Elser Family Blog

Melinda receives her Academic letter!

Watching Melinda receiver her letter, and the important people addressing the small crowd, You really get a sense of the seriousness of the occasion. I was impressed!

 

All of the people on the left are the teachers in their hoods and caps, the people in front are the senior students. You get an idea of the teacher student ratio!

And here is Melinda with her Roommate! I am proud of both of them.

Trip to Clemson for Diving

Rockwell, mid dive. I dont have the result sheet anymore. He had a couple really good dives, and a couple eh dives. 🙂 they average. 🙂

Here he is with the certificate.. I forget what place he came in! smh,

Elections 2016 and more.

Melinda went with me to vote.. OK, I sort of dragged her.. I just wanted her to have the chance to vote for the first woman president!

MeLinda actually was the one to hit the “vote” button, so, she can say she voted for Hillary.

Voter Selfie!

This was earler in the day.. I went for a nice long ride at dawn. Not sure what this group was doing at the lock gates… Still trying to find out.

Beutiful sunrise over the river.

Hannah Voted Absentee earler in the week! First time voter! Wohoo!

So, the girls wanted to go out haunting abandoned buildings on holloween.. But I was too lazy.. so they talked me into doing it the weekend Hannah came back to vote. First we checked out the old abandoned Haunted house in North Augusta.. Lol.. it was very not haunted. It was the cleanest abandoned house we have ever come across.

Another view.

Then we got a little more adventurous… We broke into an abandoned bank!

OK, we didnt break in, we just walked in.. but we did rob it! Hannah found a vault key, and a mug. So, technically.. Bank robbed.

Then we went down town to a building they were tearing down. Turns out it was the old down town prison.

This was in the basement of said prison.. Had we known what it was, this might have been a little creapier than it was…

Then we snuck into the old Golf and Gardens park.. and into one of the clock towers. Looks more interetsting than it was I’m afraid.

But it’s fun finding things like this abandoned in the overgrowth!

Last weekend was also the North Augusta Jackolantern Jubilee.. Rockwell wanted to sell cotton candy and use the “new” (to us) sno-cone machine.. He humped it with a couple friends this day. They made acouple hundred dollars, after paying me for supplies.

Said “new” Sno-cone machine! I’ve waited years to get one of these.

Another shot.

And my dear Melinda being inducted into the National Honor society! I must tell you.. She is cicking butts and taking names at school this year.

The cirtificate and program of course.

High School Academic awards night

These girls are power houses. You know they are doing well when you are bit embarrassed by their haul…

Anyway, time for my Proud Parent Dump.. If pride cometh before the fall, I’m in trouble.

Here is the flyer for the night.

Here is the back of the flyer.

Crowd shot.

As you can see, Hannah swept the honors. “Honors Graduate” for having at least a 4.0gpa I believe. “Palmetto Fellows” award from the state of SC, for being in the top 6% of the class, and having a SAT greater than 1300. This comes with a awesome scholarship that essentially pays for college thank you Lord. “NHS”, “Silver fox” academy, for meeting some standard that the school sets for their top students?.. And Mathlete award for being on the Mathlete team.. If I’m not mistaken she was the captain of the team. And a letter and special gift from the head of the math department, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith was Hannah’s special mentor and champion.. without her, I don’t know if Hannah would have been able to navigate the politics of school. Heck, I don’t know if I would have been able to. We have a lot to be thankful for for just that one person.

Hannah will wear the NHS stole and the combination Honors Scholar and Silver fox tassel at graduation. She also was recognized for tutoring all 4 years of High school. Melinda and Hannah are the only students that have tutored as freshmen so far, and Mrs Smith has recognized them as such.

I mean, Even Melinda pulled in 4 separate awards.. freshmen are not supposed to do that.. lol. (I am pretty confident that besides the Beta inductees, there were less than a half dozen freshmen that received anything else at all.)
Melinda received recognition for Being in Beta club, and she also was recognized for being one of the 4 school tutors. (My daughters represented 50% of the tutor staff! lol) She was also inducted into the Spanish Languages Honors Society, and received an award for the highest grade in the science honors class.

Seriously, these girls are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

So many blessings.

I see the pain in the world, and I wonder why I am so blessed.
I am thankful above most else…

Things to be thankful for:
Melinda won FIRST place in a regional school poetry contest held by the library! >170 something entries.
She won with her poem titled: “Glass cake stand”.
I see why it won, it was awesome. One I hope she keeps with her over time.

Here she is reading it at the awards banquet:

Hannah received a full scholarship to Winthrop University in Rock Hill SC! It’s a popular SC Liberal Arts school, and She was accepted into the Honors College. That comes with special housing and privileges I hear. I must say, Hannah has worked hard for a long time, I am glad she was rewarded with that scholarship! I am very proud of her, and excited to see what she does in the future! She has doe a good job at making good choices.. again, Blessed.

Speaking of Pride, Melinda asked me to print a school project for her. I always like doing this, because I like seeing what she is doing. This was a special report concerning Fahrenheit 451. She was to associate the characters with something. She associated songs to them. Read this, and check out these songs.. I am impressed with her musical tastes, let alone the associations. She puts this much energy into everything she does it seems.. There is no wonder why she is doing so well in school. (I would be shocked if her class rank is not 5 or better.)
Anyway, I want to show you this report:

“Good ‘N’ Evil”- Jekyll & Hyde
This song represents the reasoning of Beatty. Some of the lyrics are, “Men have argued through history, as well they should! My philosophy, any child can see – good is evil, and therefore all evil is good.” You could compare this to books having knowledge which many see as good, but it is, according to Beatty, bad because of all the people who could get offended by it. Some might think taking away the books is evil, but Beatty sees this “evil” as a “good” thing for the people. The song also says “Good is commendable – Evil’s dependable! Evil is viable – Good’s unreliable!” This shows Beatty’s thoughts that books may be “commendable” sometimes, but when it comes to making everyone happy, it is very unreliable whereas “evil” or not having books will always be “reliable” and “viable”.

“I was Born a Dreamer”- SHEL
I chose this song to represent Clarisse. A few of the lyrics are, “I was born a dreamer, a wide eyed believer in things unseen. I was born a dreamer, oh say you believe in me.” This shows Clarisse as a dreamer who thought things could be different. She noticed things that others didn’t. She also wanted Montag to believe her when she told him her thoughts on everything going on around them. The lyrics, “We may change the world if only we believe,” also adds to the fact that she thinks something isn’t right and should be changed.

“Ways to go”- Grouplove
I chose this song to represent Faber. The lyrics, “I didn’t ask for this. You give me heart attack. I didn’t want to care, and then I saw you there,“ represents when Montag shows up at Faber’s home and asks him to help, and how it stresses him out. “I got a ways to go,” is repeated many times throughout the song. This shows how Faber knows that they have a long way to go before things get better, but things are changing despite how long it is taking. “Been working like a dog. I turned all my dreams off. I didn’t know my name. I didn’t know my name.” This represents how he had to let go of what made him happy in fear of getting in trouble. It is, however, in past tense, because when Montag showed up, things changed, and he could finally be himself.

“Burn”- New Politics (swear word)
This song represents the mechanical hound. The lyrics, “Let’s burn this down let’s burn it down,” show how all it thinks about is destroying, because that is what it is programed to do. The word “burn” is repeated many times throughout the song. There aren’t many other lyrics other than that, showing how the mechanical hound doesn’t feel; it only “burns” or destroys. This is because it doesn’t have that capability to feel. It can only do what it was told.

“Car Radio”- Twenty One Pilots
I chose “Car Radio” to represent Mildred. One of the lyrics is, “Cause somebody stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence.” This shows how without the things that she constantly distracts herself with, Mildred doesn’t know what to do, so she just sits there in silence. One line of the song says, “There is no distraction to mask what is real.” This shows that deep down, Mildred knows that she is unhappy and uses distractions to cover that up, but the sadness subconsciously finds its way through, like when she almost killed herself. The lyrics, “Oh dear, I don’t know if we know why we’re here. Oh my, Too deep. Please stop thinking. I liked it better when my car had sound,” show that she doesn’t even want to think. She likes much more when she has her TV to distract her from everything, and she thinks that it is making her happy.

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS – “I AM NOT A ROBOT”
I chose the song “I am not a Robot” to represent Montag. The lyrics, “Better to be hated than loved, loved, loved for what you’re not.” This shows how Montag realizes that he would rather risk himself getting punished for doing something that he feels strongly about than sitting back and doing nothing. The lyrics, “Guess what? I’m not a robot,” represent how Montag isn’t going to be the conforming “robot” that everyone wants him to be. He is going to think for himself instead of being told what to do. “Don’t be so pathetic, just open up and sing,” are lyrics that show how he justs wants to express what he truly feels, which is that he doesn’t agree with what society is doing.

“Burn the Witch”- Radiohead
I chose this song to represent the woman in the burning house. I chose this song mainly for the lyrics, “Burn the witch. Burn the witch. We know where you live.” The “witch” represents how most people saw the burning woman. She was nothing more than a crazy witch to most of the people. They obviously didn’t see her as a normal person, because they easily killed her with no remorse, with the exception of Montag. The others didn’t really try to get her to leave, because they really didn’t care if she stayed in there or not. Another line in the song is, “Avoid all eye contact. Do not react.” This shows how when Montag tried to get her out, she didn’t move. She stayed their with all of her burning books.

I am blessed.

BMX, Writing finger, Young makers. Much Rockwell

Rockwell gets the most attention this post. It’s been a while since we raced. Melinda, Rockwell and I went to practice last Wednesday, and went surprisingly fast on the new hard track.. Melinda did 56 seconds I think? That was a really good time. And Rockwell did his first sub 50 second time ever, even after not practicing for a while.. Go figure. Melinda did not want to race this week. However, Rockwell and I raced, and tonight, Rockwell actually won the first heat, and won the main too. Good job Rockwell!

Here he is winning the First heat.

 

Biggest trophy yet!

He crashed trying to jump a double AFTER the race… whacked his wrist too.

Commercial photographer was there too:

One more.

Here is something off topic… Melinda and Hannah have calluses… from so much writing!

Rockwell got to do some soldering at young makers this week. Learning something new is good!

The end result, With our friend Xander.

Academics and BMX

Not combined, just in the same post.. although.. It could be combined! There is a lot of physics going on in BMX!!

This week, My BMXers Melinda and her friend Hannah were inducted into the Jr BETA club. A club for academic excellence.

Melinda, accepting her award.

Here we are heading for the BMX track! Melinda’s bike is on the left, Rockwell’s is in the middle, and Hannah Jr’s is on the right. I think the bikes on the back are probably more valuable than the car they are mounted on! Interestingly enough, I can put two more bikes on there..(between the other ones, with the front wheels up on the car itself.) I want to get Hannah out on the track.. That would make 5 of us! then all we would have to do is to squeeze into the car! lol.

We went to tacobell recently.. Rockwell managed to win free food three times in a row. Quote: “Heck, I can do this professionally!”.

Melinda won second place in the REGION for her Science fair project on Sugar and rockets. Impressive!

And We had ULTIMATE Pi day this week! cant forget that!

Also, I did a Science and Math day Demo at North Augusta Elementary school. I did a demo on coding and “robotics”. I had the kids change things in the code, and then we watched what happened to the game we were working on, or the “robot arm”.. sort of neat. Worked out well, and the 3rd graders soaked it up!

Melinda and the Regional science fair.

Melinda got second place in Chemistry in the regional science fair, which included over 20 middle and high schools. The over all winner (A high school student) received an all expense paid trip to the international science fair in Philadelphia. Really good work Melinda. She is already contemplating what she is going to do next year!

Many things that need documenting.

Like:
Melinda Horse riding,

One of my 2 new “speckled Sussex” Chicks,.. starting its internet training early.

Melinda’s Spanish homework video with her friend.

Hannah’s New snakes,

Melinda’s blue ribbon on her science project,

Rockwell’s awesome science project that did not place.. Being that I was a judge, and saw what he was up against, (I did not judge 6th or 8th grade, and the other judges did not know my kids where participating.) I was really suprised Rockwell did not place. REALLY suprised. Even the Teacher was suprised… You did a great job Rockwell. You simply win some and lose some. It’s a crapshoot sometimes.

Melinda being NAMS student of the month,

Melinda traveling to Washington DC.
She was invited to go to see the capital and the Smithsonian with the 8th Grad GT class. The whole group is taking a bus up there and staying at a hotel.

 

Rockwell Modding his Razor scooter,

Melinda helping to fix the IPad,

Going to the Circus.. the kids have gone to the circus every year almost forever…. And Hannah’s friend Amber almost always goes with us!

Hannah’s Awesome pink Kitten.

 

The Sleepover with the Banks.

 

Hannah Trying to find a dress for Prom,

Melinda DAR Presentation.

Check this out if you want to hear Melinda read her Essay. I love how she is so expressive.

Giving Gigi a little a love.

Finding a surprise Gift from Mom.. ( A piece of the classic old wrapping paper with a nametag)

 

Melinda DAR

I just found this on FaceBook, I did not even know it was posted.
🙂
Melinda acknowledged in the school for her Writing. All of the schools in North Augusta competed for this.. Its not a small honor.

8th grade North Augusta Middle School student, Melinda Elser, was selected as the Martintown Road DAR Chapter winner. She will read her essay and be presented with an award on Tuesday, February 10th at Fairview Presbyterian Church at 4:00. Her essay will be entered into the state DAR competition this spring. Congratulations Melinda!

Pictured is Gwen Spivey-American History Essay Committee Chair, Melinda Elser and Pam Schmidt, Martintown Road Chapter Regent

Picture credit: S. Abney