Retirement Celebration

Well, on Wednesday, May 20th, Hanford Elementary had their "Employee Recognition." I was called up for 30 years of service for HESD. This year I received an 8 inch bronze statue of a girl sitting and reading a book. It was nice. But my big moment came when our superintendent, Dr. Terry, called my name for RETIRING! That was my big moment! He introduced me as "The Advisor to the Superintendent." We both grinned! Although a bit blurry, you can get the idea. Board member Dennis Hill give me a big hug. I am not sure if he is going to miss me, like he said, or if he is just relieved that I am going! (Dennis and I have been through a lot with standing up for better education....most times in the past we were minority on the direction of the district and the superintendent.)

We are now blessed with a fabulous superintendent, who is turing the district in the right direction! It is an honor to be picture with Dr. Paul Terry. I love and respect this man for the decisions, vision, and witt this man has brought to our school district. He really cares about the children, teachers, and our reputation! Although I will miss working with this man and HESD, retirement seems like a lot more fun. I am not reconsidering! 9 days to go!!!!!

Busy Bruce's

It is time to catch you up with our happenings.
Last Friday night we went to Kristian's surprise birthday party. He was brought to the house in blindfold. He was welcomed by many friends and a Simpson German Chocolate Cake made by his mom. He acted surprised...but a hard guy to surprise!

Food and friends were great!

Lyle decided to celebrate with one of Cory's hats. I think he looks pretty cool in it!

Steve was taking a lot of pictures. I was just getting him back. I am posting a nice one instead of a bad one. I hope he is as kind to me on his blog!

Well, this is the look of the old shed about 2 weeks ago. It continues to be Lyle's work in progress. He is on his 6th or 7th dumpster! He is making progress daily!

One of my last projects for my school was to get the school sign painted above the stage. Student Council sold over $455 worth of pencils to help pay for the sign. This is Ruben Munoz on Saturday painting the outline. He will return tomorrow, to put in the gold color. It will be a time the kids can watch him finish it up.

Today was a 6th grade field trip to Tulare County Museum at Mooney Grove Park. These 90 kids were the best behaved group I have ever taken on a field trip. It was a lot of fun not having to do discipline all day.

Not pictured, but part of the day, we went to College of the Sequoias. We had a nice tour then got back to school for icee's, and a Read-Aloud from The Bronze Bow...one of my favorite books to read to 6th graders.

This is going to be a busy week of adventures for our classes. Tomorrow my scientist neighbor, Don Lord, is going to share his collections of trilabites and prehistoric artifacts. Thursday, author of the book "Double Luck, Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan," Lu Chi Fa, will be our guest speaker. If you don't know this book, go to: www.doubleluck.org It is a wonderful book! He is a very nice man from Morro Bay. Friday, I take the kids to the Jr. High for orientation. So...a very busy week. I may post, or not. Hope you enjoyed!