Ste Agnes, France

Over Spring Break, I had the opportunity to travel to France with my roommate, Sandi, and my cousin, Susanne. We had great weather throughout our trip and enjoyed the semi-tropical climate of the south of France.

We rented a tiny cottage for the week in a small mountain village called Ste. Agnes. It was an old, picturesque town with stone streets, plenty of flower pots and window boxes, and a view of the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. From the highway, we wound up a narrow road about 800 meters to reach the town.

We took several day trips from Ste Agnes, visiting Monte Carlo in Monaco, Nice, and a couple small towns in Italy. Here Susanne and I stand in a Japanese garden in Monte Carlo. This garden was designed for Princess Grace.


In Nice, we visited a park with a great overlook onto the Mediterranean Sea. The water was clear and beautiful shades of blue.


We also strolled through the popular flower market in the old city section of Nice. This seemed to be an ideal time to visit this area - all the flowers and trees were in bloom, the weather was pleasant, and we avoided the swarm of summer tourists. On a personal note, this was a very special time of memories made with Sandi and Susanne before they move back to the States.

Class Birthday Party

We love celebrating each other's birthdays in 5th grade. We interview the birthday student about the day they were born, sing multiple versions of "Happy Birthday", offer a prize from the birthday prize box, and of course, eat birthday treats together. This particular birthday party was for Stacy, on her 12th birthday.

Book Character Costume Party

March is Book Month! Our school librarian threw a Book Character Costume Party this month to celebrate. I dressed as Ms. Franny Block, the librarian of the Herman W. Block Memorial Library, in the book Because of Winn Dixie. This is Jae Gyung, dressed as Captain Hook. I tutor Jae Gyung after school two times a week in English and enjoy working with her very much.

Here is a photo of the elementary teachers who dressed up for the costume party. On the left is the host of this fabulous party, Mrs. Dax. She came dressed as the caterpillar in Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Other teacher costumes included Amelia Bedilia, Minnie Mouse, and the Cat in the Hat!

After the students showed off their costumes, we ate a long caterpillar cake in honor of Eric Carle's 80th birthday. That's a lot of candles!

Sheila Comes to Vienna!

My friend, Sheila, came to visit over her school's Ski Week. Sheila teaches 4th grade in Prague. She brought a friend and fellow-teacher named Nicole with her. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing together. Sheila came to school with me one day to see what 5th grade at VCS is all about.

It's hard to take pictures of yourself while you're teaching, so Sheila caught me in action on the day she visited. I'm giving instructions for reading class and getting ready to pass out the books.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the computer lab to work on the non-fiction books that the students are writing. Mrs. Klein, our computer teacher, and I have teamed up to make this a digital (paper free!) project.

At home, we made delicious taco salad one night while Sheila and Nicole were here. In this photo, Nicole helps Sandi and I brown the taco meet and chop salad toppings while Sheila documents the fun of four cooking in our tiny kitchen.

Valentine's Party

The 4th and 5th graders had a joint Valentine's Day party last month. They made their own Valentine's cards and frosted heart cutout cookies. What a fun time!

London & Wales

During Energy Break, I travelled to London and Wales with a few friends from school. We arrived just hours before the snow and enjoyed the unique view of the famous landmarks covered in snow. Here's St. Paul's Cathedral, which is as beautiful inside as out.

A highlight of our time in London was a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. The theater has been fully restored and we learned a lot of fascinating history from our informative tour guide.

From London, we rented a car and drove to several towns in Wales, including Bath and Cadiff. This photo was taken on the coast near Fishgaurd, where we wandered through the remains of an ancient fort and hiked a path that bordered the Atlantic Ocean.

Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week

"Uncle" Jerry Jacoby returned to VCS this year for Spiritual Emphasis Week. He sang songs with us, told us jokes and shared stories from the Bible that illustrate God's character and His love for us. One of the songs we sang was really difficult to understand, so each day Jerry would ask a student to come up and explain a line of the song. That student became our Philosopher for the Day and got to sit on the special Philosopher's Stool. In the picture above, the new Philosopher for the Day - a 5th grade student! - shakes hands with the departing philosopher. What fun!

Jerry ate lunch with the students and brought lots of smiles, laughter and fun wherever he went!