TaaaaDaaaaa!

Who knew I was a compulsive blogger trapped in a teacher's body? What on earth am I going to do now that school's out tomorrow? I know: GARDEN! Woohoo! Here's the Frenchboro Community Garden. Garden tilled: Check. Fence up: Check. Second fence up to ensure deer cannot catapult over it: check. Gate up: Check. Plots sectioned off: Check. Signs made and posted: Check. Seeds in school plot: um...sort of. Carrots: check. Lettuce: check. Radishes: check. Various squashes: check. It was a bit of a free for all as kids began planting willy-nilly in their family plots, coming back and saying things like, "Ms. Finn, how do we know where we planted the seeds?" and "Ms. Finn, I planted the seeds right here!" (All together, in a hole, right next to the sign went pumpkins, lettuce and who knows what else.) I thought the whole 'modeling' before hand in our school plot was going to be enough. SO, a note to parents...whatever comes up in your family plot may be conceived as a bona fide miracle. It was a joy to hear that after school Myron, Bradley, and their whole family were down digging away in the dirt and planting all sorts of goodies. I made Doug go down and take photos as I took a nap after school! He was posting the sign he had painted himself for the garden. I was so proud of the cute little flower that he made! If not for him, a lot of my 'brainchildren' would not ever come to fruition as I am tiny and weak and cannot fix machinery or build anything besides a lopsided birdhouse. He said, "Honey, I don't mind doing the building of the fence, but I'm not a big weeder." I still think I get the easy end.

Field Day Fun

Ever participated in the buoy toss or the lobster trap run? If not, you're obviously from 'away'. Field day in Frenchboro was yesterday and we all gathered at the ball field for the afternoon festivities. Kristi brought a watermelon and Becky supplied the water cooler, buoys supplied by Ski and Marissa, rope and traps by Nate and Katie, we had a lot in store. Back to back linked arm races, obstacle course, dizzy bat, sponge race, tug of war, and of course the water balloon toss. We ended up with a rousing round of kickball. Man, can that Mikey boot a ball...we know where Myron and Bradley get it! Thanks to all for helping and to the kids for being so great and fun.

Obstacle Course

Here's Cadin tackling the obstacle course like a champ.

Field Day Video

Dizzy Bat was one of the funniest activities of the day. I had to 'demonstrate' the technique. I have a hard time staying upright after spinning around once, let alone five times. The kids were much better at it, though Tyler, as you'll see, was a little unsure of where he was supposed to run!

Garden Update

The fence is up! What a great group we've got at Frenchboro School. Due to the massive amounts of rain recently, we had a bit of a swimming pool and for some reason, perhaps because they were all wearing Muck boots...the kids could NOT stay away from that mud pit in the middle of the garden. Though they were supposed to be on either fence duty, rock duty, or wire duty...it was like a magnetic attraction. Thank goodness for those boots! The few kids who didn't have rubber boots on...Johnny, Elijah and Amber, managed to stay relatively clear of the mud, though Mr. Finn had to explain to Johnny that his Crocs weren't really 'waterproof' since they had holes in them. "Johnny, that's like saying you're bathing suit's waterproof." Gravedigger was fired up and took a few runs thanks to Brody, so now almost all of the garden is tilled. In the next few days the deer fencing will go up above the wire fencing, zip-tied to rebar, for a cheap, temporary setup that's easy to remove. Up next: seed planting...finally!

Garden Signs

This afternoon, we took the signs that Mr. Finn had made and the students painted them for all the folks who've signed up for a plot at the community garden. We were shy one sign, but the kids did a great job and I think all the families and community members will enjoy the result. There was some confusion with the whole, "don't mix the paint" but all in all it was a successful venture and we're looking forward to seeing the signs down in the garden.

Meet Dr. Rob

Doug has known Rob Gorski since college and they've kept in touch over the years. Rob is an emergency room doctor in New York City. He's been practicing medicine there since he finished school. Rob came to visit us when we were teaching in Alaska, a rare treat, since Nobody wanted to fly all the way out there for a visit. He did a lot of lecturing, showed medical pictures, let the kids experiment with some of the tools of the trade, and hopefully inspired the next generation to pursue medicine. When we moved here to Frenchboro, Rob was keen to come to the beautiful island and see the sights, meet the kids, and share some of his knowledge. Here he is going through the 'welcome line', an old school tradition where all the kids line up to introduce themselves to newcomers.