The Thanksgiving Contest Winners and Assembly

Hello future readers,

I hope all of you had an outta site Thanksgiving. I know I did. You're probably all wondering who won that "What I'm Thankful For" contest, right? Well....I wasn't one of the winners. It's kind of a bummer. I really thought my composition would win, but you see, a lot of kids wrote about their moms and my composition just didn't stand out. But my mom was super proud of me anyway. I got a good grade on it, so my mom took me to Sam's Snack Shack for a hamburger and then to a movie. See? I told ya she was the grooviest mom ever! Anyway, the winners for the 4th grade was April from my class, and Crissy from Mrs. Johnson's class. Even though I was kinda sad for me, I was happy for my friends. So on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we were all seated in the auditorium, waiting for April and Crissy to read their winning compositions. Wendy was sitting in the front row. She was so proud of her sister and couldn't wait to hear her read.

Mrs. Johnson was backstage, giving April and Crissy last minute instructions on how to project their voices and stand up straight.

 After the Color Guard led the Pledge of Allegiance and "America The Beautiful", and the teachers made the usual announcements. they talked about the contest and what it meant. They said it was a really hard decision, because all of the entries were really good. So starting with the second graders, the winners came up on stage to read their compositions.

They were right...the compositions were all pretty good, but I was waiting to hear April's and Crissy's. Finally it was the 4th grade's turn. and the teachers announced Crissy Cooper from Mrs. Johnson's class.

In her composition, Crissy read that she was thankful that she was a catalog model, and how her mom drives her to all the photoshoots she needed to go on, and how she's saving money to buy herself a car and for going to college someday. She was thankful that she got to travel to some interesting places, and even though she misses hanging out with her friends, and just being a regular kid, she says she has lotsa fun posing for pictures and that she's thankful for the opportunity to make money at doing something she loves.

I'm really proud of Crissy too, even though I miss hanging out with her and all our sleepovers and stuff. It's easy to see why she's a good catalog model. She's one of the prettiest girls I know. Next the teachers announced April Miller from Miss LaSalle's class.

April was thankful that she had survived the car accident she was in, and that she could walk now. She told how a couple of years ago, she was running errands with her dad in the next town, when a pickup truck ran a red light and smashed into their car on the passenger side where April was sitting. Her dad only had cuts and a bump on the head, but April legs were practically crushed. She had to move away from Springfield with her dad, so she could go a special hospital for all the operations and physical therapy she had to get. She really missed her mom and her sister Wendy, but she practiced every day how to walk and did her exercises so she could come home to them.

I looked down at Wendy while her sister was reading. When she got to the part about how she kept exercising and practicing her walking every day, no matter how much it hurt. I could see Wendy grinning from ear to ear, because she was so proud of April for not giving up.

April went on to say that a year after the accident, she came home to Springfield, walking on her own. She still has to do exercises and go away every six months so that special hospital can check her out, but she's very thankful she's home with her family. After April was finished the whole 4th grade cheered, and Wendy cheered loudest of all!

When the assembly was over, all the kids who won and their moms went backstage to take pictures. My mom brought me backstage so she could congratulate everybody and take some snapshots of her own!

 
                                    (My mom took this one of Wendy and April).

                                 
            (Then my mom took one of the 3 of us. Don't we look like sisters?)

                                (Mrs. Cooper took this one of me and Crissy.)

It was a really groovy assembly, and even though I didn't win, I was really happy and proud of Crissy and April for getting up and reading the stories to the whole school. They do have a lot to be thankful for. And so do I. My mom says we shouldn't only be thankful on Thanksgiving, but all year 'round, every single day for all the things we have and the people in our lives. I'm thankful for my mom, and for all my far out friends. Happy Thanksgiving, future readers!

Until next time,
Your friend,
Julie Newman