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| Lest anyone think I've given short-shrift to Austin lately, it is only because he has seriously hunkered down over his studies. He's foregone playing Spring baseball, in favor of improving his grades. I'm very proud of the progress he's made since the first marking period. The Honors program at his school is rigorous, and he was neither fully prepared for it by his grammar school, nor does he usually have to work very hard to get good grades. This year has been a new experience for him.
However, one thing that he has been working at, aside from his academics, is his music. He sang with the church choir from second grade through eighth grade. In high school, he signed up for a music class, but ended up in two. He takes Chorus and Beginner Guitar. He has done well at both, including impressing his teachers by learning several rock songs on the guitar over Christmas break.
Last week, Austin performed in a two-night Spring concert series at the school. The first night, he sang with the Chorus. The next night, he performed with the Guitar Ensemble. I have video of both performances that I will put up on YouTube shortly.
Additionally, this past Sunday, Austin sang with a select group of his classmates at a memorial Mass for the deceased graduates of our high school's predecessor school. It was a folk-style Mass, the like of which I haven't seen since the late 70s. Just one acoustic guitar and 20 voices. Lovely.
After the Mass, the school was holding the annual music program BBQ. However, we had about two hours between events, so Austin, Christina and I changed into shorts and sneakers, and took some of Austin's bandmates to the local ball field for a three-on-three softball game. It was a lot of fun, and the boys were quite goofy. Ultimately, Christina, one of the boys and I won, 18-17, in five innings.
Back at the BBQ, they gave out the end of year music awards. Austin was not a recipient, but he really has focused more on his core curriculum this year. There were terrific hotdogs, hamburgers, grilled corn-on-the-cob, salads and watermelon for all. There were tug-of-war contests, where the Freshmen won every match until they took on their own fathers. :) I organized the Freshmen fathers to take on the Sophomore fathers. We were being dragged mercilessly toward the edge of no-mans-land, when I saw Austin jump in at the front of our team, and seriously... just like that... we started to pull the Sophomore fathers back. We won. One of the fathers who was videotaping the match exclaimed, "I can't believe they started winning as soon as Austin jumped in!" Very cool.
There was also a dunk tank, where the music director let the students and parents "get even" with him. Out of the 75 people there, he was only dunked about 5 times. Both Austin and Christina were unsuccessful, but when it came to my turn, the director jumped out, and let a student take his place in the tank. I was swarmed by kids wanting to dunk the other student, and never did take a turn. It was a very exhausting day, but just a lot of fun. I met several other Freshman parents, and hope we'll have more fun with them next year. | |
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| OK. The Kearney Tigers entered the playoffs last week in first place. That meant that the did not have to play a game in the first round, but had some break time before taking on the number 4 team in the Semi-Final round last Friday. It was an incredible game. The Tigers were down 7-1 by the start of the third inning. Our defense had fallen apart in the first two innings, and the other team's defense was superb. In truth, I thought that the two teams had traded uniforms for those two innings - both played entirely differently than their usual. Then, the Tigers woke up. they came back to jump into the lead, 8-7. The next inning also kept the score close, but then the Tigers opened up their bats. The final score was yet another Tigers victory by mercy in the fifth inning - 18-8. Due to the close nature of the early innings, and the sudden fifth inning mercy, Christina did not get into the game. The game was recorded, and is expected to stream online soon. I'll post a notice when that occurs. After the game, the team held a ceremony for the graduating seniors. All of the players and coaches (including part-time, fill-in coach moi) received special Senior Day t-shirts. Streamers and posters of the seniors were hung on the dugout fence, to be signed by all of the players. Each senior was the subject of speeches from the underclassmen. Christina gave a short speech to teammate Erin F. , Though Christina was nervous, having never given such a speech before, I thought she did a great job. The speech was short, but heartfelt. Other parents pointed out that next year, as the Junior with the most seniority on the team, Christina will probably be in charge of organizing Senior Day. A BBQ lunch followed. The Tigers advance to the Championship game, tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday. ETA: The tie-breaker game from 5/11 was covered in the local paper. Article with team pic is here. | |
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| The sister-in-law of Carol (remembrance above). Also one of my mother's best friends. Dee and her husband Donnie were preparing to travel to Brooklyn for Carol's funeral. Dee reported that she was having upset stomach at the news of Carol's death, and went to lie down. She apparently suffered an aneurysm of some sort, and died, less than 24 hours after her sister-in-law. Dee was brought to Brooklyn, where she and Carol were given simultaneous wakes, and back-to-back funeral Masses in neighboring parishes. They have been laid to rest next to one another, which is comforting, as Carol never married, and it's good to know she'll have her brother and her sister-in-law/friend next to her. I haven't seen Dee or Donnie in many years, but the two things about Dee that I do know are: - When I was born, I was rather sick. When it was time for me to come home from the hospital, my father was stuck at work, so it was Dee and her Aunt Peg who drove my mother back-and-forth to the hospital to see me and to finally bring me home. - According to my mother, until they moved away, their daughter Dawn and I were always together when we were young. Many of the earliest photos of me as a child also have Dawn in them. Losing two good friends in one day, both of whom equate as family, has been difficult on my mother. I mourn for Dee, as I do for Carol, and hope that all the good memories we all have of them will remain fresh in our minds, and be shared for the younger generations. | |
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| Carol was my mother's best friend. Her family and mine have been connected and close since Carol's parents and my maternal grandparents purchased houses across the street from one another, shortly after my mother was born. Carol was a few years older than my mother, and often looked after my mother when they were young. She was an only daughter, with five brothers. By one count, she had 11 nieces and nephews, and 18 grand-nieces and grand-nephews (plus or minus one or two in each category). Carol was as much an aunt to my brothers and I, and my children, as anyone not related to us by blood could be. She was always at our house, both when we lived in an apartment across the street from her home, when we moved to the other side of Brooklyn, and when my parents moved back to the old neighborhood. In fact, Carol painted the cupboards in both of our houses each time we moved, so all of our kitchens had a "Carol's cabinet" in them. When I was younger, Carol often took my brothers and I to see major league baseball games, or to Coney Island or other fun places, along with her nieces and nephews who were of an age with us. When I graduated from high school, Carol gave me a silver Tiffany keyring "for the keys to your law office." I never did go to law school, but I passed it along to my younger brother when he graduated from law school, letting him know that it came from Carol. He and she ended up bowling in the same league for many years. She owned this very cool 1970 Plymouth Duster. In his eulogy for her, her youngest brother Tommy talked about how great it was when she would lend him the keys to this car, which caused me, despite my sadness, to pump my fist in the air. You see, I had inherited that car when Carol was done with it in 1984, and I really loved that car (my first). It's debatable as to whether my dad bought it from her, or she gave it to us (I've heard two versions of this story, but don't recall the details myself). I owned that car for about two years, until one night on Route 17 in upstate New York, a deer jumped onto the hood when I doing about 75, and the car and I went into a ditch. That was the last ride of the Duster (there’s a much longer story attached to this accident, but I’ll save that for another time). After the funeral, I told Tommy that I owed him an apology for killing the car, and he hugged me, saying, "I always wondered what happened to it. I'm glad you got it." When Amy and I were getting married, we really wanted an apartment in my neighborhood, but they were very difficult to find. Carol came through, finding us a 6-room second floor in a brownstone for $600 per month. It was around the corner from her house, and owned by friends of hers, who went on to become "Aunt" and "Uncle" to my kids. Two more items about Carol, otherwise, I could be here all day, remembering her: One of Carol's brothers, Larry, has a granddaughter, Abby. She and her mother live in the second floor apartment in Carol's house. Abby and my Christina were the best of friends since they were very young. The girls played on the same softball team, and Larry and I were two of the coaches. Carol often took care of Abby, so Christina spent a lot of time at Carol's house. Between sleepovers, Halloween trick-or-treating (we've never gone t-or-t on our own block, we always went to our old block where Carol lived), and other activities, Christina grew very close to Carol. Abby was involved in theater for several years, and Carol always took Christina with her to opening nights of the shows. I think that's where Christina came by her passion for theater. Of my whole family, Christina is the only one who ever called Carol "Aunt Carol", and Carol's death has been very difficult for Christina. Despite the girls having had a falling out last year, once Christina has recovered from her initial shock of the news of Carol's death, her first response was to immediately call Abby. It's strange that we have many women who are not blood relatives or relatives by marriage whom we call "Aunt" so-and-so, but Carol was always just "Carol". My mom said that Carol always knew the "Aunt" was there, but unspoken. I hope so. Finally, as I told the kids, I don't think they will ever meet a more Christian person than Carol. Carol remained unmarried and had no children, but she was just like a mother to her nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, myself and my brothers, my kids, neighbors' kids, etc. We saw so many young people upset at Carol's passing because she was simply a good person who always touched people around her in positive ways. She was a Eucharistic minister at our church. She volunteered for all sorts of service projects. The afternoon of her funeral, she had been scheduled to help drive homebound parishioners to a special healing Mass. She was active with the Knights of Columbus, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. She had just gone back to bowling after breaking her hip during the winter. The New York State Senate honored her with a resolution last year on the occasion of her being chosen as Deputy Marshall of the local St. Patrick's Day Parade. I last spoke to Carol at a benefit doo-wop concert at a local high school last month. My father had an extra ticket, so I attended. Carol looked fit and happy, if not still slowed by her hip. Last weekend, she attended the First Communion of her twin grand-nieces. The next day, she became sick with what appeared to be a stomach bug or food poisoning. She died in her sleep last Tuesday night. It has been difficult, losing her physical presence. Already, both my mother and others have made reference to things Carol will be doing as if she'll still be doing them. Past tense will not come easy when talking about such a vibrant, loving person. Blood or no blood, she was part of our family, and I'll be forever appreciative of all she did for my parents, my brothers and my children. We remain close to her brothers and their families, and she will always loom large in our minds. I know we all have an incredible guardian angel above us now. A soul like Carol's wouldn't know how to stop loving. | |
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| Currently Reading:(e) REDSHIRTS by John Scalzi THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME (Volume 2B) edited by Ben Bova - reading sporadically at home Finished (15):THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE by Stephen King - I never had a chance to list this as part of Currently Reading. I forgot that I'd preordered it, and immediately started reading the minute the book arrived. This is book 4.5 of The Dark Tower series, written by King to plug a chronological hole in the complete narrative of the saga. I enjoyed this look into the younger days of Roland Deschain, though, with one small bit about his mother, it doesn't really connect to the rest of the saga in any great manner. Still, I'll accept nearly any opportunity to revisit this series, which stands with The Lord of the Rings, The Stand, Gone With The Wind and A Song of Ice and Fire among the books I reread most often. (e) ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR GROUCHO by Ron Goulart - part of the Groucho Marx Private Eye series. It was a quick, fun read, but I didn't buy the overlap of Groucho's on-screen persona with his real world self. I have three other books in this series, but probably won't read them immediately. (e) THE TRIALS OF SUPERMAN: The Complete Transcripts compiled by Daniel Best - These are the transcripts from the court case brought by the heirs of Jerry Siegel against DC Comics and Warner Brothers, seeking to determine whether the agreement that resulted in SUPERMAN RETURNS was made at fair market value, or was a sweetheart deal between related companies. If you like courtroom details, or a peek behind the scenes at how movies deals get made, this is worth it. However, realize that the reading is slow at times, and this is just a transcript of the proceedings. There are lots of interruptions of thought, which can muddle the details. Ultimately, without spoiling, since the final ruling is not contained in the PDF,** the Court held for Warner Brothers, and determined that the Superman movie and TV contracts were made at fair market value. (There is now a suit by Warner against the Siegel's attorney, who appears to have wanted to produce the next Superman film himself. You can't make this stuff up.) All I know is that I now know about a few matters to make certain are addressed the next time I work on a motion picture deal. **ETA: the PDF on my Nook was missing the final 50 pages, and the original PDF does contain the judge's ruling.(e) FAT, DRUNK AND STUPID: The Inside Story Behind The Making of Animal House by Matty Simmons CATCHING FIRE and (e) MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins (e) BOTTOM OF THE NINTH by Michael Shapiro (e) THE ELEPHANT TO HOLLYWOOD by Michael Caine THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (e) THE WAY OF KINGS by Brandon Sanderson PINION by Jay Lake ![[info]](http://delkytlar.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.9) jlakeSTEVE JOBS: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal JUDY GARLAND by Anne Edwards 11/22/63 by Stephen King THE ALLOY OF LAW by Brandon Sanderson If anyone would care to make recommendations, or open discussions about particular titles once I've finished, please feel free. | |
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| Big game yesterday, against the other tough team in the division, St. Edmund's. Christina did not play the field, bat or pinch run this time, but then neither did four other players. This was a very close and hard-fought game, with first place riding on the result, and the coach had to make some difficult decisions about who to substitute, or even whether he should substitute. Not only did Kearney need to win the game, but they needed to win by two or more runs in order to claim first place (St. Edmund's is the one team to have beaten us this season, by two runs, and it could very well come down to how many runs each teams scored off the other to determine ultimate ownership of first place. In any event, Kearney was victorious, with an extra-innings 7-4 win. However, rather than attempt a recap of a very intense and well-played game, I'll let the New York Post handle it for me this time. New York Post - Late Rally Sends Bishop Kearney Past St. Edmund. Three more regular season games this week, though none that look to be too difficult. (Side note, I did get to help coach the team yesterday, and will do so again today and tomorrow. It's pretty cool, getting to coach Christina at the Varsity level, as I never thought that would happen. Unfortunately, I can't be there for the last regular game of the season on Thursday, as I'm giving a contracts lecture in Manhattan that evening - more on that later.) Playoffs start at the end of next week. | |
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| It has been a busy couple of weeks for Christina on the diamond. In the past 12 days, Christina has played in 9 softball games (4 regular season and 5 scrimmages), plus one practice. She has mainly started at second base, though a few times she has gone in at second as a sub, and today subbed at third base. She has also been utilized as a pinch runner, and done well on the basepaths. Here is a brief run-down of the season, so far:
Prior to Christina joining the Varsity team, they had won 2 games, and not lost any. Regular season games are listed below in green, scrimmages in orange.
April 13th: Bishop Kearney Varsity vs. St. Edmund's - L 5-3 (team record 2W, 1L):
This was the game Christina was asked to fill-in for a missing player, and which moved her permanently to the Varsity team a year early. She was used twice to pinch run for the pitcher, but was stranded on base both times. Then, around the fourth inning, just as my parents arrived to watch, she was put in to play second base. She made a beautiful pop-up catch, and threw out two runners. She walked in her only at bat, but advanced to third, and nearly scored, but was tagged out at the plate (not really her fault, the third base coach should not have sent her on that particular play).
Game stats: 0-for-0 (.000) - 1BB, 1SB
Season stats: 0-for-0 (.000) - 1BB, 1SB
April 15th: BKV vs. Fontbonne (scrimmage) - L 5-4:
Game 1 of a doubleheader against the local rivals. I was unable to attend, as I was teaching a class that morning. Christina's stats are unavailable, but she did very well. One play in particular stood out. She was playing second base, and a left-handed batter was at the plate. The coach told Christina to play right on the first base line, about halfway between home and first, ostensibly to cover for a bunt. My father, a former Varsity City Champ and Little League coach, looked at me, and said, "That's very dangerous. I'd never play someone so close like that." The batter did not bunt - she swung full-on, and drove a bullet straight at Christina. Christina dove, and snagged the line-drive right out of the air. It was an amazing play, and even the opposing parents cheered her.
April 15th: BKV vs. Preston (scrimmage) - L score unknown:
Game 2 of the doubleheader against a very tough team from The Bronx. I was unable to keep track of Christina's stats, though she did perform well again. Early in the game, as I was retrieving a foul ball from the street, the coach told me that he was very pleased, saying "If I had a whole team like your daughter, we'd be unbeatable. She asks questions. She listens. She wants to learn. I love her." I should note that Christina has been very nervous about facing the faster, windmill pitching of the Varsity play, but, as you'll see, she adjusted quickly.
April 16th: BKV vs. Bishop Ford - W 16-1 mercy (team record 3W, 1L)
A completely uneven game against a Varsity team that was as woefully unprepared as their Junior Varsity schoolmates had been in a JV game the week before. Once again, I do not have Christina's complete stats, but she did get her first Varsity hit, and, starting at second base again, with this game, Christina has already played more Varsity innings and had more Varsity at-bats than she had in the whole of her JV season last year.
Game stats (partial): 1-for-1 (1.000) - 1S
Season stats: 1-for-1 (1.000) - 1S, 1BB, 1SB
April 18th: BKV vs. St. John's Villa (scrimmage) - L score unknown:
Played against a very tough team from Staten Island. I was unable to keep track of Christina's stats, though she did perform well again.
April 21st: BKV vs. Telecommunications (scrimmage) - W 15-4 mercy:
Game 1 of a doubleheader against a team that has a good reputation, but did not live up to their press this day. I missed this game, as I was teaching the final session of a pre-school literacy program. I only saw Christina bat once, when she grounding out to the shortstop.
April 21st: BKV vs. St. Edmund's (scrimmage) - W 16-6 mercy:
Game 2 of a doubleheader against a regular season rival. It was a very satisfying win. Christina played second again, and made some very nice plays. Though only a scrimmage, she had her first RBI in a Varsity uniform. It was also a very nice game for me. Because the assistant coach had to leave after the first game, I was asked to coach first base. Until now, this is the first spring in eight years that I have not been on the field with either of my children, and I was missing it. I enjoyed being part of a game where Christina excelled, and found that I really like her coaches and teammates. They all have a great attitude, and the girls on this team don't actually look at me funny when I make a joke. I came away from this game feeling even better about Christina being a Varsity player.
Game stats: 1-for-1 (1.000) - 1S, 2SB, 3BB, 1Run, 1RBI
April 22nd: BKV vs. St. John's Prep - W 12-0 mercy (team record 4W, 1L)
A dreary game day, with fog, misty rain, and being played the day after a doubleheader and an 8pm-to-Midnight Sweet 16 party. Despite all that Christina played second again, and did well. She made several terrific catches and tags.
Game stats: 2-for-3 (.667) - 2S, 2SB, 2Runs, 1K
Season stats: 3-for-4 (.750) - 3S, 1BB, 3SB, 2Runs, 1K
April 24th: BKV @ Nazareth - W 14-3 mercy (team record 5W, 1L)
An "away" game on the far side of Brooklyn. Christina has been down-in-the-dumps today because of some serious family and legal issues that a friend of hers is going through. She had a hard time concentrating at the game, so it was a good thing the coach had her warming up pitchers until the fourth inning. Once she came into the game, she was hit by a pitch,stole a base and scored a run. Then, she took the field at third base, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but on the field. (She just interrupted me to tell me that the friend has, at least temporarily, resolved the problems he was facing). However, when the ball went into play, she was all over it. She tried twice to tag runners at third, just missing, before she got one for the first out of the fifth inning. The other team scored two runs that inning, and one more would mean we would have lost the chance for mercy, and had to play longer. Then, with two out, and the mercy-ending runner at third, Christina pulled down a foul pop-up right along the fence, to end the game. (Added note: I was asked to coach first again. Still loving it.)
Game stats: 0-for-0 (.000) - 1HBP, 1SB, 1Run
Season stats: 3-for-4 (.750) - 3S, 1BB, 1HBP, 4SB, 3Runs, 1K
Thus we enter the home stretch of the regular season. Starting Friday, five final regular season games in seven days, followed by the playoffs. | |
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| Christina's JV team played their season opener on Tuesday. It was, like most of the games last season, a blow-out. They won 18-5 against a woefully unprepared team. Christina did get the chance to start the game at second base, though she didn't get much opportunity to make plays. She did bat four times, walking twice and getting two singles. She also scored two or three times. It looked to be the start of a good season.
Then, this afternoon about ten-after-three, I was home recovering from a migraine, and she was relaxing with a book, when I heard a buzzing sound. I tracked it to her cellphone in her softball bag. We'd just missed a call from her coach. Christina listened to the voicemail the coach had left. Christina was upset. "The coach called me on Friday, asking me to fill in for one of the girls on the Varsity team." Austin told her, "Today's Friday." Christina jumped up, and said she had to be at the field by 3:45. We scrambled, and made it.
It turned out that many of the Varsity players have been away on an exchange program during the Easter break. Christina was there to be the 10th player in the lineup. She was used twice to pinch run for the pitcher, but was stranded on base both times. Then, around the fourth inning, just as my parents arrived to watch, she was put in to play second base. She made a beautiful pop-up catch, and threw out two runners. She walked in her only at bat, but advanced to third, and nearly scored, but was tagged out at the plate (not really her fault, the third base coach should not have sent her on that particular play). Ultimately, they lost 5-3, but it was a very good game, against a tough team.
We were happy that she'd done well, and were waiting for her to come off the field, but she was held up by the coach and some of the players. We figured they wanted to thank her for her contributions. She came off the field with her friend Shelby, and walked up to me with eyes big as saucers. "I'm on the Varsity team now," she said. Just then, one of the coaches came up to me, and said that the league rule is that once a JV player plays in a Varsity game, she cannot go back to the JV team. And, the Varsity coaches are VERY happy to have Christina a year early. They liked what they saw of her, and promised us that they make sure all of their girls play a fair number of innings every game.
Christina was pretty shell-shocked for about two hours afterwards. She did call her JV coach to thank her for the opportunity, and wish the JV team well, as well as calling her uncles. Other than that, she was essentially speechless until about 7:00, when the joy of the whole thing hit her.
Meanwhile, her new team now has 2 wins and 1 loss. There's a doubleheader tomorrow, and then games on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be tough, but this is the big leagues now. I know she's going to continue to do well.
I don't know how we found room to be prouder of her than we have been, but we are. She has always been a terrific player and terrific team player. She'll now have three whole years to make her mark in Varsity ball, be seen by college scouts, and who knows what can happen next. It's just a very happy day in our house.
(For myself, personally, aside from being her father, Christina is the first player (girl or boy) I ever coached to make a Varsity high school team. It's a very good feeling.) | |
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| Last month, Christina and her friends Arianna and Shannon competed in their high school talent show. In a sea of pop music, they selected "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Though they had some microphone problems at first, they soldiered on, and turned in a lovely performance. They did not win a prize, but they still have two more years to compete.
They also performed as backup singers on the Four Seasons' hit "Who Loves You (Pretty Baby)", and as part of the whole cast finale of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours".
Afterward, a woman from the audience approached them to deliver some effusive compliments. They later learned that she was a talent agent. Christina is, needless to say, ready for her closeup.
Here is their performance of "Part of Your World".
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| Yes, it is finally here! Opening Day of the 2012 Disabled List Season! And here come my Mets - the defending champions of the Disabled List League! Will they achieve the same greatness in Disabled List play as they have in recent seasons? Only time will tell.
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| Austin came to me the other night, pretty excited. He'd been web browsing, and he came across a site that I didn't know about. It's called " Transformers Wiki". Among other neat entries, he discovered that my story "Prime Spark" is considered semi-canonical by some T-former fans. There is a page for the Transformers: Legends anthology. There is a page for me as author of the story. There is a page for the story itself, with some neat commentary and nitpicking, which I love to see. Best of all, it appears that a young physicist I mentioned in passing in the story by the name of Robert Nagisa has achieved some minor notoriety among the fans. My favorite comment is the one on the Prime Spark page where they opine that Nagisa's book might be fictional! I have considered whether or not to edit some stuff on these pages, including the idea of mentioning that Nagisa is a Tuckerization of the young man (son of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) larah33) who helped me understand the T-formers universe for the story. I'm just a little leery of getting into some kind of T-former fan wiki-war. In any event, if for nothing else than this makes me look (once again) cool in the eyes of my son, I'm pretty pleased to discover these mentions. May your Spark always shine. | |
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| It's been a while since I posted anything about how the kids are doing in school, so I thought I'd put up a quick post. Christina was nominated by her school to participate in the 2012 LeadAmerica National High School Leadership Conference. This program allows high school students to attend summer classes at colleges like Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, George Washington and UCLA (among others). It is a great honor to be nominated. Unfortunately, tuition for the courses is still a couple of thousand dollars, plus room and board, so we aren't sure she'll be able to attend. Christina has also been inducted as a probationary member of the National Honor Society. Only Seniors can receive full membership, but probationary membership as a Sophomore allows Christina to participate in various NHS projects and service programs. It's a nice recognition of her hard work, and a great motivator for her to continue working so hard. Austin has been made a member of the Clipper Society, which is a service organization within the school. The Clipper Society students act as representatives of the student body at various functions (reunions, off-campus events, sporting events, etc.) A personal commitment to service and the ability to be a good ambassador for the school are the main qualifications. Needless to say, we are very proud of both of our kids. | |
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