I want to challenge all my friends with school age children to write a letter of appreciation to their teachers every year.  It is so easy to complain when a teacher does something we feel is unjust.  Yet, when our children get an exceptional teacher do you take a moment to give her the accolades she/he deserves?  Being a teacher is a calling.  Teachers do not get rich from doing this job.  Usually, they put more of their paycheck back into the classroom.  (Trust me, I know!)  I take a moment every year to write a thank you letter  to each of my child's teachers.  Then, I send a copy to the teacher, the principal, and the superintendent.  It doesn't have to be long or complicated!  I challenge ALL of the parents out there to do the same.  Here are mine from this year:

Logan's Teacher-

June 13, 2012

Dear Mrs. Westbrooks,

With my heartfelt thanks and feelings, I want to express my genuine gratitude for all the hard work you have done during the 2011-2012 academic year. I hope you realize how much we appreciated everything you did for Logan.  It was clear from the start you expected great things from all your students.  We appreciate the individualized instruction you gave to Logan.  He has always been a good student.  However, this is the first year I have ever seen him actually have to study.  You did not allow him to coast through the 3^rd grade!  I thank you for always challenging him and encouraging him to think more critically.  You have given a new dimension to teaching with your unique and innovative ways. 
I also appreciate how easy it was to get in touch with you and how every assignment was explained in detail so we knew what he was expected to do.  You truly made our 3^rd grade year wonderful.  You are an exceptional teacher!  Thanks for everything!

Sincerely,
Karyn Campagnone
Karyn Campagnone

CC:  Dr. Machelle Matthews(Principal) and Edmond T Heatley(Superintendent)

Joey's Teacher-

June 13, 2012

Dear Mrs. Covington,

With my heartfelt thanks and feelings, I want to express my genuine gratitude for all the hard work you have done during the 2011-2012 academic year. I hope you realize how much we appreciated everything you did for Joseph.  It was clear from the start you expected great things from all your students.  We appreciate the individualized instruction you gave to Joey.  I thank you for always challenging him and encouraging him to think more critically.  You have given a new dimension to teaching with your unique and innovative ways. 
I also appreciate how you worked with us on the ADHD issues.  You have the patience of a saint!  You truly made our Pre-K year wonderful.  You are an exceptional teacher!  Thanks for everything!

Sincerely,

Karyn Campagnone

Karyn Campagnone

CC:  Mrs. Shannon (Director)

Tyler's Teachers- 

June 13, 2012

Dear Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Robinson,

With my heartfelt thanks and feelings, I want to express my genuine gratitude for all the hard work you have done during the 2011-2012 academic year. I hope you realize how much we appreciated everything you did for Tyler.  It was clear from the start you expected great things from all your students.  We appreciate the individualized instruction you gave to Tyler.  We are sad to see leave your classroom and move on to middle school. In the three years he has been in your MOID class, we have counted ourselves blessed to have you in our lives as we take this journey with Tyler.  Thank you for your dedication to the special students in your class.   You have given a new dimension to teaching with your unique and innovative ways. 

Thank you for pushing Tyler to accomplish more and for never giving up on him.  You are exceptional teachers!  Thanks for everything!

Sincerely,

Karyn Campagnone

Karyn Campagnone

CC:  Dr. Machelle Matthews(Principal) and Edmond T Heatley(Superintendent)

Clayton County T-Ball Letter

This is a letter I wrote to Clayton County Athletics after our experience with Joey's T-Ball.

May 31, 2012

To whom it may concern:

I would like to voice my displeasure with the administration of Rex Park T-ball this year.  I have three boys who all participate in sports.  My husband and I also coach a baseball team for special needs children in Henry County.  When our five year old asked to play t-ball this year, we did not hesitate to sign him up!  We thought it would be a good opportunity for him to learn the sport, get active, and have fun.  As his parents, we were surprised.  I have never seen such disorganization as I have seen with this season.    

I was a couple of days late registering since he did not tell me he wanted to play until after the sign up had ended.  Because of this, I had to pay a late fee.  I paid this fee with no hard feelings, since I was, after all, late registering.  We were told we would be called be called by our coach.  After several calls to the main office, we were asked to come to a special meeting at the park.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find the teams had not even been formed yet!  By this time, the other leagues had been practicing for two weeks already!  If I have to pay a late fee for registering 2 days after the deadline, what accountability should the park county have to take for being late?

Throughout the season, our team has struggled with equipment shortages, mismanagement of practice schedules on the field, and having our games cut short because of not enough time allowed between scheduled games.  We never did get helmets provided! To say this has aggravated us is a correct assessment.  However, nothing compares with the fiasco occurring at the end of the season. 

Our son has played the whole season looking forward to going to his end of the year ceremony.  He has older brothers and has been to their award banquets.  He was really looking forward to finally accepting his trophy as his family looked on.  At the last game, we asked for the date and location of the end of the season awards ceremony.  We were told it would probably be Tuesday of the following week, but that they would let everyone know as soon as possible.  On Tuesday, my husband texted the coach.  The coach responded the get together had not been scheduled.  On Monday of this past week, we again contacted the coach to ask when the trophies were going to be handed out.  At this point, we were told they had already been handed out -- AT THE END OF THE YEAR PARTY!  Our only option now is to pick up the trophy from our coach and give it to our son- No banquet, no recognition of his achievement.  The coach said the banquet had been planned without his knowledge and he was only made aware of it after a mom called to see if he was on his way!  Did I mention this was held about 3 miles from our house and had the coach called us when he was called, we would have still made it?  He also mentioned only 4 kids showed up.  Really?  Could it be because no one knew that it was actually taking place?  Thank you so much Clayton County for making this season a memorable one.  My son will NEVER  get this back.  This was his first season playing organized sports.  This has taught us one important lesson… Pay the out of county fees and let him play in a quality organization!

Sincerely,

Aaron and Karyn Campagnone

Family Update

This post is going to be full of complete randomness- Bear with me.  Things have been so busy in the Campagnone household lately! Some of it has been good and some not so good. 

 Logan, our resident genius, was chosen to go to Georgia Tech for a kids in science program.  He had a great time visiting the campus, the lab, and completing several projects.  He got a t-shirt with Buzz on it so he was on cloud nine!  His Dad graduated from Tech and he swears he’s either going there or Yale. ( I am voting for the in-state tuition!)    His Pepa and him have fun picking one each other about the whole Ga- Ga tech thing.  I am just proud of the man Logan is becoming.  Not only does he have the brains, he also has a large heart.  While he loves both of his brothers, Tyler is his heart.  I love hearing him interact with him.  Tyler talks to Logan more than any of us.  He really looks out for him.  He is already stressing about Tyler going to a different school than him next year.  

Which brings us to the Tyler news.  Tyler will be going to middle school next year!  (Special needs children are required to do 4^th grade twice.)  I can hardly believe my baby will be in middle school.  This is hard on me for two reasons.  #1- He’s my baby.  It is difficult for me to believe Tyler will be a teenager in September.  (Don’t call him baby, though!  He will let you know very quickly that is not the case.  Right,  mom?)  #2- I HATED middle school.  It was a very awkward time for me.  I HATED it!  To this day, walking into a middle school still makes me hyperventilate. Tyler is in the middle of “senior week” at his school.  They are doing special activities, getting ready for the graduation ceremony, and just took senior pictures.  Sunshine league, the baseball league he plays on, starts their season this Saturday.  His coaches are awesome.  (Did I mention Aaron and I coach his team?)  We are also having a “end of the year party” for his class next Saturday.  Aaron and I are showing a movie for them on the side of the house.  It should be fun.

Joey is playing T-ball this year.  That kiddo is definantly our outdoor, athletic kid.  Aaron has him at practice at the moment and he also has a game on Saturday.  Our weekends are packed!  He is finishing up Pre-K and will be starting Kindergarten next year.  At the moment, Aaron and I are trying to decide which school to put him in.  He has a new hobby.  He absolutely loves to fish.  It seems we will be doing a lot of that this summer!  His birthday is May 15^th and we are currently planning a Batman party for him.  More details on that to come.

My sister had her baby in March.  He is adorable!!  Big brother, Tristan, is so proud.   I am a gloating aunt who can’t wait to see the pictures they took of him today!

My uncle lost his battle with cancer two weeks ago.  He fought a good fight and lived a lot longer than the doctors expected him to.  My uncle was a good man.  He, like all of us, had his faults.  Uncle Charles graduated from high school the year I was born.  He had THREE children.  The oldest was born when I was 11.  The youngest was born when I was a junior in high school.  I was fortunate to, not only have known him, but also to be related to him.  There are so many things I will remember about him.  I saw him two days before he died.  We both knew it would be the last chance we had to see each other.  We didn’t pretend everything was fine.  We didn’t talk about what we were going to do in the next few weeks.  He talked. I cried.  In fact, I cried most of the way home. 

 I don’t feel like sharing memories of him right now.  I also don’t feel like writing down our last conversation at this time.  I really don’t want to discuss the funeral very much.  But I will say this about the day we buried him.  As we made our way from the funeral home to the church, cars not only stopped, but pulled completely off to the side of the road.  Some people got out of the car to stand.   Police escorted us and were at every light and turn.  They stood outside of their vehicles with their hats held over their heart.  I am use to Atlanta traffic.  More often than not, people don’t even stop.  This touched me greatly.  You gotta love small towns!  My mom cared for my uncle(and my grandmother) in his final months.  She is a tough lady, my mom.  She was the only person with him when he died.  She is doing okay right now.  She is staying busy and I think that helps.  My mom is now an only child.  My grandmother has buried two of her three children.  I can imagine no greater hell.  

For spring break, we went to Florida to visit Aaron’s dad and his wife.  We had a very relaxing time.  It was fun to go to the beach, ride in the boat, and take the kids to the small aquarium they had there.  It was a nice visit and we hope to get back down there soon.

The lawsuit for Aaron’s mom seems to be drawing to a close.  We go to mediation on May 10^th.  If nothing is settled there, the court date has been set for July.  Keep us in your prayers.  It will be difficult emotionally to recount the events of that time.  The most horrible part is no matter what decision is made, it will never bring her back.

This blog has turned depressing.  Sorry about that. I will leave you with this.   I was dancing with my class today.  One of the students told me I needed to stop because I was embarrassing myself.  Hmm…. She was probably right! :)

African Backyard Safari

The weather has been so unseasonably warm this winter it feels like we missed out on winter!  Usually we end up cutting the grass around the middle of April.  Last week, I discovered grass (and weeds) up to my knees. We had a yard service last year.  I have been trying to call him, to no avail. So, I got out our lawn mower.  It was dead.  I changed the oil and spark plug………………nothing.  I called it.  So, Monday we bought a new little push mower and Tuesday Aaron put it together.  This brings us to tonight.  I got the mower out and started mowing the front.  

 Logan actually asked if I could show him how to mow.  Of course!  (Hehehe!:))  He wanted to mow our neighbor’s yard, which he did.  When I asked him to mow our front yard, he was suddenly tired and plus didn’t I know he has allergies?!  (and so getting OUT of mowing the yard begins!)  I did the front and side yards pretty quickly since they weren’t really bad.  Then, I went to conquer the back.   

At this point, Joey came out onto the patio to watch.  Jokingly, I said, “Be careful- I don’t know what animals are going to come out of this tall grass!”  I started mowing.  I Had gotten through about half the lawn when I noticed Joey was still sitting on the patio.  Worried about the pollen and grass the mower was unsettling, I told him to go inside.  That is when my baby boy looked me in the eye and said,

“ Mom, I want to watch!  I’m watching for a tiger!”