from Newcomer
I spent today at the WES attending both sessions of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I had not had a chance to attend them before, although my children have participated in prior years. I just have to commend the PE teacher, Mr. Lazur. No wonder he’s Woodstock’s Teacher of the Year. Based on what I saw today, I’d say that distinction is long overdue and richly deserved - and then some. Every event in the winter Olympiad was represented. The day was complete with opening and closing ceremonies, pop quiz questions about the different events, and the children even learned about several countries and their respective flags. There was even an Olympic torch to be lit at the opening cermony and extinguished at the closing ceremony with an explanation about the tradition of the torch. I can’t even imagine the amount of planning and creativity that’s required to develop such a day for the children. I would bet very few elementary school children are treated to such a fun way to learn about a historical sporting event and the other nations of the world that also participate. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe what I enjoyed seeing the children actively learn about today.
So a huge heartfelt thanks to Mr. Lazur and to all of the parents and staff who also volunteered their time helping the children at each sporting event station. What a wonderful cultural and physical fitness experience for our kids!
Gym class — and the playground — were the best parts of Elementary School for me. Mr. Lazur’s creativity for different types of activities was endless, and most of the time, he played some part in whatever we were doing (virtually unheard of in middle/high school besides refereeing). He’s loud, upbeat, and comical. He also awards his students’ good achievement with Toe Tokens.
Mr. Lazur also drives bus 17 on an Elementary run and subs for the middle/high school runs. He remains very calm in route confusion and other cars doing not-so-great things. It’s always great to see Mr. Lazur on the bus… not as fun as gym class, but it’s the next-best thing!
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Enjoy the snow day, Mr. Lazur and Mrs. Leavitt!
Student,
I was VERY impressed with him yesterday. He must have had 5 or 6 classes, each with 20 or more students in them, participating at each Olympics session. And he controlled the entire heard by himself! When it was time to change activities and move each group of kids on to their next station, all he would do is blow his whistle and say “red light”. And in unison, over 100 kids would all say “S-T-O-P”, spelling out the word “stop”. Then he’d calmly remind them to return their equipment to its station and ask them to walk to their next activity - and THEY DID!!!!! Just like that! No teachers had to scream at them or follow after them or anything. It was unbelievable the way he could calmly guide them all. I don’t know what to even call it - maybe discipline through organization or something. But every kid knew the expectations and complied.
The man’s simply unbelievable.
*Grins* Oh, yeah, I forgot about S-T-O-P!
He sure does have ultimate control. He’s like a certain teacher at the Academy — they’re very nice, calm, funny, and not overly-strict, so if they decide they want something to happen, it gets done without question. I can’t think of a good way to describe it, either.
No Surprise my 4 year old has tons of toe tokens and her favorite day is gym class! Pre-K Gym class must be fun. She wouldn’t stop talking about the Olympics.
I apologize for getting off-topic, but I’m looking for more information on the highway garage project. Can anyone provide information on its status at this point?