The
last half of the month of May was particularly hectic for all of us. As
the school year began to draw to a close, several activities were scheduled
one after the other. Panjee had been active in volleyball, the academic
team and the chess club earlier in the school year but decided to audition
for a part in the Aplington Middle School play at the end of the year.
A week later, Panjee's piano teacher held a recital for all of her students.
Only an hour later on the same day, Tricia's dance instructor held a recital
at the high school.
| Earlier in the 2006-2007 school year, Panjee's extra activities had
included volleyball, the academic team, and the Chess Club. Approaching
the end of the school year, Panjee decided to audition for the Aplington
Middle School play. This is intended to give the kids a taste of the performing
arts in case they want to become active in this area in high school. In
addition to the Aplington Middle School teachers, the Polo Parents for
the Fine Arts association helps out and the high school kids help direct
the productions.
Panjee got the part of Madame Shtchukin in the play A Defenseless Creature by Anton Chekhov. There was some concern because Panjee is normally a fairly quiet person and this part called for her to verbally harass Kistunov, a banker, about some money owed to her husband. In spite of the title, Madame Shtchukin was obviously not a defenseless creature. Here, Panjee was very strong in her part and is doing a very good job of harassing Kistinov. Panjee received numerous compliments from teachers, and her fellow students thought she was great. The teachers also encouraged her to join the Drama Club in high school. |
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| We were very busy on Sunday, May 20 with both Panjee's piano recital
and Tricia's dancing performance. Panjee had taken piano lessons for a
while but quit because of lack of time. This year she asked if she could
go back and take more lessons. Her teacher, Mrs. Styczynski, complimented
Panjee by mentioning that she was able to start up with lessons right where
she left off. My daughter, Sarah, also went to Mrs. Styczynski for piano
lessons for several years.
Panjee played two pieces . . . "The Gold & Silver Waltz" by Lehar and one piece of her own choosing, the "Star Spangled Banner." As you can see, Panjee made sure she looked nice for the performance.
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| The program for Tricia's dancing school started only one hour after
Panjee's piano recital. Needless to say, we had to hurry from the Styczynski
home to Polo High School where the dancing performance was held.
Tricia was in dancing school last year and enjoyed it so much she wanted to return. A new school started up in Polo this year and Tricia was able to get into that. The new school was started by Miss Ashley who was Tricia's teacher last year. Here is Tricia in her ballerina costume. |
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| Tricia and her dancing school classmates were in three different numbers. First came a number with the red ballet outfit. This photo shows the second number where the kids tap danced to the song Second Hand Rose. That is Trica in the center. The third and final number had several classes together on the stage. |  |
| Friday afternoon, May 25 saw an assembly at Aplington Middle School
for awards for sixth, seventh and eight grade students. We started losing
track of the awards that Panjee received. In addition to something like
ten awards and certificates, Panjee was also selected as Citizen of the
Month and her classmates elected her as Class President for next year.
Here, Panjee and another student receive awards from Andy Faivre, the principal of Aplington Middle School. Andy went to school in Polo with some of my older kids and his mother worked for me for many years. Like several guys in town, Andy grew a beard for Polo's Sesquicentennial celebration later this year. |
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Panjee and another student line up for a photo following the receipt
of the American Legion award and medal. Only two students received this
award. Nancy and I think that Panjee received a total of ten awards, medals
and certificates including the following:
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| Panjee shows off her awards, certificates and medals after returning
home.
I might note that Panjee's school and school district also received several awards recently. The students recently took the Illinois Student Achievement Tests to compare them with other schools in Illinois. Our Polo School District placed first among all the public schools in both Ogle County and Lee County. Moreover, Panjee's class was the only class where none of the students scored below average. Hence, Panjee is in one of the better public schools in the State of Illinois and in one of the better classes. Polo has had an excellent reputation for their school system for a long time, which is one of the reasons I decided to move to Polo many years ago. |
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| Our graduation party for Panjee was held after Mass on Sunday, May
27. Here, Panjee's aunts (titas) congratulate her on her awards and graduation.
From left to right: Tita Diane, Tita Cookie, Panjee, Tricia, Tita Menchu,
and Mom.
This was somewhat of a special day for the family. In addition to making her titas proud with her achievements, Panjee is the oldest grandchild on Nancy's side of the family and hence the first to graduate. |
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| Mother and daughter. It should be obvious that Nancy is very proud
of Panjee and her achievements. She makes sure I do not forget that Panjee
has the Pascua genes.
Nancy could not help shedding tears of joy every time that Panjee's name was called on stage for another award. |
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| Here, Panjee takes time to pose with Tito Eski, little Iya, and Tita Diane at the graduation party. |  |
| Panjee opens some presents at the graduation party. Why the smile? Panjee just opened one of her favorite kinds of gifts . . . a gift card for use at a book store. Panjee will spend much of her summer time reading. |  |
| Here, most of the graduation party attendees gather for a group photo around all of the food prepared by Nancy and Menchu. Left to right: Diane, Cookie's friend Leonard, Cookie, Panjee, Tricia, Menchu, Philip, Marco, Buddy and Malu. |  |
