Spencer Bday Party...the final installment

A birthDAY is not enough in this family. Nope, you generally get a full week between the actual birthday, school celebration, party, etc! Saturday was Spencer's party with Cassidy, Walter, John, and Su, and Grant had friend William over. Here's a taste of what went down:

Battle of the stomp-rockets!

Dinner of choice for typical 9-year-olds: hot dogs, mac & cheese, fries, onion rings!

The ever-popular Wii

And of course, the fun of lighting your OWN candles!

Karate

Grant got his second stripe at Karate today! He is doing a terrific job and I love the seriousness and intensity in his approach! Here he is with his senseis Dax and Adam.

Blacksburg Electronic Village

A local freelancer (who I happen to know through kids!) wrote up a retrospective on the BEV where I was able to comment on the connection between that work and what I am doing now. Kind of fun to see how the seemingly random pieces and parts of one's life come together!

Most Wired Town 2.0 and BEV 2.0: A Meet Point in More Ways than One:
http://www.handshake20.com/2009/03/meet-point.html

Spencer's Bday Feast

Yesterday Spencer turned nine and celebrated by cooking with Chef George Kruse at the Blacksburg Country Club. In just two hours (the time it would take me to make a grilled cheese sandwich and can of soup) two chefs turned out a scrumptious and beautiful feast featuring the items listed on the menu above.

The restaurant is normally closed on Mondays so we had the whole place to ourselves and had the best table, right in front of the fire. Perfect for the cold and snowy day!

Natalie, Spencer, and Chef George

Discussing the menu and cooking plans

Delivering the food

What a beautiful table for such delicious food

Capping off the meal with bananas flambe

Enjoying the fruits of his labors

Happy Birthday, Spencer! We love you!

Chef George and Spencer

Chef George Kruse and Spencer planning for

Spencer's cooking lesson/birthday dinner

I'm looking forward to the meal prepared by these two - pear, walnut and blue cheese salad with champagne viniagrette, duck l'orange, baked chicken, mashed sweet and golden potatoes, sugar snap peas, and bananas flambe with homemade ice cream. Spencer will get to cook in BCC's commercial kitchen and with the restaurant closed that day, we'll have the place all to ourselves. Fun!! I love birthdays!

Happy Birthday Grant!

Grant had a great 7th birthday and celebrated with friends William, Joel, Oliver, Nathan, Nicole and brother Spencer. His big gifts were some Wii games and controllers and a little exercise bike he wanted!? The birthday money from Aunts and Grandparents went to the bank where he is enjoying watching his money grow!

Spencer's Speech for the School Board

Funding for the gifted enrichment program is in jeopardy in this county. This is the speech Spencer wrote (with mom's help) and was looking forward to delivering on Tuesday. Just before we left the house, we got a call from the principal to let us know funding was restored and that we did not need to go to the school board meeting. His delivery would have been priceless - Spencer in his bow-tie, speaking very seriously, great emphasis on important points. He's a heck of a speaker! He wanted the board members to know what a gifted kid was like and that without good support, he may not flourish.

School board meeting, February 2, 2009

My name is Spencer Martin and I am in the third grade and in the gifted program at Harding Avenue Elementary School. I want to be an astrophysicist and eventually get my PhD. I am interested in LEGO Mindstorms, programming, mathematics, geology, and quantum theory. My favorite book is the Universe in a Nutshell by Steven Hawking.

I can’t wait to get to school each morning. A big reason that I love school is the gifted program and the support I get from my teachers. The work we do is challenging and inspiring.

We meet in our gifted pullout groups once a week for an hour. Right now we are working in pairs on a project. It is called Athenian Secret and it involves solving complex mathematical puzzles to unlock a secret code. We have to spend a lot of time on each puzzle and we make many mistakes on our way to the solution but we learn a lot this way. We share our discoveries and learn from each other too. When I succeed, I feel so good and so confident. I don’t get that feeling from regular school work. While I enjoy all my classmates, I’m glad for the time in the gifted program when I really can just be myself. It’s just one hour a week, but I think about the ideas and puzzles all week long.

If I am going to be a successful scientist and solve important problems, I need to be challenged now. My brain is like a muscle that needs to be worked and we each work at different rates. I can’t get enough of learning and have been reading science books since I could read.

When I was 6 I won a talent show by giving a lesson about geology. Last year I made a video of a lesson on string theory. I have programmed a multivariable game with LEGO mindstorms. Now I am beginning a new project in school on renewable energy. Can you imagine if I didn’t have regular time in the gifted program?

Please do not cut funding for the gifted program. Kids like me need a place to go each week to be challenged and to grow. And we need to encourage future scientists who can solve the many problems facing our world.

Thank you for your time and consideration.