Hurricane Hannah

Hannah's contribution to Bristow was about 12 hours of rainfall all day yesterday. After some lighter than expected winds, we made it through with no problems whatsoever. Today was a beautiful day with nearly perfect weather. It never ceases to amaze me how so much water can leave virtually no sign that it was ever here.

Football season begins

Kellie's High School football season kicked off on Friday night as the Brentsville District Tigers hosted their first home game. The whole family went to the game, but the expected rainfall from Hurricane Hannah came a little early and we left the game at halftime. In the end, only Kellie was hardy enough to wait out the eventual Tiger defeat.

First Day of School

Yesterday marked the end of the summer of 2008 as the Clark kids headed back to school. There were no major incidents and everybody made it on time. It also marked the beginning of Back-To-School night at Brentsville District High School. As you know, Kellie is entering her sophomore year at BDHS and having back to school night on the first day of the year is a little unusual, but that's the way the schedule fell out this year. At BDHS, this is a 2-hour long affair where you go to each of Kellie's classrooms, meet here teachers, get an idea of the year's coursework, walk around the school, generally getting a feel for the place.

Unlike last year, Kellie is very sure of herself and completely at home here. She is still a Cheerleader, but with a little prodding from old Mom and Dad, she has expanded her studies somewhat this year. The big addition to the curriculum is a Cambridge class. I am not sure how widespread it is in the State of Virginia (excuse me, The Commonwealth of Virginia), but Prince William County schools offer classes in a secondary education program designed by the University of Cambridge. Yes, this is the college in England and the home of the European scoundrels chased back to the British Isles in 1783. Nonetheless, it is a more stringent course akin to Advanced Placement (AP) classes held through the country. Most of the colleges in Virginia accept these courses as college credit. In Cambridge-speak they are referred to as IGCSE courses. IGCSE stands for International General Certificate for Secondary Education. Kellie is taking this as a requirement of her advanced diploma program. In a drastic departure from my High School days, the Commonwealth offers a basic or an advanced diploma. Kellie's goal, whether she knows it or not, is the advanced diploma. As such, her IGCSE class this year is English. She will be reading and writing more this year than at any point in her life, and we wish her the best of luck. The only other class of interest for Kellie this year is Driver's Education. (Yikes!!!!)

Austin is also beginning his second year at Middle School and has become the senior class at Gainesville Middle School (8th Grade). Austin made amazing improvements last year with his grades and promises to do the same again this year. He will begin High School next year. That is not a typo. In 12 months, Austin will enter his Freshman year in High School. Until then, he will be holding court at Middle School.

Kara began her last year in Elementary School (5th Grade) and shares senior class status as the highest grade in her school with her brother. Kara has the added advantage of being assigned to a teacher that taught Kellie in fifth grade. This is good news for everybody, because we have a very good comfort level with this teacher and Kara will definitely be prepared for Middle School next year. Also new this year is Kara's new role as bus stop safety patrol. She has been issued the appropriate uniform and is in charge of any and all matters that relate to bus safety.

Back to School nights for Austin and Kara are sometime in the next two weeks, and I am sure there will be more to report at that time.