The Beginning of the Second Half

Today marks the beginning of the second half of Leyden's primary education. Can you believe it? She started seventh grade! With only six grades left before she begins her college education, I thought I'd take a minute to reflect on the past seven years.

Leyden attended kindergarten at Forest Avenue Academic Magnet School in Montgomery. Her teacher was Miss Ross, and she wore uniforms to school. Her grandfather, Jim Johnson, performed construction work at the school during the year, and she delighted in seeing Papa Jim at her school. Just like preschool, Leyden did not like nap time and took a couple of trips to the principal's office because she refused to take a nap. Since Forest Avenue is a grade ahead of regular schools, Leyden began learning to read in the second semester of kindergarten. I was able to eat lunch with her quite a bit at Forest Avenue, because of its close proximity to my job downtown. I drove on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and we took a hayride to the pumpkin field to pick out our pumpkins.

Leyden attended first grade at Pintlala Elementary, and Mrs. Self was her teacher. Leyden improved her reading skills and really enjoyed it when Mrs. Self would read books about Junie B. Jones. Because Leyden was ahead of most of her classmates, she got bored some during the first semester, and although Mrs. Self did a remarkable job at keeping Leyden occupied, sometimes her efforts were futile. So, Leyden visited some with the principal, Mr. Lowe, and after a couple of good conversations, she had no further problems behaving in school. Leyden had the starring role (Little Red Riding Hood) in the school play and made her acting debut on the stage in the library at Pintlala Elementary. Mrs. Debbie Gibbons (my best friend's mother) made her red cape with a hood. Leyden received an award for being the "Most Improved Student" in her class and her reward was a trip to Burger King in a limo. We were very proud of this accomplishment!

In second grade, Leyden again attended Pintlala and her teachers were Ms. Leonard and Mrs. Mosley. Leyden began to struggle during the first semester of second grade, and after extensive research and a brief try at tutoring, we decided to move Leyden to Hooper Academy in Hope Hull, where the teacher-to-student ratio was smaller. After Christmas, Leyden started at Hooper in Ms. Calhoun's class, and was happy to be reunited with her friends from day care.

Third grade was a fun year because Mrs. Dempsey was a fun teacher. Leyden continued to thrive in the small classroom environment, and her friendships continued to grow. Leyden was thrilled to be a termite cheerleader and wore a white shirt and green shorts to cheer on the Colts' termite football team on Tuesday nights.

Fourth grade was a challenging year... Alabama history! Ms. Whitely was an interesting teacher and did her best to make things fun. There were LOTS of cool field trips, and it was fun doing the Alabama notebook project and learning about different things to do in Alabama. Mom, Dad and I took Leyden to Daphne for Spring Break and visited the USS Alabama, the shrimp boats in Bayou la Batre, and we explored Dauphin Island and Ft. Gaines. Leyden's "Alabama notebook" is a project that we will treasure forever. I was able to drive when the class went on a field trip to "water day" at AUM to learn about water conservation. Leyden continued as a cheerleader for the Colts, and for the first time in a long while, the termite cheerleaders got real uniforms. Ms. Donna Watts was her cheer coach.

In fifth grade, Leyden's teachers were Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Kizziah. This was a fun year, because the new elementary building was finished and Leyden got to be in two of the new classrooms. There were book reports and special projects, but not a lot of homework, so it was a fun year. Leyden cheered for the Colts' PeeWee football team in fifth grade.

Sixth grade - AH! - sixth grade! Leyden had awesome teachers, Mrs. Richardson and Miss Bell. But the homework load? CRIPPLING. And I'm not saying that lightly. We quit going to church on Wednesdays, because Leyden couldn't get all her homework done. Our lives revolved around homework, and then there were lots of special projects all year for extra credit. Projects which Leyden participated in because she needed all the extra credit she could get. They flew through her math book so fast that Leyden hardly retained anything, so Brad spent a lot of time re-teaching the math concepts. But sixth grade also brought the BEST FIELD TRIP EVER - Space Camp! Leyden continued to cheer - her last year as a PeeWee cheerleader at Hooper.

So that brings us up to date. Seventh grade. Junior high. Where did the time go?

Leyden is playing on the JV volleyball team, and plans to try out for the JV softball team. She is every bit a "pre-teen" and is doing pretty well keeping her "sassy self" in check. She is looking more and more each day like a teenager and less and less like a little girl. She is into clothes, earrings, purses, her iPod, and her cell phone. Boys? Well, I know it comes with the territory, but for the sake of Brad's nerves, we'll all pretend that Leyden just isn't into boys at all. Yet.