Ockey Family Adventures: End of the Year School Stuff

Everything happens in May! Phew! It was a busy month! We had tons going on at school (this didn't even count music or sports activities). So, here is a quick rundown of the things that the boys participated in at school.

Hope of America: Mark is in 5th grade and when you are in 5th grade here in Utah, you can participate in Hope of America. This is a patriotic program. The kids learn lots of songs and then they perform in the Marriot Center with lots of other schools. It was a neat experience, and Mom only choked up a few times. Mark was so excited to sit with his classmates and perform. Unfortunately, Mom walked out the door leaving her camera sitting on the garage steps, so these are the best cell phone pictures she could take. Mark's class was wearing white, but then Mark decided to be nice and switch spots with a few girls who had been moved to the yellow section so they could sit by their friends.

We ate at the BYU Creamery before the show!

Mark is all ready for Hope of America!

Can you see Mark? He was a little dot across from us, but he kept waving to us and telling us that Tyce went to the bathroom (that's what we thought, but he was actually asking us to buy him a Cougar Tail).

The kids looked awesome once they stadium was all filled in.

Mark moved over into the yellow section and was right in front.

For the ending the students used flashlights, and it was really cool looking!

Preschool Graduation: This was our last preschool graduation, which was a little sad. We will miss going to Miss Tina every year. She is the best preschool teacher, and Seth adores her. She always does fun graduations where the kids perform cute songs. Our favorite part was when Seth was the clock in Hickory Dickory Dock. He looked amazing! Seth was a great performer and had a big smile. We are proud of all he has learned in preschool.

Seth was really excited to wear this shirt that they made at preschool.

Seth loves to make silly faces!

Seth was a great singer!

Seth was also a cute little clock!

So long preschool!

The happy graduate!

Seth is getting so big. Don't tell Mom because she will start crying.

Miss Tina is the best!

Antartica Presentation: Dax studied about Antarctica all year long in his 2nd grade class. They read, researched, created, and so much more. All we heard about was Antarctica. We all know a lot of facts about this cold place, and Dax was so excited for the final class presentation. He was in charge of presenting information about Leopard Seals. Dax has even created a replica of a Leopard Seal that hung in the hallway, and now hangs in our garage. Dax did an amazing presentation. He only had a sticky note with 5 bullet points of what he wanted to talk about, but he remembered all the information and was very confident. We are so proud of him and his excellent school work this year in 2nd grade.

Dax made this leopard seal. It is life size. He also wrote all the facts that are taped around it.

Dax did an awesome job on his presentation.

We grabbed Mark, and took a pic together by the infamous Leopard Seal.

Student Council: Mark decided that he wanted to run for Student Council. The process was new to our school this year. There was no big assembly which Mark was grateful for. He had to write a little an essay on why he would be great on student council. After all the essays were submitted, only 28 students were chosen to compete out of almost 70. Then Mark had to present in front of a panel of students and teachers about how he would be a great candidate. He also had to write a little snippet to convince everyone in the school to vote for him! Mark's campaign and presentation were about creating a team atmosphere at the school. He used his experience of being on many sports teams to talk about how they could work together to make a team. It worked! Mark was elected to the 6th Grade Student Council for next year. He is really excited to work with those other students who were chosen. We are excited to see him become a great leader!

This is the picture he submitted that all the kids saw on the ballot!

Field Day: Mom volunteered to help the PE teacher with field day 4 years ago, but somehow every year she gets talked into volunteering. She has a problem saying no, and this year the PE teacher had a baby, so Mom had to take on more responsibility. But all went well. There were enough people to run all the stations, and Seth loves coming to play with all the kids. Mom loves watching the boys have fun at Field Day. Dax won the 50 yard dash in his class again, and Mark would have to, but he had a baseball tournament so he had to miss his field day. He was super bummed! But there is always next year.

Dax was a great big brother and took Seth around with him to all the stations.

The kids love Drip Drip Dunk!

Dax is competitive even in the fun relay races.

Seth pulled his team to victory in this relay race.

Dax is speedy!

I mostly saw Dax upside down in the Bubble Balls!

The boys always look forward to the bubble balls.

Dance Festival: The last event of the school year was the Dance Festival. I don't know if it's the boys' favorite thing to do, but they always put on a good face, learn the dances super well, and perform like heroes. Seth and I enjoy going to watch Mark and Dax. Next year, Mom will go by herself and watch all three boys. This year, Dax did a dance from the Caribbean and he was so into it. It was awesome! Mark's class did a dance to a Shakira song called, "Africa," and he rocked it. I had quite a few people tell me how great Mark was, and he was right on the front row, so everyone could see. It was a fun day! I should also mention that Seth took the photos. I was the videographer and Seth was the photographer. He did a great job!

Dax was so happy!

He's got some moves!

Dax really loved the strong man part!

Dax was super great about making sure he could see Mom for the pics and videos.

Mark glanced over a few times during the dance.

Mark's dance was very high energy, but he stuck all the moves.

Go Mark!

Last Day: Mom doesn't always go to school on the last day, but she wanted to take some cookies to all the nice people who helped her in the office. Also, Mark and Dax both had great teachers and she wanted to get a picture of the boys with their teachers. We happened to be in the school for the 6th grade clap out, and Seth was so excited to high five all of the 6th graders he knows from Mark's baseball team and from our ward. They also said good-bye to our principal who is moving to the district.

Mrs. Burton was a great 5th grade teacher. She supported and encouraged Mark.
She even came to his basketball and baseball games. We will miss her!

Mrs. Navarrete changed Dax's school life. He was not always a school fan, and didn't want to go, but it all changed this year. She made school interesting, and challenged Dax. He loved second grade and we love Mrs. Navarrete for making such a difference for Dax.

Dax and Seth high-fived Mr. Rencher as he heads on to bigger things!

After the short ninety minute school day, Mom took the boys to a new park and splash pad. It's a tradition that we go do something fun until Dad comes home early from his last day of school, too. We had a fun day exploring these new spots. Now we are so excited for summer!