Shhh! We're Writing the Constitution

As parents, Brock & I have rule that we don't make the kids participate in any specific activity. They just have to be involved in something other than just regular school schoolwork. What that something is, is up to them.

Rules are made to be broken by me, right?

Shaling is in 5th grade this year. In Rochester, 5th grade is the first time that the students have the option of participating in chorus. For one reason, and one reason only, I told Shaling she had to be in chorus for just one year. That reason? The annual production, "Shhh! We're Writing the Constitution."

Oh, my. This is one amazing show. I thoroughly enjoyed it when Preston was in it and couldn't wait for Shaling to do the same. The performance centers around the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but draws upon that to link in other parts of American History as well. The kids wear costumes from the colonial period and sing songs centering around the United States of America.

The intermediate school music teacher, Dave McCafferty, has tweaked the show a bit with his own personal touch, and if I remember correctly, our now retired principal, Laurie Lundin, helped him a bit with that. The entire Fine Arts staff, as well as other staff members, all pitch in to help make this a spectacular production.

Last night was this year's performance (although there will also be a repeat performance at the Fine Arts Festival later this month) and it was tremendous. I'll share with you below two videos from it.

This one is "Fifty, Nifty, United States". It has personal meaning to me, because I remember singing it well over 30 years ago in grade school with Mr. Ben Strode. That grade school (South Elementary) is now an apartment and office building.

Fifty Nifty United States from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

This one is a fun medley of several well known tunes, including "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood and "America" by Neil Diamond.

Medley Finale from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

My Kids Might Be In an Ad Campaign

Over night, I received a message from a visual research company based in Los Angeles, Nickerson Research. They are currently working on an advertising project for a client and stumbled across one of my videos on Vimeo. They would like to forward my video to their creative team for possible use (footage only, not the audio), so they had some licensing and logistics questions for me. I'm very intrigued about their client, but realize privacy issues probably prevent them from telling me who it is. I have told them I am the author/copyright holder of the video and I'm willing to let them use it, but am awaiting further information from them at this point as to how to do that.

This is the video that the company wishes to use (I suspect the last roughly 20 seconds are what they want):

Preston & Shaling Share Ramen Noodles from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.
My caption at the time: "Ramen noodles are the one thing Preston knows how to cook. No, we don't usually make the kids share bowls. They did that all on their own."
They are both able to prepare several items in the kitchen now.

Becoming an Elected Official

I typically focus our blog on the kids, but I'm taking a brief time out to celebrate a personal moment. Last night, I was elected to the Rochester school board. As an education geek who was already a frequent board meeting attendee, I am thrilled to take on the role of helping to continue the wonderful tradition of our local schools.

I ran four years ago when an incumbent stepped down. At the time, 3 seats were open and 8 people (including 2 incumbents) vied for them. Despite having only lived in the district 3 years at the time, I did well (in my humble opinion), coming in 4th -- even beating an incumbent. Therefore, instead of being discouraged, I was encouraged.

I initially intended to run again 2 years ago when 4 seats were open, but when I realized all 4 incumbents were running, I changed my mind. This time and incumbent was stepping down again, and there were 5 people running for 3 seats. Per the Sangamon County Clerk website, these are the results (pending any straggling-in absentee ballots):

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

ROCHESTER CUSD #31

Vote for 3

COLLEEN BRAKER DRACOS			.....................................		390		11.97%
AMY REYNOLDS			.....................................		874		26.82%
TODD M. GOEBEL			.....................................		806		24.73%
WILLIAM YATTONI			.....................................		802		24.61%
DAVID A. BARBER			.....................................		387		11.87%
	Over Votes		.....................................		9
	Under Votes		.....................................		734

I have to share a sweet story -- Preston waited in the car while Brock went in to vote at the poll. Before Brock could get in line, his phone rang. Preston was calling from the car. He asked, "Dad, can I come in and vote too?" Of course, Brock told him no, explaining that you have to be 18-years-old, Preston's response was, "but haven't we fought for laws in this country to make it fair for everyone to vote?"

Shaling and Preston were both fabulous about helping me distribute door cards with my information. Shaling's enthusiasm was overwhelming, as she kept asking me if I had any more.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to about this is to using my people skills to form strong relationships, therefore, I was encouraged and pleased to receive a congratulatory text from our superintendent last night and several this morning from current board members.

I'm not entirely naive; I know I'm getting ready to take on a lot of work, but it's work that involves some of my favorite topics -- education, children, and people. Thanks again to EVERYONE who helped me. This list is extensive -- a great reminder of just how fortunate and blessed I am.

Busy as the Reynolds Family

Whenever I’m asked how Shaling, or both kids, or my family, is doing, my standard answer tends to be, “Good. Busy.” I don’t usually expand on that much, lest I bore the person asking. However, I’ll take the opportunity to use this blog to fill you in on what the month of April looks like on the Reynolds family calendar. I'm sure you'll see why I won't be nominated for Suzy Homemaker of the Year.

Hometowns & Visits

We recently found out that Shaling's 3rd grade teacher (her first ever teacher here in America), Mrs. Collins, is retiring at the end of this school year and moving to southern Illinois. She is returning to her hometown.
Last night, we were explaining this to Shaling, describing it as Mrs. Collins going to live where she lived as a little girl. As a testament to just how well she has adjusted to a new country, new language, new foods, new people, new family, and new culture in just over two years time, Shaling pointed at the ground and said in a sing-song voice, "I am going to stay right here. Right here in Springfield."
Brock and I both smiled and Brock gently said, "I remember a time when you were going to move to China."
She replied, "I'll visit China."
Brock informed her that she will needs lots of money. She told us that she has "fifty cents".
Of course, we giggled. But apparently she has a back-up plan. The next words that came out of her mouth were, "But if I have a rich boyfriend..."

Just Following Instructions...

Along with all of the other students, Shaling recently completed some standardized testing. The only difference is that she takes hers with the English Language Learner teacher instead of in the regular classroom, but it is the same test (and the instructions are in English).

On the math portion, there was a word problem that had to be solved, following which the students were to write a step-by-step paragraph explaining how they solved it. Shaling got done unusually quickly, so Mrs. Bivens gently asked her if she’d written down absolutely everything that she had done. So, Shaling sat back down. When all of the papers were eventually collected, Mrs. Bivens saw that Shaling had correctly solved the problem, but her paragraph was, “First, I solved the problem. Second, I circled the answer. Third, I waited ten minutes for everyone else. Fourth, I turned in my sheet.”

Haha…she cracks me up.

On an unrelated note, for those of you not on Facebook, we are so proud of Preston. He doesn’t get a lot of accolades at school, but apparently his teachers felt he demonstrated an exemplary amount of “Responsibility” in January, and responsibility was the January character trait at Rochester Junior High. Therefore, he and a handful of other students get to go out to lunch with the principal tomorrow. Way to go, Buddy!

Drum Solo & Basketball Videos

I could have subtitled this one "How We Spent Our Saturday" -- except I didn't get any of Shaling's volleyball game videod.

Video 1, Preston's Drum Solo, "Happy Day" (he earned a 'I' rating -- they get a I, II, or III, with I being the best):
"Happy Day" - Preston's Snare Drum Solo from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Video 2, Shaling's Not-So-Shining Moment":
Shaling's Not-So-Shining Moment, 2-23-2013 Basketball Game from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.
Video 3, "Shaling's Shining Moment":
Shaling's Shining Moment, 2-23-2013 Basketball Game from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.