About halfway through the 2016-2017 school year, I decided I was ready to move on from William McKinley Elementary. It was such a bittersweet decision. So many happy memories have come from my time in that school (hello, husband :)) and I've met incredibly passionate, kind-hearted people who inspire me to be a whole lot better than I am. It was my favorite job and I met some of my best friends there.
Knowing I was leaving made me want to just soak up my favorite events, many of which happened at the end of the year.
1. Excellent Eagle Competition. This was an etiquette competition my friend Amy Pellor thought up and organized the year before. The kids compete in various rounds, showing off their manners, professionalism, and conversation skills. One of our last rounds involved the finalists giving a tour of the school to visitors. They were so cute and fun to watch and listen to. The best part of the competition, though, was taking the finalists to Olive Garden to prove their table manners with some guests from our wonderful partners at Faegre Baker Daniels law firm. Free Olive Garden in the middle of the school day with some of my best work friends? Heck yes!
2. Terrific Kids Lunch at Faegre Baker Daniels. Every semester, our partners at Faegre Baker Daniels host a lunch for 2 kids from every class, nominated by their teachers for their excellent behavior, leadership, or improvement. We eat pizza, mingle with the lawyers, and admire the view from the 27th floor conference room. Then the kids receive a certificate and a goodie bag. These kids are the best of the best and it's so fun to love on them.
3. School Carnival. I'll admit, this was not my idea and I adamantly refused to be the chairperson for the committee. Mostly because it was the night before Brandon was going to leave for 2 weeks - the night before our anniversary. But I supported the committee planning it and managed the money for it. It turned out to be so fun. The teachers at each grade level planned carnival games, and even though it felt like it was 500 degrees outside, we had an incredible turnout and so much fun. I have never seen the staff at William McKinley come together like they did that night - it was such a great night. I've loved being a part of this staff, and this was a great way to celebrate all the good friends I made there.
4. Field Day. Normally, field day is not so fun - outside all day manning different activity stations in the heat and humidity. We got so lucky with the weather this day, though - it was actually a little bit chilly. And it was fun to spend play time with these sweet kids.
5. Sixth Grade Graduation. These sixth graders were fourth graders when I first started at William McKinley, and it has been such a pleasure to see them grow. Plus, we started the day with preschool graduation which is always a blast. :)
My two favorite people at William McKinley - social worker Michelle Mucenski and speech therapist Ashley Whitaker. Ashley and I became fast friends the first year we both started and have grown to be such good friends in the three years we worked together. I've only had the pleasure to work with Michelle for one year, but our friendship was instantaneous and she made the work we did together (which is quite a bit) so much fun.
After the last day of school, we had a staff social at Faegre Baker Daniels where we socialized, ate, and received paper plate awards. Love these friends - Ashley Whitaker, Emily Chestnut, Lexie Walters, Megan Callahan, and Olivia Justus. This was the last day for all of us except Ashley.
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