Well,
Lets just say that yesterday was a fabulous way to end Induction and get ready to leave for Institute today. The day started off with our normal early morning rise and breakfast around 7:30. We spent most of the day in session/meetings. The first meeting was about “Owning your Core Experience” it was great because they had a panel of people who had just completed their first year of teaching and they came to give us advice and share some of their personal experiences. It was also a chance for them to explain to us what we will actually be doing at Institute in Houston. Basically lets just say it is a Teaching and Learning boot camp! We wake up and 5:00 spend all day teaching and observing at a school and then take classes and make lessons plans at night. It is a tough 5 weeks of little sleep and lots of hard work but I am going to try and remain as positive as I can throughout the whole experiences. The only challenge will be completing all my Institute work as well as finding time to study for my TEXES exam June 25. Our second meeting of the day was about “Diversity” and it was interesting but I got a little tired towards the end but I think that was because it was lunchtime and I needed some energy. After lunch we headed to closing announcements and chants???? I was a little nervous about the chants but it was so much fun. Basically Dallas is know for being the craziest and most excited group at Institute so we had a competition to see who could come up with the best chants to scream at opening ceremonies in Houston. We have two really fun and crazy chants to use and were told to make Dallas proud because we have a lot to live up to! They also gave us cowbells to use and opening ceremonies haha. Then we had to two hours of free time. I spent the time going for a run, showering, and then packing up my stuff so I would be ready to leave in the morning. Then we had to be back at the building we are having our meetings in for our “Mystery Dinner” we had know idea what were going to be doing but were told to dress “snappy casual”. When we got there the staff was freaking out and acting mad because they said our institute paperwork had not gone through and we were behind schedule and needed to hurry in and re-due all the paperwork. When we all filled in and took a seat there was a little blue envelope at every seat. They were kidding about the paperwork and told us all to open the letter and it was an invitation to join President Bush and his wife Laura at their home in Dallas for dinner! Everyone was freaking out! They hurried us off to buses to go to their house, nice buses that the President had paid for!). Once we got there the President and Mrs. Bush were waiting for us in their driveway and shook each one of our hands and thanked us for all of the hard work we were about to undertake and for helping out the education system. There home is beautiful and very simple. They have a beautiful front yard that had tons of round tables set up for us to sit at for dinner. They were covered in green table clothes with sunflower arrangement centerpieces. (Mom you would have loved the set up!) There was an open bar and country music playing in the background. I had a chance to talk to President Bush once and Mrs. Bush twice. He is absolutely hilarious and so easy to talk with. He asked me about how Alabama was doing since the tornados and we talked about football. I tried to get him to give me a roll tide but he wouldn’t and said he was at that national championship game! We also talked about how he went Mountain biking this morning and then played 18 holes of golf this afternoon. I said, “Man, that’s a rough life” he just laughed. We talked about how Mrs. Bush just came and bought their house while he was still president and when he got down here he made sure there was a putting green in the front yard. It couldn’t have been a better experience. They made us feel so welcomed and appreciated. He gave a little speech and so did Mrs. Bush just wishing us luck this upcoming year and how proud they are of the decision we have made to work in education. Oh you’re probably wondering what we had for dinner!? Well, they had President Bush’s favorite restaurant cater and it was a buffet of salad, beef tenderloin, some type of corn dish called homely, and fried catfish. The food was soooo good! I actually was behind him in line to get food. Overall a great experience. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but I was sneaking them in on my iPhone. I will try to post them when I can. I am sad I missed spending time with yall at Sarah’s deb ball but I’m sure you all had a blast and I am so happy Angel was able to fill in for me! The night was just a great experience and I wish yall could have shared it with me!
Love you all I’m off to Houston!
-Molly
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