Ricky's Open House

Thursday night was Open House for Ricky. Before we left, I wasn't too happy with him. Ricky had called my crying with bad news, he had learned he did not pass his reading TAKS test. I was informed by his teacher he had a negative attitude the day of this crucial exam. He stated to his teacher on the day of this state mandated test, he was bored and didn't feel like taking it. Both his teachers and I agree, he has the potential.

Ricky will get a second opportunity to retake the exam. He's confident he will pass. I hope so or I'll have two fifth graders next year.

Aside from that, this was actually the first Open House I enjoyed. They had FOOD!!! Each student in Ricky's class was assigned a state to research. The students were to bring a food their state was known for. Ricky was to bring potato chips since Idaho is known for potatoes. However, he didn't bring them. (That's a whole other story. Ricky had spent the night the night before at his Dad's and he was to bring the chips the following day. His "Dad" didn't have money to purchase them. Isn't a "big grab" like .99 cents? According to Ricky, his Dad takes care of every thing.) If my kids don't tell me in advance what they need, I can't help them. They shouldn't wait till the last moment. Anyway, the other food his classmates brought, we sampled.

The one proud moment I experienced was meeting his "buddy." Ricky has taken under his wing a boy who has special needs. He has a brain injury which resulted from his delivery at birth. Ricky escorts him to class and watches out for him. Ricky is considered a "cool and popular" kid at school and he has a bit of an arrogance to him. It touches my heart he has gone out of his way to take care of his friend and has set aside his image and what other "normal" kids might say. If you know Ricky though, he really doesn't care what anyone thinks of him.

We both met Ricky's buddy's Mom. His buddy's teacher was adamant we meet his mother and tracked her down. His Mom thanked Ricky for being so good to her son.