Something to Celebrate

Today was the last day of school for both my kids, but today was Tony's last day of Junior High. Much to his surprise, during an 8th grade assembly, he and four other kids were called out from the entire 8th grade class to go to the podium to receive The President's Education Awards Program for Outstanding Academic Achievement! (http://www.ed.gov/programs/presedaward/index.html) He was surprised, but did not fully understand why he got it, so he folded up the certificate, over and over, into a 2 x 2 square and shoved it into his pocket. This brings pain to any scrapbooker, but I am so proud of him. He finished the year with straight A s.

Earlier this week I met with his teachers and counselors to discuss his Freshman schedule. He is signed up for two Pre-AP courses -- Language Arts and World Geography, Latin, Math, Science, and Wrestling is his PE class for the last two hours of each day. He selected a career study path of Criminal Science--which was news to me. When the counselor asked if he wanted to be a detective or a cop, he said, "No, a lawyer." Again, a surprise. Last time I checked, he thought he might want to be a doctor or a chef! He is also exceling in his piano lessons and is so proud to be learning the theme song to Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. (Burton and Hayao Miyazaki are his favorite directors).

You may think - "Wow, his parents must really push him" but you would be wrong. These are all interests that Tony developed over the last couple of years--all on his own. After years of not wanting to join any teams, or take any extra-curricular lessons or activities, he asked if he could do wrestling. We had no idea where to even look for wrestling lessons, but a week later we got a card in the mail asking kids to join a team. He wrestled the last two seasons and last year was voted Most Improved by his coaches. Then less than a year ago he asked for piano lessons. We had him enrolled just days later, so excited about his new interest.

As for the AP/Pre-AP classes - he was moved to advanced Language Arts by his teachers this year, and they encouraged him to continue with it next year, even though it is not his favorite subject. Pre-AP World Geography is something he begged for--even after sitting through an orientation session where they talked about how much extra work it entailed, he was still so psyched, wanting to know if he could start reading something over the summer.

The Latin thing - well he figured if he learned Latin, he could pick up his father's native language, Italian, much better. Plus he liked that the Latin Club kids recruiting at orientation were dressed like Spartans and standing on a small scale chariot. He loves anything historical.

So now, this big, little man, who in the second grade we were being told needed to be in Special Ed and maybe evaluated for ADHD/ADD is exceling. All the fighting and advocating we had to do back then now feels so good. We fought the schools, got outside evaluations and therapy, and learned that he was highly intelligent (off the IQ charts in all analytical areas) and just learned differently. I would love to go back to that school in Washington State and show them now what they were so wrong about. They knew they had resource problems, admitted to it, but still kept whining that they did not have time to teach my kid. This was in Microsoft Millionaire land that they had no resources! But we now know that all the struggling and crying we did was so worth it.

It is seeing his success that gives me hope that maybe we can be as successful with our daughter. It is a bit harder with her, since SHE is the one we are fighting--or at least fighting her behaviors--but the hope is that by advocating for her, getting her the helps she requires, and accomodating some of her needs, that we can one day have a happy, healthy, creative, successful young woman in our lives.