...All that and a Bag of Chips

8th grade is a time of "mosts" - most athletic, most likely to succeed, most likely to become a hair model, most likely to join the circus... Brady might even win a few of those (I'll let you be the judge of which ones) And as fun and as silly as that is, the one that will forever stand out in my mind as a truly meaningful award, is one that was presented yesterday (never mind that I missed the awards ceremony, because I am senile and thought it was today - LAME mom award for me).  My Brady, my boy who hasn't had an easy go of it (faulty teachers, holes in his education, short attention span, inability to stay on task and possible a little bit of laziness) received the "Most Improved" award for all of the 8th grade.  He is currently getting straight B's.  People, don't judge. This is HUGE I tell ya! And I am so proud of that boy.  Last year he finally realized HE was in charge of his grades.  He was working to be on the honor roll so he could get a cell phone. Suddenly it wasn't the teacher's fault, or the kid sitting next to him, or the grass that got in his eye at recess.  If he wasn't doing well, he knew it was his own fault.  It didn't mean it became easy, it didn't mean there still weren't some crap teachers.  It meant that he knew he was in charge.  Last year he also gave up his PE period (hard for someone who needs a physical outlet) to take a special class called "Read 180"(do you get it? It's supposed to turn a students reading around 180 degrees) For Brady it worked.  He was able to fill in some gaps, read consistently and work hard on his comprehension.  Only he and one other kid tested out by the end of the year.  I also see a direct correlation between this class and the improvement he made on his CST's.  The improvement was dramatic.  His scores even went up in Math and Science.  No doubt because he could read and understand the directions and the problems better.

I just had conferences with his teachers last week, and with the exception of the, "Brady has a hard time staying on task" comments. And the, "Brady likes to do things that make people laugh" comments. They all said Brady is in pretty good shape.  Tears are springing to my eyes. This boy makes me proud, this boy makes me happy, this boy IS all that and a bag of chips!

(Amazingly enough, he also got the "Advanced Reader" Award - Go Brady!)