with fidelity, this program will improve your student’s reading capabilities significantly.” So fidelity it must be.

Next year comes with its own problems. Since the bond did not pass the administration has put into place economies that will allow the school to continue at least this next year. I enjoyed the piece about the rebirth of the old water fountain as an art piece with pride tinged with sadness. One of those economies was the loss of our wonderful Mrs. Schultz.

We all understand the reasoning behind the decision, but we have lost a beautiful person, with a wonderful gift. Mrs. Schultz will be sorely missed, and our campus will be a little less beautiful without her extraordinary gift. Economies forced cutbacks in several areas, but if we can get more students into the area we will be able to survive. So far I have only heard of students leaving because their parents are finding jobs in other areas. It should be an interesting year! Graduation went extremely well. I was surprised at the number of people considering we only had ten graduates. Apparently those graduates had lots of family! Mrs. Roberds introduced a new element to the rose presentation ceremony. Each graduate was linked with a fellow graduate by a silken ribbon. Mrs. Roberds carefully cut them lose symbolizing the break from adolescence to adulthood. All in all, it was a very touching ceremony.

The graduating class opted to stay in the cafetorium for Project Graduation.

They had a night of movies, games and food planned. I hope they all had a particularly memorable time. Life will take many new directions for these young people.

Friday afternoon the teachers drove up my bumpy road to kick back and enjoy a quiet hour away from school. Thanks to the Booster Club food donations, and the superb cooks of the First Baptist Church, we had an absolutely decadent lunch! I can’t explain to you how pleasant it is to just sit and talk with one another, outside of the business of school. It is only a short time, but it gives you that extra kick to go back and finish up the rest of the day! Thank you everyone involved in showing our teachers how valuable they are to us.

Barbeque month is over and fish fry month begins! Project Graduation was the first in a line of delightful treats. We’ll have the Elm Grove event, the Stars and Stripes event and probably a few in between. The VFD event comes a little later after all the hoopla dies down and everyone is hungry for fish.

Carol tells me last Sunday was the last Play Day for the summer. They will resume in the fall. Many communities have events for the kids, and this gives them time to travel and compete with other folks. I’ll miss their burgers! They sure have some good cooks there and the price is very reasonable!

Summer school will start on June 8th. It will be run by Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Burkhart. For my 4th, 5th and 6th grade students, parents may not have been told, but they have a summer work packet that has to be completed before school starts. It is not a lot of work but it should help to keep some of the work they’ve done this year in the front of their brain?

I found several in the classroom so I know some of them did not make it home! Parents, if you have time, please have them read out loud and do math facts. It makes such a tremendous difference in their progress. Don’t forget to save your box tops over the summer.

We had a good report on June McPherson. Her cancer seems to be in remission. Her family was blessed by the number of people who turned out to give blood a few weeks ago. We will pray for her continued improvement.

The Josh Draper family is doing better. The Gary Draper family needs our prayers. Elisa’s brother is scheduled for a body scan to see how he is doing. There are over 60 people on the prayer list, some critical some less so but each of them is secure in the fact there are people who care and spend time in prayer for them. They are not listed here, but God knows and hears their cries for help.

I hope everyone has a blessed week. Hold tight to the words of our Lord, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” You can’t go wrong with that. Please pray for our government, our President and our wonderful country. As often as possible, lift our precious troops and their families up to the Lord in prayer.