New Blogger

POSTED BY TODD:

Just so everyone understands, we have officially migrated from "Old Blogger" to "New Blogger." I resisted the move, but Google basically forced it. Anyway, as Mark informed everyone by email this week, the sign-in procedures to post have changed. If you need help, just let me know. That is all.

A Trip to the Mall of America

Last Friday the girls had the day off from school. As most other districts did not, we decided that a trip to the Mall of America would be a good choice. We went on a number of rides including the Pepsi Rip Saw roller coaster, the Ferris Wheel, the Haunted House and the Log Chute. We had lunch at the famous Stadium Grill where the peanut butter & jelly sandwich and slushy’s were top shelf. We found it hard to believe that it took us 5 hours to complete a total of 7 rides and lunch, especially since the lines were not that long (well, maybe a little poking around in stores).

Quote of the day. Kristin asked Stephanie “when you were a kid did they have Barbie’s and gay guys then too?” (She was referring to the Ken doll).

Middle School, here we come.....

After eight years at Zachary Lane Elementary School (including two years of preschool), Kallie and Matthew will be moving on to Middle School in the Fall of 2007. They were accepted in two different accelerated programs at two different Middle Schools and have decided to attend the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) at Sandburg Middle School in Golden Valley.

This program is only available in 18 Middle Schools within the United States and this is the only Middle School in Minnesota offering this program. Harvard University's Graduate School of Education recently announced the start of a study of IBMYP programs and chose four Middle Schools world-wide to visit and observe. Out of roughly 2,000 IBMYP programs in over 120 countries, researchers chose Sandburg Middle School along with three other schools located in Uganda, Portugal, and Hong Kong.

Over 500 kids applied for this program that accomodates about 120 kids per year. Kallie and Matthew were both accepted.

Way to go!!!!!

Beautiful Music......

Last night (February 5th), Kallie played her violin with ten other members of the All-District Orchestra in front of the Robbinsdale School Board. This small group played a song from the 14th century titled "Sword Dance." There were nine violins, one cello, and one bass.

Kallie is a member of the All-District Orchestra, which is made up of 105 students (5th and 6th graders only) from the Robbinsdale School District. They practice once a week after school and perform two or three concerts. In addition, they attend a Minnesota Orchestra concert, record a professional-quality CD, and tour district Elementary and Middle Schools.

The All-District Orchestra will be performing at the Minnesota music Educator's Midwinter Clinic on Friday, February 16, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. This ensemble was invited to perform based on an audition process. Unfortunately, Kallie will not be able to attend this event as she will be in Florida visiting her grandparents.