Balance

A friend of mine expressed interest in snowboarding. It was something she has always wanted to try. She is an extreme sport kind of person, but now that she has children, three of them, she feels extreme guilt doing anything that puts her life in possible danger. So, rather than bungee jumping or parachuting, she decided it would be fair to try snowboarding. Me, being the expert snowboarder that I am, offered to take her on the slopes and teach her.

Now, I know that I have poked fun at the local place that we call The Ski Bump. All joking aside, they say, they being "experts," that The Bump is one of the best places to learn. I solemnly agree as this is where I learned to both ski and snowboard. So, I was confident that Patty would have no trouble picking up snowboarding.

I was right. Patty caught on fairly quickly. We moved our way from the bunny hill, to the double chair life, then to the triple in no time. At The Bump, that is as big as it gets! She was very determined the whole while.

Being as this is February break for all the school districts in the area, there were several kids from my school at The Bump. The thing about Patty, she is a cop. A very well known cop among my students. Not because she seeks out kids to harass, but because she is the D.A.R.E. officer. She visits my fifth graders at least once a week to talk about the effects of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Trust me when I say, D.A.R.E. is much more than this. It also encompasses decision making, acceptance, and self confidence. 

As Patty and I were passing underneath one of the chairlifts, a group of students from my class were overhead. It was wonderful to hear the kids put to use the skills they are learning in school. For they yelled very positive, encouraging comments. "Nice job, Mrs. Gorski!" "You're doing good, Officer Patty!" 

They even took it a step further and proved that they actually paying attention and retaining academic information. Patty was concentrating on her every move. She kept her eyes on the snow that lie ahead of her. One of the boy's on the chair lift shouted, "Officer Patty, keep your head up! You told us to keep our head's up no matter what!" With that, she almost fell as her laughter jolted her body. Next, one of the boys reminded me, "balance, Mrs. Gorski. Just like our equations." Balance is something I repeat to them often in math. Not only was I pleased by their positive and reinforcing comments, but was very proud to see they are retaining things!