Mustang Award

Kaitlin and Mr. Fletcher (right)

I forgot to blog a couple weeks ago about Kaitlin being awarded the Mustang Award at her school. She was the student of the month and was given the award for exhibiting excellent character.  She was nominated by her AP Spanish teacher who stood up and gave a speech about why he nominated her.  It was very nice, at least I'm guessing it was, because he gave the speech in Spanish! They served us a breakfast after the awards (the ceremony was held before school) and between bites Kaitlin translated what he had said for me.  He had talked about the moment a concept  had 'clicked' for her and how, at that moment, he felt that being a teacher had been worth it.   It's true.  A month or so prior, Kaitlin had come home from school so excited because she had finally understood a concept in Spanish that she had never understood before. Kaitlin has a real thirst to be fluent in the language, and perhaps it is that thirst that her teacher notices, because he often takes extra time to explain things to Kaitlin one-on-one, when the other kids are working on the assignments.  Of the ten kids in the AP class, only a few are non-native speakers, and of those there is only one other Junior. So while Kaitlin struggles, she also is always working so hard.   I am proud of Kaitlin, and so happy that she had gotten some recognition for her work.

I've been thinking of teachers lately.  I was so grateful for Mr. Fletcher taking the time to nominate Kaitlin for that award, and then last week I went with Kaitlin to a funeral for the mother of one of Kaitlin's long time friends, who died from brain tumors.  We counted three different teachers in attendance, and then another teacher sang and played the guitar.  How amazing that the teachers took personal time out of their lives to support a student like that.  I'm just so thankful for good teachers that sacrifice so much.

Kaitlin at BYU

Brigham Young University

Kaitlin spent this weekend with her cousin, Stacy, at BYU to get a tour and learn about college life.  She had a great time with her cousin but it was also really eye opening for her.  She's glad that she still has another year at home before considering going off to college.  It also gave her a chance to talk to Stacy about her major, as Stacy is graduating in Secondary Ed, which Kaitlin is considering as well.