Week 2: Rock & Roll.

Walker Station Elementary's

Spring Choir Show

-Rock & Roll-

Tonight was the Engle family's LAST Choir Show... EVER! My 23 year old brother, Jason, went to kindergarten at Walker Station and in the next couple of days Shannon will be a 5th grade graduate. Despite our lack of dancing abilities and the fact that we are extremely tone deaf..... all four of the Engle children participated in Choir! Tonight was Shannon's final show and the theme was Rock & Roll! Not only was I watching Shannon dance her heart out, but I was also watching all of my fourth grade students. Some had speaking parts, some sang solos, and some danced like divas on stage! I know how much work these kids and teachers invested in this show, and all of their efforts paid off. The show was incredible!!! The talented Mrs. Sebesta was the choreographer, like she has been for every single choir show at WSE. She never ceases to amaze me! This was her last year as a part of the Walker Station family. She has decided to move on to bigger and better things! I found out several months ago, but the students found out just recently. They sang "Dancing Queen" as a surprise tribute to her, and I was bawling like a baby. The show ended with the entire crowd dancing along to "I Got A Feeling." This was by far the best show the Walker Station Choir has ever performed. We had a feeling tonight was gonna be a good night!

Week 2: Lifeskills!

Last Day with Lifeskills!

Today was Wednesday and that only meant one thing for 4th period... it was Lifeskills Day! All of the PALS love each and every one of the special needs students at Austin. Some of them I met just this year and others I have grown up with since Kindergarten. Our final party for them was exceptionally bittersweet. I will miss seeing all of their joyous faces and I will never forget their undeniable smiles. Katy and the rest of her PYPM group did a fantastic job of leading the other PALs and the rest of the school with the lifeskills students. I was in Mrs. Greak's kindergarten class with Tisha Bose, and I was lucky enough to get to know her better all throughout grade school. Her disabilities have grown progressively worse during recent years, and it truly breaks my heart. She may not be able to sing the alphabet anymore or color inside the lines perfectly, but every single week she was able to remember my name. She would always greet me with a huge hug and scream, "KAITLYN!" When I said goodbye to her today, tears were flowing down my cheeks. Lifeskills students are some of the most amazing people that I've ever met in my life.

Week 2: The Last

Week 2 will be filled with a ton of "lasts" for me! Last night was my last FCA meeting ever! That was completely unreal to me. For the past four years, my life has been fully invested in that organization. Every batch of cookies I baked, every leadership meeting I attended, every message I prepared, every game I played, every bible verse I read, and every announcement I wrote down.... every Monday was "FCA night". Our vision at FCA was to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of athletes and coaches. I loved standing in front of those red gym bleachers and preaching to my peers! I combined my creativity, organization, public speaking ability, and the Lord’s heart to impact countless lives weekly. The results of my efforts ultimately resulted in His Glory. I will forever be thankful for every ounce of energy that I invested in FCA. It changed my life and hopefully it encouraged someone else's.

While I was student teaching this afternoon, we got BIG news delivered! All of our TAKS scores came in! 100% of our fourth graders passed the writing test- 93 students earned a perfect score of a 4. That is completely UNBELIEVEABLE! Let me help you put this into perspective... We had the most students score a four in the entire district and another elementary school came in 2nd place with only 23 students scoring a four. I wouldn't be surprised if we had the most 4's in the entire state of Texas. We had 93!!! Mrs. Sebesta and her writing teammates are truly the BEST. They are all incredibly gifted teachers and their students' test results reveal how hard they worked each and every day. I am so proud to say that I was a part of these efforts and I couldn't be prouder of all of my little writing students! There is no greater feeling than being a part of the Walker Station family.

Tonight was the Spring Awards Night! It was an honor to be given so many awards after all of my hard work for the past four years. I loved standing alongside my girlfriends, earning my chord and other medals, and cracking jokes the entire time we waited in line. We took tons of pictures and Katy was awarded "Most Outstanding Senior Girl" by the faculty. This girl is on a hot streak! Prom Queen, MVP of AHS 2011, what's next? I couldn't have been as successful throughout my high school years, if it wasn't for the love and support of my amazing parents. I can't thank them enough for sitting through each and every boring awards night this school had to offer. Tonight was the last one, thank goodness!

Week 3: My Little Nurse.

This weekend, Lauren graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree from the School of Nursing! It feels like just yesterday that she graduated from Austin High School, and now four years later we witnessed her earn her college diploma. Lauren is beautiful, smart, dedicated, and truly one of a kind. She is not only my older sister, but easily my best friend and my inspiration. She always encourages me to stay true to myself. Although she struggles to tell a story without laughing the entire time, I love her to death and I would do anything for that girl. She is now officially a registered nurse. Lauren will be there when new lives are brought into the world and she will be there when people's lives come to an end. She is educated and trained to take care of the child that cannot take care of them self, the mother that is screaming while giving birth, and the man that is battling the life-threatening disease of cancer. She will be someone's hero and she will continue to save lives every day. Jason also came in town from North Carolina for her graduation weekend! He is hilarious and seeing him is always a great time! As we continue to grow up and move on to different cities, there are very few meals that my entire family can be seated together around a single table. I cherish these times, because they are the memories that matter the most. We spent almost the entire weekend in the strange city of Austin, TX. We now have two official college graduates and almost one new college student! Time is flying by.

Week 3: Mystery.

Tonight was our Senior NHS Banquet at Safari Texas. As soon as we arrived, we were escorted to "Room 202" or Table 2. The theme was a hotel murder mystery dinner and it was entirely planned by the junior officers. Their skits were quite entertaining! We ate a surprisingly good meal and began to solve this crazy mystery. It helped that the people at my table were all of my friends and were cracking jokes the whole night. Even though we didn't win the grand prize, we did correctly guess the murderer, or "the other woman". The banquet was a success and now I can finally say.... NHS is officially over! No more signing up for hours online, no more family hours, no more senior hours, no more pointless Monday meetings, NO MORE NHS! We did have a party in Room 202, but what happened in Room 202 tonight stays in Room 202...

Week 4: Every Heart.

Tonight was the last HOT hangout of the year! We all ate dinner at 9ers Grill and then headed to the Angel's last performance of Angelica. It was incredible! The Angel's dance team continues to amaze me every year with how many talented girls we have at Austin High School. The first song "Every Heart" brought tears to my eyes, touched my heart, and was by far one of my favorite dances of the night. The show was filled with lyrical, hip-hop, modern, and military dances. They had class dances and I loved watching my senior guys get down with all of my senior gals! The Justin Bieber Music Mix was classic and the "Goodbye" song made me cry like a little baby. They had a few interesting comedy skits... to say the least. I was amazed by each and every girl out on that stage. All of their hard work and dedication throughout this past year paid off. Their smiles radiated throughout the auditorium and every audience member was in awe of their talent. A few of the Angel's from the class of 2010 came to support, along with tons of parents, friends, and family. Angelica 2011 = AMAZING!

Week 4: The Storm

On May 12, 2011, it finally rained in Sugar Land! We have been in a drought since January, and we were desperate for this storm. It's interesting because the scriptures talk a lot about rain and the fullness of storms. Jesus claims there are two types of people; those who build their home on sand (someone who chooses to reject his teachings) and those who build their home on rock (someone who chooses to build their life on Jesus' teaching). They used the metaphor of a storm to demonstrate that those whose house is built on rock will stand. Jesus says, "When the rains come." It's not like they might come, they do come. This past semester has been filled with a handful of incredible memories, but it certainly didn’t lack its fair share of storms. It rained quite a bit, metaphorically speaking. When the physical rain finally came to Texas on Thursday, I knew the storms in my life were finally coming to an end. All of the intense rain symbolized everything regrettable from this past semester washing away. This morning I woke up, and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day! The storms were gone and the sun was radiating throughout the sky. I have gained incredible strength through different trials and I have learned so much about myself. When I was soaking wet, the creator of the universe wrapped his eternal love around me and whispered…
“We’re gonna make it.”