Playing Hooky

Late Friday afternoon, we had a visitor to Room E135 ... Ms. Leom was invited to be the staff member on the sixth boat for the sixth grade class fishing trip. She was sad to miss out on a day with her current class, and she had plans ... but the opportunity to hang with some of her alumni and find out what this fishing trip is all about was too a-lure-ing of an adventure to pass up!!

This picture doesn't do justice to the number of laps she made on her boat, checking on her 19 fishing companions and encouraging them to catch a fish ... Captain Rich worked so hard ... with his helper, Gary ... we traveled to five locations ... checked the depths of the lines every five to ten minutes ... three different types of bait ... some movement ... Captain Rich, an expert on these things, thought the late ice out, the still cold water temperatures, and our timing was early by a week ...

There was a little rain and some students who really wanted to catch a fish, nearly as much as Ms. Leom ... Ms. Leom was hoping to be invited back ... she is afraid her no fish count might limit her chances. That is one of the many reasons why being a teacher at Milaca Schools is special. When you have a student for one year, or work with a group of students, you have opportunities to continue those  connections for years to come. We are building and maintaining a larger community that extends beyond the walls of our classrooms.

As Ms. Leom's Grandpa Gene always said, "Any day spent fishing is a day well spent." Indeed.

The best part, coming back to school to share some fish tales with her students and get them excited for their future trip as sixth graders to play hooky.