5th Grade: On Top of the World...and then a Crash Landing

It's time for the next chapter of my project! 5th grade was one of my best years. I absolutely loved it!

Here I am in all my 10 year old glory. 5th grade was so much fun. I was blessed to have Mrs. Joan Branch for my teacher that year. I remember crying when I found out I got her. She had been one of the Gifted teachers at Aloma Elem. for years and was tough! I knew I was in for a year of hard work. It turned out to be the biggest blessing ever. I have never been challenged in all of my schooling like I was in 5th grade.

We had a room-mom teach us how to crosstitch. I had to do mine over because the thread I used was too light and didn't show up well. I made my BFF Ashley a crosstitch that said, "Good Friends Listen with their Hearts". I was so proud! Even the boys learned how to do it too! I was a safety patrol this year too. I remember being voted Lieutenant and I still have my little pin from the 5th grade awards ceremony. Wearing that belt made me feel SO important...ha!

I think the thing I hated most about 5th grade, if there was something to hate, was MATH. I became a hypochondriac and was always looking to escape class at math time. Math was always my weakest area. For one assignment, Mrs. Branch brought in actual copies of a menu from a restaurant. We had to add up our meal and figure out the tax. I never understood it very well. I had such a hard time.

I had my first real crush in 5th grade. His name was Jensen and he lived in my neighborhood. This year I was THRILLED when the photographer had us stand next to each other in the class picture! He sat next to me in class for a brief period of time too. I remember I was messing around with my pencil and had the lead pointed at the palm of my hand. He bumped me and the lead went straight into my hand...ouch. I still have the lead stain in my hand to this day. Ahh, young love.

Here I am dressed as Oliver Wendell Holmes. Being a former Gifted teacher, Mrs. Branch always loved to incorporate her lessons from the enrichment program into our regular ed. class. She had each of us choose a decade, yes a DECADE, and do an independent study on it. We had to dress as one of the people from our decade, have a timeline (you see mine in the picture), have visual aids, notecards, and our report. We had to give a live presentation to our class as well. This was the HARDEST assignment I have ever done, even through college. My report ended up being 21 pages handwritten. My decade was 1897-1906. I remember sitting in the clinic after school writing this report over because I did sucha terrible job the first time. My mom worked the after-care program so I had plenty of time after school to get it done. I thank Mrs. Branch to this day for making me do this. It was worth all the hard work.

I also made it to the county-wide Civic Oration Contest. My speech was on Samuel Clemens..aka Mark Twain. Every 5th grader had to wrote a speech and present it to their class. The teachers chose 5 students to give their speech to the school. I was chosen my Mrs. Branch! I ended up winning that round as well and this picture is me on stage at the county contest. I didn't make it to the disctrict finals. My glory stopped here, but I was amazed that I made it this far! I still remember the first line of my speech: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."- Mark Twain.

This was my greatest year of violin lessons. At the end of the year, I won the most outstanding violin student award, seen here, along with a cassette tape of Pachelbel's Canon in D. Don't you love the yaaaawn my little sis gave in this pic?! I also was givent he honor of playing in my violin teacher's wedding! It was a cellist from another elem. school, the pianist, and me all playing the wedding march. It was SUCH an honor. To tell you what a small world it is, I ended up teaching my violin teacher's nephew many years later and her sister was one of my room mothers!! She wasn't at my teacher's wedding because she was expecting her daughter at the time and was too far along to fly. I loved finding this out! What a crazy, small world.

I was also selected to be Student of the Month this year. I got my name announced on the morning announcements, a pin to wear (that I still have), and got to go to Red Lobster for lunch with the principal. I also got my photo on a bulletin board for all to see. I was actually on the morning announcements crew working the video camera the day the principal announced all the winners. I jumped straight up when she said my name!

The crash landing came when my parents told me we were going to be moving. My Dad's job wasn't doing well and he couldn't find another one in the area. We were given two choices, Perry, FL or Hunstville, AL. We chose the Florida job, but it was HARD leaving my school and my friends. I spent the summer playing and doing all the things normal kids do. I remember the day we pulled out of the driveway: August 26, 1988. I had been to a birthday party that day. It was overcast and kind of rainy. After I got home from the party, my parents had everything ready to go. My Dad drove our 1974 Buick Century and my Mom, Cristy, and I followed in the station wagon along with the cat, 2 beagles, a hamster, & my gerbil. It was a very long 4 hour drive. I remember all of my friends standing in my driveway watching us drive away. I cried so hard. That was the end to the "easy" years as I call them. My security was gone and I found myself at 11 years old having to start over in a new town, new school, and with new friends.