Missing Beaver Dam

So we have been back into school now for a few weeks. The boys are no longer attending Steve's school, Beaver Dam, and I am no longer teaching there. Steve, however; is still on principal duty and carrying on with business as usual. I find myself a little sad to not be a part of it all this year. We had SUCH a great two years there. It is not that I am sad about how things are going with the boys in school here (there are some perks to attending school that is just up the street from your house as opposed to thirty minutes away) but there were so many things to enjoy about Beaver Dam. It is such an INTERESTING place and I learned so much from our experience there. Here are just a few reasons why I am missing this school:

Reason #1- My colleagues! I enjoyed getting to know these amazing ladies so much. One of my favorite things about teaching full time again was being surrounded by such fun people every day. Bouncing teaching ideas off of them, complaining about endless to do lists and all that was on our plates, wishing each other "happy birthdays" and "congratulations" when different milestones came up. Such GOOD times! This picture is of MOST of the teachers at B.D.E.S. at my baby shower (held back in May). Mrs. Reyes (Conner's teacher who is not pictured but I will point her out in an up an coming photo) opened up her home for the event and it was so wonderful. A great way to commemorate the blessed event of Baby Brayden, but also to say goodbye to all these great ladies.

These were my right hand ladies, my aides. We had such fun working with those kids. Fawn, Maria and Laura threw a surprise baby shower for me with my students! Somehow, they were able to keep it a pretty good secret! They are some of the most giving and hard working women I know. Love them!

Reason #2- The kids! The kids at Beaver Dam are THE BEST!!!! I have not seen such appreciative, excited and humble kids as these! Most of the kids attending the school are from low income homes. Some of them barely have a roof over their heads and struggle to have enough food to eat and clothes to wear. School was their sanctuary and they did not take it for granted! I have never enjoyed teaching as much as I did this past year with the SEI (Stuctured English Immersion) class. They all came from homes where Spanish was the primary language. Many of them did not speak a LICK of English at the beginning of the year. Learning English and learning to read was not taken lightly with them. They are TRUE lovers of learning and it was excititng to be a part of that!

Also, my boys were able to make such AWESOME little friends at Beaver Dam. The diversity of this school was refreshing and so good for Lewis and Conner. They learned so much about the hispanic culture and gained a great appreciation for differences in others. It was so good for my boys to see how fortunate they truly are and I was happy to see them eager to share their light and goodness and wealth with some of their friends who did not have much.

I DIED when I saw this adorable picture of Conner and some of his best buds! This is on the last day of school back in May.

And how cute is Lewis there surrounded by his classmates?! He is such a likeable guy and had many, many friends at Beaver Dam. So cute!

Reason #3- The commute. Some would say that having to commute thirty minutes to work everyday is down right annoying. I did not see it this way. It actually turned out to be one of the perks to attending Beaver Dam as a family. Not only was the scenery in the gorge BREATHTAKING on those early mornings and late afternoon rides, but it was also a GREAT time for the boys to get their homework and reading done. I especially loved that our HIGH ENERGY Conner was able to catch a few zzzzz's as we traveled. He took a nap on the way home MOST days. I also enjoyed that Steve and I had time to wind down after our crazy/busy days because of the drive. I absolutely LOVED that by the time we got home, all homework and reading was DONE and all we had to focus on was sports, piano and family time. It has been tricky in these past few weeks to get used to having to fit homework into our "home" life. For this, and all other reasons above, I miss our daily commutes.

Reason #4- The Lunch Lady! Mrs. Burch is amazing. First of all, what lunch lady do YOU know that would BEG to come visit you and take your kids to lunch and a movie? She is great! She knows ALL the students names (not only the elementary kids but the middle school as well) and chats with them as they go through the lines each day. She personally sings HAPPY BIRTHDAY to EVERY person (including me when it was mine) in her lunch room AND she makes a really great lunch to boot! I actually looked forward to eating school lunch this past couple of years because the food wasn't half bad and Mrs. Burch's company was enjoyable. What a GREAT lady. I haven't even scratched the surface of all the great things she did for the school and our family. Another one of those selfless, hard working people that seemed to be the common thread of Beaver Dam. Totally miss her!

Reason #5- Working with my husband. I MISS it! I loved being just down the hall from him every day and I loved that we had that commonality in our relationship. We were able to collaborate together, swing by each others' rooms on our breaks and just BE together. It became so second nature, I actually think I took it for granted. I am missing it now.

Of course, I am sooooo appreciative of this new chapter of our lives, the one with sweet baby Brayden in it. I could never imagine teaching full time at Beaver Dam and leaving him at a sitter's house to do it, but I will always have a place in my heart for our time at B.D. It was such a growing place for our family. Here's to Beaver Dam! Thanks for the memories!