I have been pretty remiss in my posting lately. It's not that I don't think I have readers--I have heard from quite a few parent readers about posts I've made throughout the summer, and even a former student or two. It's not that I haven't really had anything to post, but last week I was at karate camp the whole time, for one thing.
While I won't bore you with the full stories of power outages, water main breaks, and a stormy night of lightning that forced the whole group to spend the night in one giant room, I do have to brag on a few 5-1 students.
First off, let me tell you that (Sensei) Colin Kane (5-1/'03-'04) was a head counselor in Carmel and Noblesville's cabin, and he is one of the best teachers of karate that I've ever had the pleasure to watch. I've told him countless times that he is a natural teacher, and that if he ever wanted to go into the profession, he has my complete and total blessing and support. I don't think that's where he's headed for now, though, and at least for the time being, Adamson's Karate is more than blessed to have him as one of their head instructors. Of course he helped me lead a song for the campfire, and I couldn't be more proud to call him one of my own in some small way.
Next, we have Jonah Simone (5-1/'08-'09). One thing that makes this black belt so awesome is that he doesn't even do karate classes anymore. He is involved in the CHS marching band and crew for the theatrical productions there. Yet, for the last several summers, Jonah has continued to return to Adamson's Karate summer camp as a counselor, and this year he took on the leadership role in his cabin even more than in the past. He is so good with his campers. I love watching his take care of them in a way that makes it hard to think of him as the fourth grader I first met all those years ago, and the fifth grader I taught in class.
Then I have Mr. Colin Freeman (5-1/'12-'13), who is now a purple belt at Adamson's. I didn't get the chance to work with Colin directly this summer, but I did see him having a lot of fun in the Carmel and Noblesville cabin. I can't wait to see him become a junior counselor in the next couple years. I'm proud of the commitment he has made to acquire his black belt.
Lastly, Miss Emma Mallon (5-1/'13-'14) spent her first year as a junior instructor this year. She was assigned (by someone's request, cough cough) to be my assistant during the first class, but seeing as how we only had one student sign up for that class, we were sent to help teach archery. I spent the first day working with the little kids, but then the second day, Emma requested taking them on. I was more than happy to relinquish the duty to her so that I could take the next group up. Let's just say there's a reason I don't teach kindergarten. Anyway, I managed to get this image of her teaching them in a way that was so much better than what I'm sure I did the day before...
Those kids really were as cute as they look, but man, they have the aggregate attention span of a ring-tailed lemur.
I should mention that at the big dance on Thursday night of karate camp, when they started playing Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again," Emma and I pointed at each other and started singing along. Good ear, Emma!
Anyway, I was so proud of all four of those kids, and even more that I still see around the dojo. Last week I had the pleasure of getting to witness it.
While I won't bore you with the full stories of power outages, water main breaks, and a stormy night of lightning that forced the whole group to spend the night in one giant room, I do have to brag on a few 5-1 students.
First off, let me tell you that (Sensei) Colin Kane (5-1/'03-'04) was a head counselor in Carmel and Noblesville's cabin, and he is one of the best teachers of karate that I've ever had the pleasure to watch. I've told him countless times that he is a natural teacher, and that if he ever wanted to go into the profession, he has my complete and total blessing and support. I don't think that's where he's headed for now, though, and at least for the time being, Adamson's Karate is more than blessed to have him as one of their head instructors. Of course he helped me lead a song for the campfire, and I couldn't be more proud to call him one of my own in some small way.
Next, we have Jonah Simone (5-1/'08-'09). One thing that makes this black belt so awesome is that he doesn't even do karate classes anymore. He is involved in the CHS marching band and crew for the theatrical productions there. Yet, for the last several summers, Jonah has continued to return to Adamson's Karate summer camp as a counselor, and this year he took on the leadership role in his cabin even more than in the past. He is so good with his campers. I love watching his take care of them in a way that makes it hard to think of him as the fourth grader I first met all those years ago, and the fifth grader I taught in class.
Then I have Mr. Colin Freeman (5-1/'12-'13), who is now a purple belt at Adamson's. I didn't get the chance to work with Colin directly this summer, but I did see him having a lot of fun in the Carmel and Noblesville cabin. I can't wait to see him become a junior counselor in the next couple years. I'm proud of the commitment he has made to acquire his black belt.
Lastly, Miss Emma Mallon (5-1/'13-'14) spent her first year as a junior instructor this year. She was assigned (by someone's request, cough cough) to be my assistant during the first class, but seeing as how we only had one student sign up for that class, we were sent to help teach archery. I spent the first day working with the little kids, but then the second day, Emma requested taking them on. I was more than happy to relinquish the duty to her so that I could take the next group up. Let's just say there's a reason I don't teach kindergarten. Anyway, I managed to get this image of her teaching them in a way that was so much better than what I'm sure I did the day before...
Those kids really were as cute as they look, but man, they have the aggregate attention span of a ring-tailed lemur.
I should mention that at the big dance on Thursday night of karate camp, when they started playing Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again," Emma and I pointed at each other and started singing along. Good ear, Emma!
Anyway, I was so proud of all four of those kids, and even more that I still see around the dojo. Last week I had the pleasure of getting to witness it.
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