Today was a day that really grew our hearts and made me appreciate the character of our students. We started by finishing our book and discussing if we would want to go with the rats to Thorn Valley or if we’d like to stay in the mice’s new home. Yianni was enthusiastic that he’d want to go. Anja agreed that she would at least want to visit the rats since they were nice, but she wasn’t sure she’d want to live with them. Tove said that it was tough to say, since the life in the valley would be really tough, but they’d be happier. Timo, on the other hand, would want to stay in Mrs. Frisby’s home, since she had worked so hard to make it safe. It was a great discussion to wrap up the novel and I was thrilled with the way they talked about the text.

We started bagging up the trail mix for the Night Ministry today and it was great. Niki worked to make sure that each bag had a good mix of stuff in it, so it wasn’t just one kind of thing. Gia added on that it was important to make sure it was a full cup of trail mix in each so they wouldn’t be hungry. Paolo knew that some people would want to eat the food, especially the candy or chocolate cereal, but reminded us that we were doing for people that didn’t have as much as we did. I was really proud to see them working on this project.

Our St. Baldrick’s Day was great. We spent part of our morning making a card for Tommy, a little boy recovering from cancer that visited us. Bisola suggested we make a card of the things we liked to make him happy. Jerome thought smiley faces and hearts might work, while Teddy drew his favorite Mario cart. Rebecca worked hard to draw her best rainbow. Sokrates knew that a lot of kids like video games, so he drew different characters from video games. Timo traced his hand giving a thumbs-up, just to let Tommy know it was going to be okay. We also listened to Ms. Mary talk about what St. Baldrick’s means to her and watched her get her head shaved. We found out that the school as a whole raised over $12,000 for cancer research, which is incredible. Paolo and his dad Roman, Timo, Yianni, Sokrates, Teddy, and myself all shaved our heads and everyone enjoyed cheering the shavees on while dancing and competing in the free throw contest. It was a beautiful day.

Don’t forget, we have the program tomorrow night. Have a great night!