WV History Bowl Regional Runners Up

The Building on the background is the West Virginia Northern Community College

West Virginia has an annual History Bowl competition for schools across the mountain states.   My children's school, St. Joseph School from Weirton, participates to it since 9 years ago.  This is an event that my daughter was looking forward to.  We started reviewing for her materials since the beginning of November of last year.  

The school does not provide a coach so students are on their own.  The lack of support from the school makes some of the students not wanting to participate but my daughter really wanted to do it so she worked really hard in learning the facts.  She told me that she would do it by herself if she has to,  lol.  I really wish that the school would designate a coach for this specific  event, the kids would be more motivated and they will have someone to guide them.  We worked with our daughter in reviewing  her materials, my husband,  her brother, and me are  part of her team.  It's the same way with the other members, families are the coaches.

It's a team of four  and I am so glad that one of their classmates stepped up and agreed to be on their team 4 days before the competition.  It wasn't enough time to learn facts but kudos to her for doing it.  Some of the girls also came to support the team during the competition.  

They decided that my daughter will be the team captain.  Our daughter is very driven, sometimes it scares me but it's a good thing I think.  If she  think she won't do a very good job, she doesn't even want to try it but when she's confident, nothing  stops her.  She does really well with pressure although I am concern when she is anxious because she constantly picks on her fingers.  During the competition (final round), her fingers were tore up from her picking on it, it got bloody.

Glad their friends came as their moral support, it meant a lot to them.

The history bowl organizers  served  light refreshments and snacks before the  competition begins.

We arrived a bit early at the venue so we had a chance to take pictures and look around inside the Independence Hall, in Wheeling West Virginia.  Our school is part of the  Northern Panhandle, Region 6.  Eight grades from across this region battled it out for a chance to compete in the championship in April which will be held in Charleston.  Teams of four faced off against each other, answering questions about the state's history in the double-elimination tournament. 

St. Joseph's official  team includes Antonio A., Hannah B., Juliana V., and our daughter Rylie.  With them is the school's principal, Mrs. Fuscardo.

Here are the scores during the  elimination rounds.

• Round 1 - 30 winner - 3 other school
• Round 2 - 28 winner - 7 other school
• Round 3 - 22 winner - 4 other school
• Round 4 - 22 lost  against Sherard School who got 26 score
• Round 5 - I don't have the actual score but we won against Cameron School.
• Round 6 - St. Joseph battled with Sherard School again but lost to 4 points.

Our school  was the runner up but they will have a chance to  battle it out for the championship  this coming April in Charleston.  All the champions and  runners up from different regions will compete again.  

The two months break will give them the time to  review again and learn more facts about West Virginia.

I am  glad that our team was very confident in going into this competition.

The reigning champion for years  was the Cameron School but since their coach left and went to Sherard, they did not win this year.  Sherard got the title this year.  Coach for this kind of event is really important because the kids can get proper training before the competition.  Considering our children's situation though, they did really well.  Hopefully, St. Joseph will take this opportunity to really assign a coach, fingers crossed.

My daughter is very competitive so she always wants to  do her best in  everything that she participates into.  I told her that even if they don't win, the experience alone is great.  She said "There's no fun in losing"  which I agree but we reminded her that  you can't always win and that's the reality of life.    

I am so glad that their hard work really paid off and they earned a spot for the championship.

Their team will be the second team from St. Joseph School that gets to participate for the championship in Charleston.  The last team was from 4 years ago so they are excited.

Out of 10 schools in Ohio, Marshall, Brooke, and Wetzel counties competed throughout the day on Friday.  The top-two teams advancing to the state tournament will be our school, St. Joseph School, and Sherard.

 The 2,100 questions consist of  West Virginia History; Trivia, Geography, politics, pop culture as explained by the  History Bowl Coordinator Matthew McGrew. 

 This event gives  these young minds  not just a great way to gain knowledge but it  also showcases each participant's pride for the region.

"As you know, in 8th grade, we get our big year of West Virginia studies, and we try for the Golden Horseshoe. I just thought it'd be a great idea to let these kids get together; it helps them get more knowledge. But the biggest is, it builds pride," said Randall Reid-Smith, curator for the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History.

Below is a video I managed to record before the battery of my camera died. At 10:10 of the video, I suspect a supernatural occurrence, the scoreboard went off and my camera went blurry.. I think the question touched a ghost's nerve lol.

The kids are so motivated by the result of this event. My son is even considering to do it too when it's time for their class to compete in two years. The good thing about it is that, we already have some of the materials that he needs, we just need to update the names of politicians.  Our kids need to learn more about the revolutionary era and the geography facts, those are the two areas, they seemed to  struggled in remembering.  

My Daughter's Class Thanksgiving Feast 2018

February is almost halfway and I am just now  uploading and trying to post some of the school activities that my kids had last year, I am a slow poke I tell you ha ha.  Anyway, my daughter's class had their Thanksgiving party sometime in September.  It is one of the many activities that the homeroom Mom have lined up for the whole school year for these lucky group of children.

The higher grades normally don't have parties anymore but I am glad that the Principal and their homeroom teacher allowed them to have parties.  Big credit to the homeroom Mom for making this happen, because of their  great effort and dedication, our children have the best experiences  with their last year in elementary school.   

 I am one of the lucky Moms who witnessed and watch some of these children grow up together, it's a privilege and an blessing.  Being good friends with the other  Moms allowed me to participate and  see most of their  events in school. 

 Thanks to the Arnold family for making this party a success.  Spending their  free time to make this event a success is very admirable, I really admire them for that.  They don't really have to do this but they really exert their best effort to make sure that our children has the most memorable moments with their last year at St. Joseph.

 These girls have been friends since kindergarten so it would be hard to see them part their separate ways  in high school.

 Mr. and Mrs. Arnold rocks, best team dou in throwing a successful party.

 Thanks to them, our children had the most fun and best experience in celebrating Thanksgiving with their friends in School.

Saint Joseph School might not be the best when it comes to academics but I have to admit but they do provide the best camaraderie  among each students.  The school helps molding each students not just with their mental development but also spiritually and  emotionally. 

 Our ever energetic, loving, and full of fun ideas homeroom Mom, Mrs. Arnold.  Thank you very much Rose for always  being there for our children and for making their experiences great and  memorable. 

 The school does not  receive government funding so we do a lot of fundraising to help finance  the things that  the school needs to provide good learning  education for the kids. 

 I believe that a good foundation for  children in school is for them to have the best   experience early years.  It can be traumatizing  for kids if they experience discrimination or bullying in their elementary days.  I am glad that my kids  have not experience any issues that they can not handle.  Teachers  really do care for each kids that goes at St. Joe's and that is something I am most appreciative of.  I think the kids behave well because they do have a really good experience interacting and learning with one another.

I hope that as my daughter starts a new chapter of her life in high school  next school year, that she will have a good experience just like she have at St. Joseph.  We will continue to send her to catholic school and support her 100%.  It would be expensive but that's the sacrifice we are willing to make to provide for a good learning environment for our children.

Carefree and Happy-Go-Lucky Guy Turns 12

At 10:09 of January the 15th, twelve years ago, our youngest was born.  He was an 8 pounder baby.  My pregnancy with him was  a lot harder than with my daughter's but it was all worth it.  Despite the doctor's suspicion that he might have a down syndrome, he turned out healthy, for that,  we are truly grateful and blessed.

This guy's personality is way different than his sister.  He is carefree and happy-go-lucky.  He love to have fun and does not worry about things.  It makes me  worry and at the same time thankful.  I worry  that he might not be serious about things that matter but I am thankful that he isn't a worrywart like me.  But then again, he is young and  suppose to enjoy being a child.

 Although  he is not very fond of school, his dream is to become a doctor or engineer.  I told him that in order to achieve that, he need to be good in school.  His grades are good though although he can improve so much more if he  put his mind to it.

 I hope that we could continue to guide him towards a good path  in life.  That's always my prayer that both of our children will grow up to be good people.

  I love that he is still acts like a child, he loves to  dance  whenever and wherever, he doesn't care what others think lol.  It always  bring a smile to my face although it annoys his sister, to me, it's a treat to see him always laughing and having fun no matter what he does.

My wish for you Anak,  is to have a healthy and happy life.  I pray that God will continue to bless you with that.  Even when Mom and Dad will no longer be around in the future, I want you to remember how much we love you.  Happy birthday!