the end. :)

Well. Summer Academy is over, and I couldn't be more thrilled! I mean, I enjoyed it for the most part, but it was an intense five weeks. Now to commence a few weeks of relaxing and not thinking about school...I've put myself on school detox--nothing school related for two weeks. I think I might even leave my trunk full of school supplies for the next two weeks rather than venture into the school. Though I do need to drive it home at the end of this week...hmmm...

Test responses are always a good source of entertainment. Especially free response questions from the admissions test we administered at the end of the program which has a section of history/common knowledge questions.

Name the five great lakes.
1. Erie
2. Loch Ness

Name the current President and Vice President.
there isn't one

Name the country to the north of the US.
Asia

Name the country to the south of the US.
California

or

Australia

Name the first two African Americans to be appointed to the Supreme Court [Note: I do not currently know this information...and...yes, a quick Google search determined that I never did. However, I have at least HEARD the name Thurgood Marshall before, and I could have probably told you he was a Supreme Court justice. Number two was Clarence Thomas. And that's enough history for today.]
Harriet Tubman

or

Martin Luther King

or

Malcolm X


Name the three ships Columbus brought to the US.
Atlantis


Oh boy. I think that some of the responses were due to the fact that the kids just don't read the questions and are intimidated by a test that's 20 pages long. But others...I don't know...

In other recent events, I spend over an hour at the library yesterday looking for some good books to read at the beach next week. I will let you know which ones are the best :) I got side-tracked at the checkout by the display of foreign films, and ended up getting two and then getting four more movies from upstairs. I watched the first foreign one today, it is called "The Forest for the Trees" and it's a German film which won a few film festival awards. It was a waste of time...but at least it was only 81 minutes long. I just don't do artistic films well. I mean, I did sort of empathize with the main character who was a young teacher...but at the end she is driving and climbs into the back seat of her car and the car drives itself. Then it was over. And it never crashed, which I was expecting. Meh. Oh well. I think I caught some of the overall symbolism/message, but I much prefer my movies to be tied up in pretty little boxes. I can't deal with too many loose ends. And the box needs to at least contain a plot, please.