Friday we had our first SOAR Celebration together in the gym! We do this to come together as a school and celebrate a number of things! Each month we sing Happy Birthday to all of the kids having birthdays in the month (and they get to stand during the song). The Eagle comes in and we acknowledge how many reading minutes we're accumulating for our 400 Club and hear from the PTO about upcoming events. One of the favorite parts of our time together is when we play minute-to-win-it style games, by grade level.
This time Andrew was our class representative and he did an awesome job pumpkin bowling! He had a wirey pumpkin that he bowled into a tower of toilet paper ghosts! I think he got a top score for all of 3rd grade! Woo Hoo!
Students are selected to be class representatives in the games several different ways throughout the year. They might be chosen because they were exhibiting SOARing behavior consistently throughout the month, or it might be because they had the top number of reading minutes for the month, or they might just have their name drawn from a hat!
The end of today was a bit on the sad side for our class, as we said good bye and best wishes to our friend, Raniyah. She and her family are moving to Iowa. The kids have already caught on to the need for a class selfie on important occasions like this, so in the last minutes of the day we piled together to get one last picture with our dear friend!
Finally, because I am proud, I will share a success from my weekend! I ran the Mankato Marathon 10K for the 3rd time! It is one of my favorite run courses of all time because of a few things. The fall colors are AH-MAZING, especially down Stoltzman Road hill. Stoltzman Road hill is number two for why this race is a good one...much of the run is downhill and that's always great. Running a local race is so fun to see familiar faces, not only on the side of the course, but running beside you as well! The community support for this race is truly awesome (all distances, not just the 10K). Lastly, the weather is usually beautifully cool and crisp. So, if you've ever considered doing a longer running race, think about it for next year (disclaimer: they did not pay me to write that, although I think maybe they should!)
In the end, I was able to carry my summer fitness into this beautiful October day and got a 10K PR (personal record) with a time of 51:40, 2 minutes and 16 seconds faster than the last time I did this race! My body is ready for a bit of a break until the next training cycle begins in January! :)
In the end, I was able to carry my summer fitness into this beautiful October day and got a 10K PR (personal record) with a time of 51:40, 2 minutes and 16 seconds faster than the last time I did this race! My body is ready for a bit of a break until the next training cycle begins in January! :)
Looking forward to a fabulous three-day week!