voyages

when magellan, my children's charter school, comes up in conversation, people often ask me what its focus is.  the question always throws me for a loop.  i think they're actually thinking of the local magnet schools, which all do have a specified program: leadership, gifted & talented, international baccalaureate, arts & sciences ... but charters aren't the same as magnets; they don't necessarily have a primary focus.  and so i normally just fumble through my answer, often choosing the phrase "back-to-basics" to describe it, since it devotes its entire day to longer, intense class periods in the four main academic areas.  we don't have "specials" that are found in public elementary schools, like music and art and P.E.  (but most of those are incorporated into everyday instruction -- often more effectively than in stand-alone classes.)  our class sizes never exceed 17, and for the umpteenth year in a row, magellan has scored at the very top of all the schools in the state of north carolina in terms of testing. 

but i had a revelation recently and now know how i'm going to answer the next time someone asks me what magellan's focus is.  i'm going to say, "voyages".  yes, it's a fancy term for field trips (linked, no doubt, to the school's namesake); but as liam has reached 4th grade, i realize what an integral part of the curriculum these voyages are.  because magellan believes that the best way to learn is to experience, there are several multi-day field trips each year starting in the 4th grade, from DC to florida to new york.  the pinnacle of the magellan experience is the sixth grade trip to space camp in alabama.  (space camp.  really ... space camp.  there is a lottery for parent chaperones but ohmygoodness do i hope i get to go.)  after spending weeks investigating various effects on organisms' environments, the 4th grade is headed down on wednesday to the coast to delve into the five different habitats of salt marshes, maritime forests, freshwater ponds, the sound, and the beach.  why learn about it from a textbook or a website, when you can drive a few hours and experience it in person?

but there are shorter, one-day voyages too.  these are much more my chaperoning speed, since missing multiple days of teaching is just plain difficult.  (there are no subs in online teaching.)  so i signed up to chaperone his voyage to the zoo a few weeks ago ... and i'm telling you, there's just nothing like the zoo.  oh, how i love the zoo.

below are just a few pictures of our voyage.  and if i don't get chosen for the space camp voyage in a few years, well, hanging out with kendall the chimp surely will just have to suffice.

i literally got my four charges (all spectacular kids!) to sit down together for a photo.  kendall, obvious extrovert chimp extraordinaire, decided to amble on over and join them

feeding a new friend.  "her tongue was long but really smooth," reported liam

i like to pretend and call this "giraffe selfie"

and they're off

i found this in my unpublished posts list from march 2013, right after we found out that liam had been accepted to magellan.  this is one of the reasons why i blog -- because i have absolutely  no recollection of this happening.

"sara, i've been meaning to tell you the sweetest thing i've ever witnessed," said my friend clare one evening last week at church while we helped stuff envelopes for an upcoming event.  she's a part-time spanish teacher at the kids' school, and while she doesn't teach the younger grades, still sees them from time to time.  "i was standing near the lobby the other day, and liam's class and susanna's class happened to pass each other on their way to specials.  right at the same time, they both stepped a little out of line, met halfway, and gave each other a little sideways hug.  i'm telling you, it almost made me tear up, it was so sweet."


so when i walked in from the driveway yesterday after spending a few extra minutes sharing my exciting news of liam's school acceptance with susanna's best friend lily's mom, and found susanna sitting on the arm chair next to liam, crying, i naturally assumed that she was upset because he would be leaving her.

"oh sweetheart, please don't worry," i said in the most soothing voice i could muster.  "it's only one year that you won't be in school with liam before you get to join him.  because you are guaranteed a spot there too!"

but for some reason, this only escalated her wailing.  "really, honey, it will be okay.  we'll drive him to school each morning, and then he can be at the bus stop when you get home --"

she interrupted me with a look of disdain on her face, as if i just didn't get it.  (which, i guess, i didn't.)  "mommy!  i don't CARE that liam's not going to be in school with me!  i just don't want to be away all of my friends!"

oh.

so fast forward to september 2014 ... and i am wise to have waited a few weeks to post the annual first-day picture and write-up.  because goodness gracious, our little girl has quite the impressive stubborn streak.  she had seventeen months to get used to the idea of leaving lacy and switching schools; seventeen months to watch how much liam loves it there and warm up to the change.  instead, she spent seventeen months crying and complaining and begging for us to let her stay.  (and we had seventeen months of biting our tongues and reminding ourselves that she was within her rights to be upset.)

but now, eighteen months after receiving the news, she is HAPPY.  she is comfortable.  she is enjoying her new school and is proud to go there.  and as long as your name is not sara or chris mann, she'll even tell you how much she loves magellan.  (she still won't admit to us that it has been a great move.  i'm telling you, it's an impressive stubborn streak.)

so, finally, here's the first-day-of-school picture, with two smiling children -- in a little sideways hug just like they used to share on the halls of lacy.

liam (fourth grade) & susanna (third grade) -- in unplanned matching colors