We finally snapped a picture of a poster Vanessa made months ago. It's been hanging outside of the cafeteria since the fall. Although her bedroom and play areas don't always lead you to believe so, she gets good stewardship of her school. I've been trying to relocate a picture of her desk from last September. I had a hard time believing it was her desk because it was so organized. I suppose her home is the place to let loose and ransack.
I think many of us would agree that when she enters a room, her strong presence is felt and known. We recently met another little girl in Zane's ZooKids class that reminds me so much of Vanessa at that age. Millie says everything that comes into her brain. She greets you before you've had a chance to enter the room. I tell her grandma I so get it.
When a student at Avery does good deeds and honors values such as kindness, respect and responsibility, they get a gator claw. That gator claw is then placed in a drawing and remains there all year unless it gets pulled. On Fridays, and when your name is pulled in the drawing, you find out by being called down to the office via the intercom. Vanessa's 3rd grade teacher also allows the kids to enter extra gator claws for out of this world behavior. Vanessa has been granted several over the course of the year via both ways. And her name was finally drawn at the end of March. Look at that smile . . .
