Karate Kid

Grant was one of only a few kids to break the board on the first try. He showed great focus, intensity, drive, and fearlessness!

The progression

Posting pictures for historical, archival purposes. It's hard not to notice that I look SO glamorous in this stylish new ski boot-esque footwear - the mismatched look will surely become all the rage. What you can't see are the flower sticker adorning the foot and the small sparkly greenery at the top. The greenery was recently replaced by an image of my alter ego Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls.

The BOOT

VT Strings Project Concert

First & second years together

Sorry - the video quality is bad; I filmed it on "compact" and it was low light so together it doesn't look too hot.

The Can-Can! Behind Spencer is Alan Weinstein, the cellist for the Kandinsky Trio and to Alan's right is Azure McFarlane. In the white at the back left of the picture is David Feldman, who Spencer will take lessons with over the summer, also a talented cellist. They "seed" the performance with professionals to help the kids stay on track! Not bad to play with world-renowned musicians!!

Banana Boat Song



Sea Chanty with the second-years

Pictures!

At Gillie's with dad!

The first cast...

The second cast (with all animals except Droopy)

Bicycles

Spencer on his new wheels from the Bike Barn in Blacksburg!

ES Camping Trip

Spencer on the far right with Emma, heading for big Spencer and Jordan

ESers on the hydroelectric dam on the Little River

Kiri with her goat, Jasper, and Melissa

Yummy purple peep!

Homeless street urchins!

Last night we had our ES camping trip. At the peak there were probably close to 40 people, although only about 20 spent the night. We went to the Selu Conservancy in Radford - a beautiful preserve along the Little River, a New River tributary - and we had the group camping spot and canoe livery to ourselves. Another faculty member, Lisa, brought her 8 year-old son along so he, Spencer, and Grant made a nice little pack! They had a lot of freedom and a fantastic time. They roasted every possible food product, prowled the woods, canoed, and were drawn to the fire, obsessively poking and prodding. It was nice to have so many sets of eyes watching out for them and so they enjoyed tremendous freedom. I am proud of the kids, and proud of the ES students who each contributed to a day of memory-making. And huge thanks to Robert who set up and took down camp for me, and hauled kids and equipment to and from. Phew....no wonder I am wiped out!!

ACC Chess Tourney

Congrats to Spencer and Grant for coming in 3rd and 7th (respectively) out of 26 competitors in the K-3 division of the Roanoke City Schools ACC Championship! The Harding K-3 team came in first overall too. Great job!!