Ahhh…. Mica! Last night was the underclassmen awards. We got a letter that Mica would be receiving something so I’ve been excited for her all week. This means a lot to me because she is always in Mia’s shadow and I know that must be tough. They are so different. All of Mia’s awards have been of the sports variety, so I had never been to the academic awards program before. I wasn’t surprised that Mica was getting honored. That girl is SMART! Everything comes so easily to her… She reminds me of me when I was in high school.

The gym was set up with folding chairs and a stage. We got there right before it began and just about every seat was full ~ except for the front row, which was completely empty. Mica didn’t want to sit there, but HELLO! Front seat! Perfect for making a VIDEO! It’s funny because at the elementary school the parents all fight for those spots. I guess it isn’t cool in high school. [After we sat down, two girls came and sat by us, so Mica wasn’t quite as mortified.]

Each department gave out awards to students who showed excellence in their classes, choosing between two and twenty kids each. Mica found out at school that her history teacher had nominated her. She’s had at least a 100% average in that class the whole semester. With extra credit I think she may have inched over a bit. We were checking out the schedule when we heard her name called for Physical Education. What?! Two awards! There are roughly 2,300 kids in her school and maybe a hundred got recognized last night. The fact that she was chosen twice makes me super proud.

Mike had to work and Julie didn’t show up. Mia watched the kids at the house so it was just the two of us. We laughed and laughed. She seemed really happy that I was there with her. It was a perfect night. I took about a million pictures. Most of them came out blurry because she was smiling/laughing so hard she couldn’t sit still.

I’m so proud of Mica. Great job!!

Science Night
Thursday the elementary school hosted its annual Science Night. This is something that the kids look forward to every year. All of the science fair projects are lined up in the hall. [You can ask Bleu about humidity in the air vs. underground!] The library is set up with lots of hands on stations where the kids can learn about different concepts, make things or do puzzles. It is a good time all around, but the highlight of the evening is what happens in the back of the school.

Kids line up in the cafeteria and craft rockets out of paper. Outside, they line up to get their rockets blasted with an air compressor and run to catch them. Seriously, an hour and a half just isn’t long enough! Click here to see a video of Echo with his rocket.

Track
Last night, Mayfield hosted the track meet here in town at the Field of Dreams. Mia ran three races: 3200m, 800m and 1600m. We watched the first on together and then went home. I came back to the track for the other two. She was having a bad day yesterday and her times were off by 10-20 seconds. After the last race she dropped down and stayed down for a long, long time. I couldn’t help crying but didn’t rush onto the field this time. She doesn’t want the attention. Even though I know she’ll be all right eventually, it hurts to watch her crying twenty feet away and not be able to go to her. She came in 3rd in the 3200m, 8th in the 800m and 4th in the 1600m.

She is worried about not being able to compete at state if she has a bad day. She doesn’t want to come in last or disappointing her coach/team. What can I say? There isn’t a whole lot we can do to control it so I hope she can relax and just enjoy the experience without putting too much pressure on herself. Click here to see a video of Mia in the 1600m.

Good, Bad and Ugly
Mica has had a hard semester. She hates math and hasn’t been doing well in her honor’s math class. She trys to avoid studying when she needs to do more of it. Lately it feels like every time we talk to her it is something negative. I hate that. Yesterday we got a letter in the mail from the principal letting us know that Mica will be getting an award next week at the underclassmen awards assembly. It was a wonderful surprise. I have no idea what it is for and neither does she. Suspense!

She called her mom to invite her and Julie agreed to go. She told the girls she would come by the house so they waited in the yard all night. She never showed up and when they called she didn’t answer the phone. It’s just a little thing but all these little things add up and I worry about their ability to trust. You can only be disappointed so many times before you begin to get jaded. It’s hard because I love them so much. I really wish she would be more involved because they need her.

Mia has run track for three years. We have watched her grow as an athlete and become a better person during that time. Although we might not have agreed with every decision her coaches made, overall they have done a good job.

And then Mica joined.

She does shot and discus. Over the summer she did very well in those events in the Junior Olympics with another coach. Once she started throwing for the school, it seemed like she got worse instead of better. The throwers practice in a different field than the runners and have a different coach. We would drive by and watch a couple of times a week. It seemed like it was more of a social gathering than a practice. There might be one or two kids throwing, but most of them were sitting around talking and laughing with music playing in the background. Once, Mike was watching her throw [standing outside of the fence] and the coach sent Mica over to tell him that he wasn’t welcome and that practices were closed.

School gets out at 4:00. Mia is done with practice at 5:30. We pick Mica up at 6:30. The logic behind the longer practice is based on the number of kids that need to get attention. It isn’t like running where all the kids can run on the track at the same time. They need to take turns with equipment. Mica started asking to stay later. She was told that in order to make varsity, she needed extra time after practice with the coaches. We let her stay once, but it didn’t sound like she did a whole lot while she was there. Plus, the idea of a freshman girl staying out for hours with a male coach makes me uncomfortable.

We didn’t like what we saw at practice. In fact, Mike was constantly complaining about it.  I thought that it was bad, but maybe not as bad as he thought. After all, there are dozens of throwers, two rings and only one coach. They had a volunteer that came out to help, but we didn’t like him much either. He was always joking around and acting like a friend, rather than a coach.

Yesterday, the news reported that the volunteer coach was charged with molesting a student. Today, he admitted it. This makes me sick. According to court records, he “admitted to knowing that what he did was wrong and that it got to the point that he could not control himself.” And that is a big part of the problem. There should be a distinct line drawn between teacher and student, coach and athlete. Once you start blurring that line and becoming more social, it is hard to stop. The point is not to start down that road. This is far too common. In fact, I’ve written about it before.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel like your kids are safe at school? What, if anything, do you do to prevent things like this from happening to your kids?

UPDATE:This morning, a coach in Alamogordo was arrested for the same thing. 

Bleu is in a science program where he keeps track of all the scientific activities that he does outside of school. The goal is to spend fifty hours each year [5th, 6th and 7th] for a total of 150 hours. If he reaches it, he gets a fancy digital camera.

When I got the email from SpaceWeather.com about the moon last night, I figured it would be a great way to spend some time together:

“SUNSET ALERT: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west.  Weather permitting you’ll see a slender equinox crescent Moon hanging above the rosy glow of sunset.  Framed by the cobalt blue of early evening, the Moon reveals its “da Vinci glow” or Earthshine, a pale impression of the full Moon inside the vivid crescent—a beautiful sight.Consider it an appetizer for Tuesday. On April 8th, the still-slender crescent passes almost directly in front of the Pleiades star cluster.  Also known as the Seven Sisters, the dipper-shaped Pleiades are visible to the naked eye even from urban areas and they look wonderful through binoculars.  Tuesday evening’s delicate conjunction of Luna and the Seven Sisters should not be missed.” [Link: SpaceWeather.com]

Tonight, get out there and check out the moon!

P.S. Subscribe to SpaceWeather.com and get email updates like this one. They are always interesting!

Las Cruces Sun-News – 1 arrested in art-class stabbing LAS CRUCES - An apparent altercation in an art class at Mayfield High School led to one student being stabbed and another arrested by police Wednesday.

This story hit a little too close to home. It’s funny that Gris sent her kids to live here to avoid the violence and there has already been a stabbing at the school. Not funny, but ironic. My mother-in-law was at the school when the office called for the ambulance and she let me know what was happening. Thank goodness for cell phones because the kids weren’t let out for lunch until after the ambulance left. The incident happened in Mia’s art classroom so she had to spend fourth period in the library watching a movie. Mica knew the boy who stabbed his classmate. She says that he is a really sweet, quiet kid, not the type to lash out like that. It is unfortunate and I hope the other boy is okay.

In semi-related news, those of you who follow me on twitter got a forward of a text that Mica sent me:

Fwd: Hey i found out dat a kid stabd a kid nd da kid dat stabd da kid is n my 3rd period clas

Is it just me or is that one confusing text message? I think we need to work on her communication skills. LOL!