The first 3 days of instruction take place in the classroom. I worked with Elle Steele. Four one-hour classes each day and packed with important information.
Memorial Day weekend
Extra time for chores.
A hike that didn’t happen because of poor directions in a guidebook. I drove this road slowly for 2 miles to get to the trailhead,
but turned around here.
As an alternate, I decided to see what Smartsville was all about. I pass the exits every time I go to Maria’s in Penn Valley and have always been curious. Not much here.
One of the few remaining Gold Rush-era churches, built in 1871.
Lunch at Ernesto’s with Thais, Sophia, and Avery.
Coffee with friends and a car show
Yay for good friends like Linda and Ade!
In the afternoon, I went to a car show in Rio Linda’s Depot Park and the Community Center.
Remember these?
Auburn Elementary bike rodeo
An hour later, I was at Auburn Elementary for their annual Family Festival. Elle arrived early to set up the course on her own since I was finishing up in Placerville. We had one side of the playground for the bicycle skills course.
Sheriff’s deputies helped with the Calf Roping station.
Maria’s Mexican Tacos provided food – they’re a local attraction in Auburn. Several locals came to the school just to pick up dinner.
The other half of the playground focused on health and nutrition.
Vermiculture:
A very long day, but every moment was fun. Even the 45-minute drive back to E Nicolaus. This was the last WALKSacramento event for this season.
Sierra Elementary Bike Club ride #1
This ride was a total success! We did have a few hiccups, but Alyson Fox handled each situation quickly and efficiently. When we did our personal safety check, we discovered Louis’ helmet was not functional and we had no spare; sadly he couldn’t ride with us. Entering the roadway from the yogurt shop, climbing the short hill, making the left turn, and entering the trail all went perfectly. Here’s our whole group except for Alyson who rode “sweep” – the last rider. 
We had three volunteer parent riders who came with us.
After another short climb it was time for a water break.
The train trestle was our turn-around point.
Time to head back.
Thank you to all the supportive parents!
The ride ended at 4:30, I loaded my bike and drove to Auburn on Hwy 49 to Auburn: see next post.
TRUSD F&P testing
Another of my part-time jobs this month has been organizing teams of retired teachers to give the Fountas & Pinnell assessment to students in middle school who were on the brink of being reclassified as English fluent – a BIG goal of the English Learner Department in Twin Rivers Unified School District. Problem solving at school sites on testing days was also part of the job. Today, I stopped at Strauch Middle School to find a happy smooth-running operation. L-R (excluding students): Kathy Smith, Bev Ruby, Mike Wade.
Another way to prune walnut trees
This long-necked cow steadily worked her way along the row.
The rest of the cows weren’t interested at all.
Happy Birthday Thais
L-R: Leah, Holly, Lauren (wearing pink t-shirt), MacKenna holding daughter, Rita, Thais, Sophia.
Mermaid and merboy:
Pre-ride for Sierra Elementary Bike Club
Next Thursday will be the last club meeting for this school year and we’re going on an off-campus bike ride. Hurray! Sometimes it’s difficult to get permission from the school to do an event like this – insurance, liability, and safety concerns. It’s very important that I do a pre-ride to understand what challenges may occur and which teachable moments are best.
We will meet at Whistle Stop Yogurt Shop,
carefully cross a busy road in individual drivers of our own vehicles (with parent help on both sides of the street but letting students make their own decisions about the right time to enter the roadway).
Then a short uphill, which will may be a challenge for some bicycle drivers,
followed by: scan, signal, scan, and merge to a left turn lane and the beginning of the El Dorado Trail.
And then my plan fell apart when a creepy-looking man began walking the trail ahead of me. Nope, not going to do it. The end of the pre-ride.
RLEHS goes to RL Prep
I tried really hard to create a new community event this year: a Middle School Cooking Challenge. I started organizing, planning, communicating, etc. last January. I invited 4 local middle schools to participate but did not get an enthusiastic response. Two weeks ago, I had to admit defeat and canceled the event. Shawn Baker, the after-school program coordinator at Rio Linda Prep, was the best at keeping in touch and trying to generate interest at Rio Linda Preparatory Academy. To thank him, I arranged to meet the students this afternoon and brought all the ingredients for each of them to make their own healthy after-school snack: whole-grain waffle, whipped cream cheese, (homemade) apricot-pineapple jam, and blueberries. Oh my, what a mess we made, but it turned out delicious.
At the end, I asked them what they knew about me. Huh? Finally someone read the words on my t-shirt and said “You like to ride bicycles?” Correct answer. Then each student got a goody bag of reflective stickers and snap bracelets, a pencil with a safety message, and a bicycle keychain. (Since May is Bike Month, I have lots of little things I can give away.)
