I just published 2 posts that I had written a long time ago. If they were awful its because I hit publish without looking at them.
Next week Evan graduates from 8th grade. I can't believe how quickly time has passed. He is headed to the local Catholic High school. Evan took 9th grade Biology and Algebra this year. I'm so glad he is done with them. Next year its geometry and Chemistry. The public school I teach at does Chemistry junior year... so this should be a challenge.
This week Evan was awarded a $500 scholarship for high school. He has applied for $2200 more in scholarships so I'm hoping for another one. Evan is reading and writing at 11.8 grade level. This is from his high school entrance exam test. His vocabulary is amazing and he is very gifted with writing. Math not so much, he could be very strong but has had a weak teacher without high expectations.
I don't have many things on the summer schedule for him, he has aged out of most sports camp. I would love him to pick up a lawn mowing or dog walking job. Sara had her first job walking job a few weeks ago and it went well. She has been approached by a few neighbors about babysitting. I would love for them to earn some outside cash each week. With the rise in prices everywhere and the kids wanting to have some independence, I feel like an ATM machine. The kids have been walking the village after school and going for Pizza, ice cream, slurpies, and to the local coffee shop with friends. I feel like between the Catholic school and Covid they haven't been exposed to managing cash and having outings with friends. I have a hard time saying no to these outings, although this week it was 2 days in a row for Evan but I think he only spent $15. Sara spends every dollar and some of her own money. Fortunately my kids were not spenders up until now so they have some thick wallets.
I'm eagerly awaiting the end of my year. The juniors I have had this year have been a huge challenge. Covid was not helpful for these kids. I really feel like they missed a big maturity milestone and have very entitled, disrespectful behaviors as a result. The parents are just as bad. I've received more emails this year than I have my entire teaching career.
I did volunteer to teach a Cash for Crafts class this summer for 8 mornings. I received a Cricut machine from Donors choose along with supplies. When I figured out the pay it was a big help with the upcoming tuition bills. My school is not very generous with funds. They offered me $50 for supplies for 75 kids. So I decided one week I'll have the kids bring t-shirts we can bleach dye them and apply something from my Cricut machine. I'm thinking lots of Bills, school logos, and whatever they like as decals. I also picked up black plastic cups from target for $.50 so we can do a decal on those. I think we will do a wooden sign with a stencil. A friend made grateful ones earlier in the year and used inexpensive wood. Finally I have a friends daughter with a Etsy bracelet business that had sales of $60K, she started a business when she was 12 and it has grown tremendously! I'm hoping she can come in as a guest speaker and another student that has a successful t-shirt business will come in too.
We have our trip to Florida this summer for 10 days. We have never stayed that long so I can't wait! Hoping car rentals go down over the next few weeks. I have found the rates tend to drop a ton at the end of August. We have no real plans the beach and pool. Evan has a few places he would like to visit and Sara will want to do some shopping.
