I cannot believe we are down to 30 days! Crazy. Yesterday was a great day in 211. The practice speeches went splendidly. As I have shared numerous times, kids in their moments is what I live for, and yesterday provided lots of mini-moments. Kids never cease to amaze me on so many levels. Favorite moment yesterday: Dylan, one of my quiet, brilliant lights finally got up to do his practice round. He was certainly facing fear, and past experiences reminded all of us that his speaking in front of his peers was a particularly tough task for him. But he got to the podium, started…then, stopped. I was sure he was going to walk away, but he stayed, compelled by a chorus of “You got this.” He made it through the rest of his speech, actually getting more comfortable as he went, even making decent eye contact. Immediately, afterwards, Tate’s hand shot up and she shared, “Dylan, you always say you’re nervous, but you never look it.” Dylan was surprised by this. And I chimed in sharing that we often feel more nervous than we look. I was proud of Dylan yesterday. But I was equally proud of the 29 supportive peers around him. Man, I love kids. Next week, Dylan and others will no doubt struggle to face an audience as they deliver their real speeches, but I want to believe that our intentional practice will make the struggle a little less daunting. Kids. Moments. Doesn’t get any better.

Happy Friday, all.