Adam's 5th Grade

In our area, the elementary school goes K-4 and then grades 5-6 go to an intermediate school.  Adam got to go to the intermediate school this year.  At the intermediate school, the kids have all different teachers, they have lockers and learn instruments.   Adam chose to play the trumpet.  I told him he was allowed to play the trumpet, but he wouldn't be allowed to quit piano.  He did it faithfully, although in the middle I think he was a little tired of practicing two things in one day.  I was really impressed with how much the kids learned to play in their first year.  By the end of the year, at the concert, the kids sounded really good. 

 Adam also had to do a big GT envision project this year.  It was very stressful for him. He got time in class for a couple of months to work on his project, but as the end drew near, he still had a lot of work that he had to do at home.

There are 2 1/2 elementary schools that feed into the intermediate school and so there are a lot of kids at the intermediate school (probably about 400 in each grade).  It was a big adjustment for Adam, but he was able to make friends.  At the awards ceremony he did really well- he got straight A's and E's all year, an award for reading 250 points worth of AR books, and he got the principal's award for his class.  Each class the teacher pick one boy and one girl to get the principal's award, and Adam was picked for his class.

 He was so embarrassed when I tried to take his picture. 

We really feel like Adam has grown a ton this year, and it is amazing to see how much more mature he is getting (and how many teenager like qualities he is picking up).  Its great to see him growing up!