National CHILD Conference~One Busy Weekend

Last fall as school started back or maybe even before that I posted about starting something new at school. I wrote about the ladies I would be working with and how things would be different in my classroom as we embarked on a journey into Project CHILD. (Visit this website for more information.) Well, this past weekend we all boarded this plane and headed off to the National CHILD Conference held in Tampa, Florida. (This was the first time in more than 15 years that I had been on an airplane. I guess I was a little nervous.)

Here we are getting settled into our seats.

We arrived on Thrusday night, settled checked into our rooms and headed right back out for dinner. We enjoyed a great meal at Bahama Breeze. (Wishing I could have some more of the yumnmy seafood and rice dish I ordered. It was an awesome dish.) We made it back to the hotel just in time to call it a night.

The festivities started Friday morning with a bus tour to a local charter school to visit some CHILD classrooms. Florida is home to several charter schools and many of them are making their homes in buildings built for offices. It was interesting to tour and made us feel as though we are really on the right path. It makes a person thankful for the materials and the classroom they have. The above picture was taken in the charter school's cafeteria just prior to beginning the tour around the school grounds. Friday afternoon, we returned to the hotel for lunch and an afternoon session of make-and-takes. I came home with some neat writing activities for both primary and intermeidate.

After our sessions, we decided to head out and do a little shopping. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. YUMMY!! This piece of sinful delight, Snickers Cheesecake, was my dessert of choice for the evening. YUM! YUM! YUM! We shopped for a while and headed back to the hotel to prepare a display board for the next day's activities.

On Saturday, we attended various sessions and an awards luncheon. We were pleasantly surprised during the luncheon when we were recogonized as a Star Cluster. We had no idea we had even been nominated. How awesome is that!!

Although we were in Tampa, Florida and didn't even make it to the beach, we still had a terrific trip. Now if I could find the time to get caught up on my sleep, I'd be in great shape. Maybe this weekend I can squeeze in a nap or two.

Until Next Time....