Mikayla shows off the travel bag she made for Colorado Springs.

6:05 a.m.
“I like to get up early; I’m kind of an early bird. I have to take a shower every morning otherwise my hair just doesn’t cooperate. After my shower I like to read or work on the new wall mural in my room. One of my favorite authors is Meg Cabot. She wrote The Princess Diaries.”

What is one of your fondest memories of the school year so far?
Oh definitely the third year trip to Colorado Springs. We each made colorful travel bags to take along on the trip. We visited Florissant Fossil Beds where we saw petrified tree stumps from thousands of years ago. We also got to dig for fossils and then keep them! I also really liked the hotel and going out to dinner. It was awesome!

What is your favorite subject?
I love cultural in the afternoons. PE is so much fun because Dorothy is super nice. I’m also really excited about music because Mandy has been teaching us lots of different ways to use our voices. Dave has been helping us practice in class; he plays the guitar and we sing. In science, we did a really cool experiment where we studied how different seeds grow. I guess I have a lot of favorite subjects!

What do yo like most about MSE?
The teachers always listen to you and you feel like you have them to yourself. I also have tons of great friends here. We do so many fun things together! We just did a bike-a-thon that raised almost $9,000 for AfricAid children. That’s amazing!

Mikayla and fellow third year students cheer on the bike-a-thon participants.

What is your favorite part of being a third year student?
I get to set good examples for younger children. It really makes you have to be on top of it because you want to make sure they’re seeing you do a good job. I guess I’ll be looking up to the fifth years next year!

What are you most looking forward to about Upper Elementary?
I like the feeling of having new experiences. I really love my teachers, Vicki and Dave, but I’m looking forward to being with new teachers and new kids. But I kind of already know most of them because they were in my class last year. I just know it will be a great adventure!

2:30 p.m.
“I love to write. My friend, Shannon, and I just came up with a great story about how these Gummy Bears have different personalities for each color and the purple ones (you know there ARE no purple ones!) are trying to invade the world!”

4:30 p.m.
Mikayla finally arrives back at home where she has a snack before she goes off to jazz class. “I play piano, and dance jazz and ballet. “I’m getting ready for a big production this spring. You should see my costume: it’s dark blue with fringes and is all SPARKLY! I want to be a professional dancer when I grow up. My teacher really inspires me and I’d like to inspire kids some day.”