TWO CHOICES

5C - this is the story that I read to you the other day. Maybe you could share it with your family. I'm sure they would appreciate it too.

TWO CHOICES

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats its least fortunate amongst them.

WHY DO PEOPLE EXPLORE?

TERM THREE - YIPPEE!!

We're back for Term 3 and all geared up to work hard!

Look at the picture...does it move?

Your spelling words for this week are:

build built

bring brought

seek sought

buy bought

think thought

mean meant

kneel knelt

sleep slept

speed sped

catch caught

teach taught

grind ground

I have already been asked if you will be changing desks this week...the answer is YES. We will aim to move by Friday.

:) Mrs C

YES, HOLIDAYS ARE FUN!

I do hope you are all enjoying your holidays. Have you been watching the action at Wimbledon or keeping up with the World Cup in South Africa? I guess it wouldn't be so bad that Australia lost to Germany if they go on to win the whole competition. I am looking forward to returning to school and having a look at the footage Mrs P took of your performance at the final assembly. Everyone I have spoken to said it looked fantastic which certainly made me very happy! :)

THANK YOU so much for the beautiful bunch of flowers and the card that I received just after coming home from hospital. That was very kind and much appreciated.

I have included a couple of sites (at the side) you may want to have a look at....but only if you feel like THINKING!!!!!

Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

:) Mrs C

I'M BACK!!

I have finally finished writing reports...they'll be going home next week. So here we go again!

Can you find answers to these questions about the upcoming World Cup?

Which two countries will compete in the first game of the Cup?

Can you name at least six of Australia's players?

Can you name 4 of the host cities?

Who is Australia's main goal keeper?

Which teams make up Group D?

Which country won the last World Cup and where was it held?

How many of the competing countries come from Europe? How many from South America?

Here are some puzzles for you to solve:

How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn't bounce off anything? There is nothing attached to it and no-one else catches or throws it back to you.

Your last good ping-pong ball fell down a narrow metal pipe embedded in concrete 30cm deep. How can you get it out undamaged, if all the tools you have are your tabletennis bat, your shoe laces and your plasic water bottle, which does not fit into the pipe?

Think! Think! Think!

:) Mrs C

YIKES...I'M SORRY!!

Yes, Billy, you are meant to keep me on my toes so I keep up posts on our blog but I'm afraid that over the next two weeks I'm not going to be able to do this. Why? Because I'm really busy each night writing your reports and don't really have any spare time to do fun things like jazzing up our blog. So, sorry, just wait till the week after next and I'll really get stuck into it again.

By the way, the picture is of me!!!

:) Mrs C

THIS WEEK IS EDUCATION WEEK!

This week you will commence the presentation of your Natural Disasters projects. I'm looking forward to seeing your work.

It's Education Week this week and the school will celebrate it with an Open Evening on Wednesday. This is when we will show our movie '5C's Advertisements' to your parents...and won't they be impressed. I think it will probably go on to be shown at next year's Academy Awards...and the cinematography...what can I say!! We even know when the ACTION will occur!! Let your parents know that we will start showing our movie in our classroom at exactly 7:30pm. Be there!!

Our spelling words this week are:

loop ooze snooze stool gloom

groom broom choose foolish bathroom

truly emus soup group troupe

mule

Our challenge words are:

taut sought secretary excellence

absence licence Mediterranean

Have a great week!

:) Mrs C