Happy Mother's Day!

This week we hosted our annual Mother's Day Tea at school. The students made placemats for their moms to use at the tea and placed handmade projects at their mom's seat telling how much they love their mothers.
The kids and their moms sat together at tables and shared juice, fruit and pastries. Moms got to meet other moms and feel celebrated for the day.

After eating together, each class performed a short poem, recitation or skit to honor their mothers. It was a very special morning for moms and kids alike.

Play Ball!

Three of my students are playing on a baseball team this spring. Their moms invited me to one of their baseball games and it was a blast watching them at bat and scoring runs! Going to the ball park and buying hamburgers, Cheetos, and root beer at the concession stand was like experiencing a little piece of America right here in Austria.

Good-Bye, Maya!

This week we said good-bye to Maya, who is heading to Egypt for the summer. She'll be back in the fall for 6th grade and we're all really happy about that. It's great to see these kids becoming such good friends with one another. The day after Maya left, one of my other students commented, "School's not as much fun without Maya!"

Spring Cleaning and Maintenance

Hey, we got a new fence at the edge of our playground area! The old one was falling apart and the neighborhood was beginning to look a little run-down. So Pat and Ron ordered some wood and built a sturdy new wall. They reattached the netting above to keep the soccer balls and basketballs from escaping into the parking lot of the neighboring business. And with the sense of humor that Pat and Ron have, they kept us laughing throughout the whole project!

Practicing Responsibility

Each month we focus on a different positive character trait at VCS. This month, we're practicing responsibility. Recently, we concentrated on being responsible stewards of the Earth. The students were challenged to fill garbage bags with trash that they collected around the school (not in the normal trash cans!) and the neighborhood. The fifth graders took this challenge to heart and filled 5 and 1/2 trash bags! Our neighborhood is looking a lot cleaner, thanks to them!

Easter Visitors!

My Aunt Susan and cousin Laura came to visit over Easter Break. We had such a good time together! I really enjoyed showing them around Vienna and sharing my life here with them. Here they are on their first U-Bahn ride.

We took a weekend trip to Salzburg over Easter weekend. Laura got to see the Austrian Alps! The weather was beautiful and it was special to be together with family on a holiday. We went to a Good Friday mass at a Catholic church and heard lots of church bells ringing in the celebration of Easter.


One of my favorite things we did together was to take a carriage ride through downtown Vienna. I was given some money for my 30th birthday to do this and we used it together while Aunt Susan and Laura were here. We invited my neighbor and friend, Judie, to join us. The city is especially beautiful when seen from the seats of a horse-drawn carriage!

Help for Haiti

This Spring, one of my students had the idea to run a penny drive to raise money for the earthquake victims in Haiti. We worked together to organize a penny drive for the elmentary classes at VCS. We made posters, announced the drive to the classes, and collected and counted the money every day for one week. Each day we marked the money we collected on this giant thermometer poster. By the end of the week, these kids had given 193,94 Euro! What a great project and a blessing to be able to help in such an exciting way!