As has become the standard, a lot has happened since I last wrote. We have finished our first quarter at Urban Impact Leadership Academy and it has gone well. Almost all of my students received an A or B in journalism and I think they've started to understand several concepts. We have started with basic structure and functions of journalism and I've made sure to include the First Amendment in a lot of our conversations because I feel it is such an important part of the whole field.

Kentrell and I continue to work on Civics every day and it is also going well. I'm having to relearn a lot of American history but that has been a good thing. I've always loved history and political science was one of my majors in college. It is a blessing to finally be able to use that somewhere!

I have certainly come to appreciate full-time teachers so much more after this quarter. Planning takes time and I really only have to plan for journalism. We have a set curriculum for Civics so I just have to work a little bit ahead to be sure I am ready for each class. To be honest, there have even been things I didn't quite understand and a few words even I couldn't pronounce so we struggle through some of that together. Ideally I'd use different curriculum and I know Ms. Wendy agrees, but for now we work with what we have and I strive to make history interesting and as relevant as possible.

Last week the students dissected a starfish at Tulane University as a part of their biology class and I got to tag along as the photographer. I won't lie, it brought back horrible memories of frog dissection in high school biology class. Oh I'll never forget those sounds and smells! This, however, was a little more tolerable as 1) I didn't have to cut anything, 2) A starfish doesn't seem to come across as "real" as a frog since I've never played with a live starfish and 3) It has no face which makes it a little less creepy.

The kids did a great job and all of them got in there and were willing to explore and get messy. Better them than me!

In addition to school responsibilities, I've purchased a furry little friend. I know, I know, so many of you have heard all my mouse stories and probably wonder why I'd bring in something that could attract them. Well, I figure, how much worse can it get? (Just in case you're keeping track, I've now caught 13 mice.)

We had a rough start as she had ringworm when I brought her home and that meant she had to go back to the store for antibiotic treatment for two weeks. They (praise God) covered those costs and when I got her back she was like a totally different pig. She is very curious and often will respond to the sound of my voice. She knows she'll get fed when I get home and if that isn't the first thing I do she'll flip her food bowl around the cage and squeal at me.

Her name is McGuire (not like Lizzie or Mark McGuire). My mom was reading a book of teddy bear names and that's the one that stuck out. She's good company and once she's eaten she's more than happy to fall asleep under her towel on my lap.

We recently had a very successful 20th Anniversary celebration and it was so good to catch up with ministry supporters, former staff and friends from out of town. It was a lot of planning and preparation but I'm pretty sure that I was an event planner in another life and I thrive on the busy-ness and stress of big projects. I also love to see things that I've worked so hard on come out well and we received plenty of compliments on the whole weekend. It was certainly a team effort and I applaud all our staff for how everyone stepped up to the plate to pull it off.