Parish schools celebrate final day

Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 27, 2006

VIDALIA &8212; Theme parks, boat rides, summer camps, swimming, teacher and classroom changes are just some of the things students and teachers in Concordia Parish&8217;s Upper and Lower elementary schools are looking forward to in the summer and next school year.

Thursday was their last day, and children were looking forward to trips with the family, summer camps and just lazing about this summer.

Fourth grader Dalvin Brown, 10, is ready to move on to bigger and better things.

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&8220;I&8217;m probably just going to play my video games like NBA 2K 6, but I&8217;m ready to get through with fifth- and sixth-grade and go on to high school,&8221; Dalvin said.

Fifth-grader Ashley Williams, 11, is going to spend the summer at 4-H camp then visit her aunt in North Carolina.

She, too, is looking forward next year.

&8220;I can&8217;t wait for sixth grade because I&8217;m going to be able to do things like make pottery and sing in choir,&8221; Williams said.

Joshua Boone, 11, a fifth-grader at Vidalia Upper, has lots to do with his family this summer.

&8220;My parents are taking me to Six Flags then to Blue Bayou in Baton Rouge and then we&8217;re going on our party barge to an island in the middle of

Mississippi River,&8221; Boone said. &8220;Next year, if my grades are all As, I get $5 from my mom and dad each.&8221;

Third-grader, Gracyn Nelson, 9, is looking forward to riding her horse, Comanche, and riding her grandfather&8217;s four-wheeler.

Most of all she&8217;s looking forward to getting to a new teacher.

&8220;I can&8217;t wait to have Mrs. Fitt as a new teacher next year because she makes class really fun,&8221; Nelson said.

Fourth-grade teacher Tina Fitt is looking forward to the three Rs: resting, relaxing and recuperating.

&8220;This is my first year off from teaching summer school, excluding the year I had my child, since I started teaching,&8221; Fitt said. &8220;I&8217;m looking forward to spending some time with her this summer taking her to swimming lessons and this last year we made a pact to learn how to sew together. So I hope there is someone teaching a class somewhere this summer.&8221;

At Vidalia Lower, 6-year-old Alex Walters is looking forward to summer for three reasons.

&8220;I&8217;m going swimming in my pool at home, my daddy&8217;s taking me to North Carolina to the beach and I&8217;m making honor roll again this year so I can&8217;t wait to get my report card,&8221; Walters said.

Walters&8217; teacher, Amanda Wilson, 24, is ready for some time off as well.

&8220;My husband and I are taking a vacation at some point, but we haven&8217;t decided yet,&8221; Wilson said. &8220;We also just bought a new house, and I&8217;m looking forward to working on it some this summer,&8221; Wilson said.

Taylour Morales, 7, is ready to head to Texas and the

Celebration Station theme park, visit her uncle in Baton Rouge and looking forward to next year when she&8217;ll take line-dancing lessons in P.E. class.

Second-grade teacher Lori Beth Edwards is teaching some of her students swimming lessons

for the summer and traveling up to Tennessee to see her longtime friend Katie Spence.

&8220;I can&8217;t wait to see her, it&8217;s been a long time, but I will miss my kids here at school,&8221; Edwards said. &8220;Each class has their own personality, and I&8217;ll miss this one. It was sometimes tough to teach all 26 kids, but it was well worth it.&8221;