Pandemic Week 11: Last week of Schoolwork

Congrats Andrew!
Anna made it through her last week of virtual classes!  It is a whole new virtual world.  Major kudos to her teachers for finding creative ways to make it work (with a lot of help from Zoom).

Anna's final science assignment was to find a movie clip that demonstrated a physics principle.  This may have been her favorite assignment of the year as she immediately pulled up the scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which they defended the castle by catapulting cows at the enemies.  She created a presentation  that included the clip and then did the math behind what it would take to catapult cows. We can only imagine the projects her science teacher received.

Her final English writing topic was her experience during the pandemic thus far.  This was a great assignment as it proved therapeutic for many of the kids, including Anna.  From missing friends at school, to frustrations with schoolwork, to being stuck inside to being grateful.....it was all there.

It was also fitting that her final week of U.S. History was on the space race.  How appropriate that it ended with the successful launch of Space X on Saturday.  She had a great social studies teacher and really enjoyed his class.

This week normally would be a fun week, beginning with Field Day (normally run by the 8th graders).  Anna is most disappointed that they will miss all you can eat snow cones - an 8th grade privilege.  There also would be a "clap out" in which the entire school lines the hallways and claps as the 8th graders leave (while wearing their high school shirt) for the final time.  Alas, we will find other ways to celebrate 8th grade graduation.

Speaking of graduation, cousin Andrew graduated from Holy Cross last weekend.  He was accepted to "Teach for America" and will be starting as a middle school science teacher in the fall.  We are very excited for him.  Like everyone else, he had a virtual graduation.  The family came up with photos and videos to wish him well (thanks to Joe for our"virtual" picture).

Meanwhile, we enjoyed beautiful weather this weekend and got to have a "socially distanced" gathering on our friend Klara's deck.  It was great to catch up with people in person.  Most importantly, they tipped us off to the "all trails" app, which lists all types of trails in the area (Anna was not as excited about this discovery).  We discovered a new hiking trail today, which was a perfect way to enjoy the weather.  We look forward to more exploring soon.
Hiking a new trail


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