Adventures of the Hill Family: Blake's 1st Grade Year

Blake was in Mrs. Denene Barrone's 1st/2nd grade combo GATE class. He had a terrific year. Mrs. Barrone was incredibly patient and supportive of him, even when he was having a tough day and when he started to exhibit nervous ticks. She simply encouraged him to be happy, keep working hard and do his very best. He enjoyed the children in his class and got along well with everyone. I loved that his class was a wonderful blend of many nationalities and cultures. The children shared their heritage in many ways -- delicious foods, fun traditions, and great presentations. The parents were great to work with and supported every class activity. Mrs. Barrone even commented that she had never had as much parental support as she did this year. It showed in how successful the class was. The 2nd graders excelled in their writing, science and ancestry projects, and the 1st graders excelled in their writing, math, reading comprehension, and rainforest projects. The 1st graders did so well that they finished their math requirements early, which had never been done before. As a delightful culmination to the year, during the last week of school, the class practiced and performed the cute musical "Jack and the Beanstalk". Blake played one of the farmers who buys Jack's cow with the magic beans. I pray that Blake's 2nd grade year is as wonderful as his 1st grade year was. He truly thrived!

Blake and his dear 1st grade teacher Mrs. Barrone. Mrs. Barrone has also taught Mark and Jocelyn in 1st grade, so she is very special to our family.

Blake with his Spider Monkey rainforest project. He worked very hard on this project. He also enjoyed completing the Sloth and "When the Monkeys Came Back" writing and art projects in class. His mother helped his class work on these projects many, many days.

Blake's class performing Jack and the Beanstalk. The three girls in the center (Alyssa Howie, Sydney Hom, and Crystal Millar) were the three gold eggs!

Blake and Ahkilan playing the farmers in the Jack and Beanstalk play.

In May we had great fun with Marc, Cindy and Shannon Taylor when they came to Disneyland for a week. Blake insisted that Wendy go on the rapids ride and she got totally soaked (but so did everyone else, despite wearing jackets!)

Seismic proof of the Blake-quake....I remember this time well because I was laying in the recovery room following my late night C-section when the earthquake hit. I bolted straight up in bed when the room and bed began shaking. I said, "What is that!!??" and the attending nurse said, "We're having an earthquake." Welcome to the world Blake! It must be happy you are here to give you a rumbling welcome!

The Blake-quake!! We toured the L.A. Science Museum during spring break in April. Jocelyn found the seismic recordings of the earthquake that centered in Yorba Linda the night Blake was born in 2002. We were all so excited to have Blake pose in front of proof of his earthquake!

Blake and Brent running the annual TMA jog-a-thon to earn a free Jamba Juice smoothie. Blake and Brent will do anything for a smoothie (even compete for the finish line!)