Courtright Family: School Days

I don't get up to the kids' elementary school as often as I'd like, but I do try to make special visits to see my kiddos every now and then. I am the Homeroom Parent for both kids' classrooms and I also teach Junior Achievement for their classes. Any chance to be with them and their classmates gives me a great opportunity to see my 2nd and 5th graders in action.

Kaitlynn's teacher invites parents into the classroom once in a while to read to the children. We always make sure to pick out funny books because the kids love them! Kaitlynn loves it when I visit the class to read because she sits on a stool up front next to me in the front. I think she would actually prefer it if I left so that SHE could read to the class by herself, ha!

I showed up to read to the class and found Kaitlynn sitting in her teacher's seat!

Selfie with my girl after reading to her class.

After reading to the class, Kaitlynn usually asks me to join her in the cafeteria for lunch. She loves it when I bring her something special to eat, but she also just enjoys sitting at the special tables reserved for kids and their parents.

When Kaitlynn got her new lunchbox for school, she noticed that it had a special side pocket. "The perfect spot to put special notes," she called it. So every time Kaitlynn packed her lunch this year, she requests that either Jeff or I write her a note to read while she eats. To date, she has kept all of those notes we've given her. So cute!

Time for lunch, and an ice cream treat!

Whataburger for lunch is a special treat.

Reading her lunchbox note from Mom :-)

I'm not sure what was so funny but I LOVE sharing laughs with my sweet girl!

In case you're wondering where the lunch pics with Connor are, you likely won't find any. This year marks the official time where Connor became "too cool" to sit with his family during his lunch time. I guess that's not exactly true, because he's not embarrassed to be seen with us or anything. But given the choice to sit at the visitor table with Mom or at his regular table with his friends, he will now ALWAYS choose his friends. Sniff sniff! It's funny to hear him try not to be rude about it. "I enjoy seeing you at lunch, I do, but I really like sitting by my friends...".

I might not see much of him at lunch, but I do try to pop in every now and then and see what he's up to. :-)

Connor's 5th grade teachers at recess - love them!

Some of my favorite 5th graders dressed for their official 5th grade photo!

WoodCreek 5th grade class!

Back to Kaitlynn... these are the years where her classwork and school assignments are really fun to read. I always pull my favorites from her folder to keep in a special keepsake box. In the fall, the kids were busy studying politics with the ongoing presidential election between Trump and Clinton. And though most of us would prefer not to revisit those days during the campaign, it was a really enlightening time for both Connor and Kaitlynn to see how the election unfolded. Students participated in mock elections and many other relevant assignments as part of their schoolwork.

One of my favorite assignments by far was when Kaitlynn's 2nd grade class participated in their own campaigns. The students were asked to create their own slogans and to give voters a reason to vote for them. This is what Kaitlynn camp up with:

"I promise everything. Vote Kaitlynn for President. Love you!" LOVE THIS!

Kaitlynn's presidential campaign cracked me up!!

And here were the reasons Kaitlynn thought you should vote for her:

I care about people
I love people no matter what
I promise to keep our community safe
I promise to help you and others
I promise to share and be responsible
I take good speeches (hahaha!)

I'm not sure about you, but I certainly would've cast my vote for Kaitlynn!! :-)

Vote for Kaitlynn!!!

Last school update for now is the kids' fall portraits. These are taken every October and I just love seeing their growth year after year. Of course, I've mentioned before that this day always comes with resentment for Connor. It's one of the very few times I ask him to wear a collared shirt, and you can usually tell how he feels about it just by seeing the photo. Ha!