It was sheer optimism that led me to solicit donations this year, and you guys didn't let me down. My original goal of $150 was shattered by your generosity, and I am truly grateful. I will sweat on your behalf.

I've raised my goal to $250, and my students are even donating their pop machine change. If anyone would like to contribute (anything you can-- it adds up!), you can still donate here:

Support me in the Run for the Cure!

So I've just finished selecting my volleyball team for the season. They seem like a great bunch of kids, and if our early games are any indication, we should have an amazing season. In particular, at a tournament over the weekend, they came back from a 24-10 deficit to win 27-25 against one of the strongest teams in our league. That included 15 straight points to go up 25-24 at one point.

Unfortunately, during the "pressure serving" drill I use to help them improve their serving consistency, their answers to questions were no better than those of last year's team. My favourite exchange was to the question, "What's the capital of Quebec?"

The answer? "Whitehorn." Whitehorn is an area of town near our school.
Perhaps the student was thinking "Whitehorse?" But it got better. After executing a successful serve (which was the point), the kid ran to retrieve his ball. On the way back, he literally slapped his forehead and said, "Ah crap! It's New Brunswick!"

Mmm. Not so clever, but hey: 9 aces for him in the tournament.