First Day of Middle School

1st day of 6th Grade
Anna is officially in middle school!  Yesterday marked the first day of 6th grade for Anna.  She was very happy to be back at school (her parents were just as happy).

There are lots of big things in store for Anna this year.  Anna's all time favorite teacher, Mrs. Wykoff, moved from 4th grade to 6th grade this year.  Anna was thrilled to be in her home room.  You know the teacher must be good when all of the students were giving her big hugs when they came in.  You know she must be a great teacher when the parents were also giving her hugs (Theresa definitely gave her a hug).  After a tough year last year with a new teacher, everyone was very happy to welcome Mrs. Wykoff to 6th grade.  Anna gets to switch classes for her subjects this year.  There is a long-term substitute for math thanks to a teacher surgery.  According to Anna, the teacher is Colombian and has a very thick access.  This may prove good training for taking math classes in college.  Another change is that the girls have P.E. on one day and the boys have it on another.  Anna was very excited about this as well.  As she put it, "the boys like to play rough games."  There is lots of personal responsibility this year for Anna.

There are also changes for Anna's extra-curricular activities this year.  This year her soccer team moves up to two practices a week and a bigger field.  Anna was particularly excited that they have more players - which means more substitutes for games.  Anna is continuing with piano; however, her teacher is having back surgery and cannot teach this fall.  Fortunately, the music coordinator at church (who also happens to be a neighbor) can giver her lessons for the fall.  We will see how that goes but it is likely she will be learning to play some pieces for church....in addition to her favorite jazz pieces.  Anna is also back with Vienna Jammers again and looking forward to the first performance at Wolf Trap.  Finally, there are lots of changes for Girl Scouts.  This year the girls get their own money accounts and credit for their individual cookie sales.  They can use these funds to pay for their troop activities.  There is a big trip planned to Savannah, Georgia in February to visit Girl Scout Founder Julia Lowe's home.  Anna is very excited about this and is already planning her cookie sales to pay for the trip.

All of this means that Joe and Theresa will also be busy.  Joe is serving as the assistant soccer coach and Theresa is the money manager for the Girl Scout Troop. Theresa has also volunteered to chaperone the first girl scout trip of the year - white water rafting in September. 
Let 6th grade begin!

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