Regionals

This evening, the JH Scholastic Bowl Team had their Regional competition.  We had told Annah we would not be coming, because it was an hour drive and was potentially going to be a late night.  We changed our minds, and Jeremy drove from work in Bloomington, and I drove with Sylvia and Caeden from home so we could all be there to support Annah and the team.  

She was pretty surprised to see us, and always most happy to see her daddy.

In their first round of the evening, Ridgeview competed against Cornell.  Annah didn't get in to play, but the team won!

In the second round, Ridgeview competed against Flanagan.  This round started out really rough, and at the half the score was Flanagan 110 to Ridgeview 15.  Annah was put in for a short while, and answered a question about the 2014 Academy Award winner for Best Song.  It was the first time all season that I'd seen her even buzz in to try to answer, but once the reader said, "Elsa" she was 100% sure she knew the answer.  I'm sure everyone else in the room could have answered that question, but I was just so proud of Annah for finally having the confidence to push that buzzer!  

The team came far in that round, but lost 135-130 at the very end.  It was a great match, and a good end to the season.  It was really fun to watch Annah participate with this team!  They all gained confidence, learned a lot, and worked together well.  What a great experience!

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We thought Flanagan was a pretty cool school.  The central part of the building is round, and it is just pretty unique inside.  Caeden was enthralled when he saw this phone on the wall.  He was even more excited when we explained that it was a pay phone!  

After the meet, Annah went back to school on the bus, and the rest of us met for a quick supper at McDonald's in Chenoa.  This pay phone was just inside the McD's...We just thought it was funny that we never see pay phones around anymore, then we saw two on the same evening.  I guess there are still some operational in central Illinois!

SchoBo at PC

I drove to Forrest, IL this afternoon so we could watch the JH SchoBo team at an away meet.  Today, Annah was on the "B" team.

This team competed in a very small classroom that barely fit our spectators, but it was a fun meet.  (Ridgeview kids are on the left in this picture, and the opposing team on the right.)

They lost, but had fun.  It does seem they are learning and beginning to gain that important confidence more with each meet.

Scholastic Bowl Meet

Annah's Scholastic Bowl Team had a home meet this afternoon!  After some schedule rearranging, Caeden, Sylvia, and I were able to go.  It was the first meet I've been able to attend, and I thought it was pretty cool!  

At the beginning of the meet, the team captains introduce themselves and have their teammates introduce themselves so the scorekeeper can check their buzzer/light.  

(It was kind of neat that we knew all the kids on the opposing Gibson City team, because we've done ACT shows with them.)

When a question is asked, it is open to anyone to "buzz in" and answer.  If the question is answered correctly, the team then has first option to answer a 4-part bonus question.  If any parts of the bonus question are unanswered or incorrect the opposing team may then try to answer those. 

Annah got to compete on the A Team today, which is mostly 8th graders.  (She's been on the B Team for every previous meet.)

This meet came down to a tie-breaking question, and Ridgeview lost in the end.  It was fun to get to watch Annah compete with her team, and to see how a Scholastic Bowl meet works.  Proud of our girl!

Does this make me look smarter?

Annah finally has her first Scholastic Bowl meet this evening.  (She would have had a few already, but...snow days and cancellations happened instead.)  She is enjoying this new challenge.  She is having to sacrifice some violin lessons in order to be part of practices and meets over the next few months, and is doing some extra sitting and waiting at school since we can't always get to her right when practice and meets are over.  Honestly, this is a difficult adjustment for Momma, but we are hoping it will be a positive growing experience for Annah.

We're only a few months into this parenting a teenager thing, and I'm already feeling inadequate.  This week she secretly gave herself bangs.  It doesn't seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but other things had control of my emotions when I found out and I knew I wouldn't react well.  I chose not to discuss it or deal with it right away.  By the time Jeremy got home that evening, I had also discovered she had broken some of the email rules we've set.  Fortunately, Jeremy handled it without me even asking him to--and with much more caution, gentleness, and love than I could have in the moment.