One of my favorite memories of this summer was a family bike ride around Peaks Island, Maine. We stopped at an old fort on the island (known as Battery Steele), which reminded me so much of the old Graffiti highway in Centralia, PA. Amidst this crumbling structure, rich with history and indelible markings, was a simple saying... "Enjoy Life." Something so easy, but often hard to accomplish given a myriad of circumstances over the past few years. As we often forget or take for granted, life is short, precious, and we should ENJOY IT!

I am striving to keep this in the back of my head as we plunge into the new school year.� Even though this is my 22nd year as a teacher, it feels like many changes are afoot and what I want more than anything is STABILITY. If I could build that nest of stability in my classroom, then we could feel the comfort to embrace change as it comes, while having a sense of renewed confidence and optimism.�

Over the summer months, I was happy to be able to travel to many of my favorite places, squeeze in a bit of creative time (though never enough!), and just spend some outdoor time with my family :)

As we returned to school, we began the year with reviews of the ARTIST pledge and classroom routines, as well as a celebration of DOT DAY on September 15th, in honor of beloved author/illustrator, Peter H. Reynolds. Enfield artists had a lot of fun creating unique designs on their dots as part of a school-wide collaborative art display. More information on DOT DAY can be found here.

In closing, so much excitement awaits the 2022-23 school year! I am continuing the curriculum development process for K-2 (and linking with 3-5), as well as attending a great PD opportunity happening at Moore in early October. We are also awaiting the confirmation of a visiting artist this year (in person!) which will be a fantastic collaborative learning opportunity for Enfield artists. More to come on that :)