This week in Hopperville

Two or three times a year, select kids are asked to participate in Quill&Scroll at the elementary school. The topics are varied, from first grader "All About Me" essays to fifth grader chapter stories. This time, Jonathon was asked to read a piece he wrote on the monsoon in India.

The following day, Rebecca had her choral assessment with the 8th grade class, held at Woodbridge HS. She arrived at school early, all dressed up in her long black choral finery. She said they did OK, getting a couple 2s and a 1 from the judges. Ones are top scores. It's been a tough year for this group of kids, their teacher has been absent almost more than he's been present, performances have been canceled, after-school rehearsals have been canceled, and what's most frustrating is that there's not much in place for these kids to keep up. They watch movies, they fill out papers, but they do very little rehearsing when he's gone. With that, I thought 2s were pretty good.

A blood drive was held at Katherine's HS and finally being 16 meant she could try to give with parental permission. We did our own research through the Red Cross site to see what would hinder her and, oddly enough, even with her meds and the countries she's lived in they took her blood. Then she nearly passed out, so much of the rest of her school day was a wash. I don't know if they call and check up on every student who gives, but I got a call today from an INOVA volunteer asking if Katherine was OK. Seriously. I was thinking they called to say they had to dispose of her blood. Guess not.