7th Grade

 I will get to all the bigger happenings with Kade in my next post, but I don't want to neglect a little post about Erik, who just completed 7th grade with flying colors. Let's be real, 7th grade is never an easy year for anyone. It was hard for me when I was that age, and it was hard for each of my kids, too, except for Erik. (I actually think 6th grade was harder for Austin than 7th, mostly because half of that year was remote learning, which wasn't great for him.) 

I mentioned in a previous post that Erik was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society, which allowed him many opportunities for service with his schoolmates, like tying quilts for hospitals, helping with various fundraisers at the school, and volunteering at elementary schools in the area with some of the after-school programs. The members of NJHS were awarded with a 4-hour activity at Urban Air, which included rock walls, ziplines, trampolines, basketball, and other various active games, including virtual games. 

I also mentioned his involvement in Religious Diversity Journeys. Remember I said their visit to the Hindu Temple was cancelled due to a snow day? Well, they were able to reschedule! So, they got to visit a Jewish Temple, a Christian Church, and a Hindu Temple. A bonus was their field trip to the Henry Ford Museum. RDJ was a wonderful opportunity for Erik. It gave him a deeper understanding of culture and religion, which was really good for my brilliantly minded 7th grader. 

I don't have any pics of his service at school or the RDJ field trips, but I do have one of his "Mental Math" award he received in his advanced math class. 

Erik also completed another successful year of playing the trombone in the school band. He even went so far as attempting to play some of his tunes on the piano, which he did decently well at, though I don't think he'll ever want to take piano lessons. 

He's in the back, with a nice big smile!

Menchies after the concert!

He got to join the track team for the first time. Austin gave him some good tips, and he was able to get a PR of under 6 minutes on the mile in the district meet!

He's the smaller one in gray.

His soccer teammate attends a different middle school.

And one of his best friends from church. This is when Erik got his mile PR. 

We had Jason's parents and cousin with us for that final meet!

Finally, he completed his full year on the Plymouth Reign Soccer team. It was a rough fall and winter season. They managed some wins at their first tournament in early spring,  but weren't so lucky in the Canton Cup. Those teams they played were big and tough! I also learned that some of them weren't even on our level; they were two levels above, so I don't know why we had to play them. They pulled off an excellent win in their last game of the spring season and looked pretty good during some of the previous games, even without wins. Erik always plays his heart out. He's a dedicated player who's not afraid to get in there to win the ball. He was captain of the team, which we didn't even know until the season was over! He has always been encouraging his teammates and reminding them of where to be, but he actually had some authority! We had all gotten our hopes up that at the yearly try-outs he would be moved up a level (rumors were spreading that he waas for sure going to move up along with his defensive partner), however, no one from our team moved up except for a player that we were suprised by and one we weren't surprised by. We've decided that since pretty much the whole team is together again, they're going to be much better because they already played a whole year together (minus two summer months). They learned so much, and they have a new coach who will challenge them in different ways. The coach from the level above did talk with Erik and told him she is still watching his progress and will probably call on him to sub in for their team when they need it. I think he's pretty happy about that, and he's definitely happy to be out of school! For someone who does well in school and has lots of friends, he sure is excited when it's over!

Going for a header at try-outs.

After the last game.