East Forsyth High School

Along with all the construction on the bridges, the last two months have seen a dramatic increase in progress towards the newly planned East Forsyth High School, not far from us on Jot Em Down Road.  The timing of all this is remarkable.  Currently, it is projected that this school will actually open up just in time for Madison to attend, and of course it is literally just down the street from us.  The current high school she'd be going to is further away, across 400.  This one is less than four miles away, so incredibly close that you could get on a bicycle and ride there very quickly.

The clearing and demolition stage has been in full swing, and the sudden change in landscape has been astonishing.  We're so accustomed to a particular view on the way home, and now that is drastically different.  It's a reminder that yes, in fact, there's a school going to go there, one you can see the plans for above.  It's going to be bigger and it'll be nice and new, and just in time for Madison.

Speaking of classes, tonight was Madison's last class with a green belt.  Along with the others, she did a basic run-through of the ceremony, complete with some sparring and demonstrations of form.  She's nearly there on her complete memorization of the form, and we think she'll do just fine, thanks to a bit of extra personal time with Mrs. Chris.  The sparring tonight was with a new boy, one with a much higher belt, and a larger arsenal of kicks and maneuvers.  Nevertheless, Madison stuck with it, and although he was demonstrating a few surprises here or there, Madison got in several significant strikes and kicks, and did some great evasive maneuvers as well.  We're really proud of her!

At the school she goes to in the afternoon, she got a couple of A's today, one in literary terms and the other on a sonar lab in science.  She's doing well, still moving forward of course.  In social studies, she's looking at Latin America.  They're looking more at what the countries are now, which is a shame.  There are nicer things to talk about, but Madison's idea of what Latin America is - based on the information we're looking at - will be about the drug wars, the Communism, the immigration, and - you guessed it - the pollution.  There seems to be a lot of coverage about pollution.

So based on what we're hearing, this is what sixth grade students are learning:  Latin America and Canada are pretty much really crummy places to be.

I doubt they'll say that this is sort of like New York or Chicago, or California, but the point is, these kids are learning that the world is an awful place filled with pollution and problems.  So much for "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow."  I mean, I get that we want things to be realistic, but realism also involves optimism and overcoming challenges, and hope.

Speaking of hope, we had a phone call with the in-laws today that changed the dynamic a little bit, but there are still some steps on this journey that will be quite challenging.  We'll face them all together, as family.

The weather was beautiful again, so much so that we were working outside with our laptops, writing books and skits for the upcoming "Acting Up" class.  Lots going on this weekend, but we're looking forward to it.  It's another acting class for Madison and the others, this one in Gwinnett.  Tomorrow is a movie night at KidPak, and of course there's a fun skit in the morning.  It'll be a great weekend, but we're taking it all one step at a time.

Tonight we finished "The Bridge to Neverland," and there seemed to be room for a sequel, although that might have been since dropped.  But things ended well, and everyone enjoyed the books.  We're ready to move on though, and we'll see what Madison wants to read next.  We read more from our "Prayer of Jabez" devotional for teens, and we said our prayers for the grandparents, and for all that's going on in church this week.  It's going to be a pretty full summer!