Sunday, December 21, 2014

Zane Day 2014

9:41 PM

to Read (

Words)

On Friday, Zane McIntyre (formerly Gothberg) of the UND men's hockey team visited our classroom as a Mystery Reader and speaker. He read his favorite book, Z is for Zamboni, talked about all of his hockey equipment and hockey routines, and most notably, the importance of doing well in school and setting big goals and dreams. Zane really stressed to my students the importance of working hard in school to get good grades. In order to play sports, kids need to get good grades and have a strong work ethic in school. He also told my students that once hockey is done in his life, he is going to have to do something else. This is why Zane is still working really hard in college. School always comes before hockey for him.

I cannot say enough good things about Zane. He is the epitome of a role model for my students. He has this comfortableness around children that is hard to describe. As I watched him move from table to table signing everything from a Frozen DVD to a UND hockey jersey, I couldn't help but notice the way the kids looked at him, and the way he looked back at every child. He personally connected with every single student and made them feel special. He has a crazy amount of patience, and answered every single question that was thrown at him with ease. I am so very proud to call him my friend. He is a genuine, stand up guy.

This is the fifth year that Zane has teamed up with me to create this powerful experience for my second graders. I think this relationship we have formed over the years is just really special! After doing the math, he has already impacted over 125 students during our time together. My new district is famous for favoring a rival team of UND, which I thought could be tricky. But, Zane had these 22 kids loving him and UND the second he walked in our classroom. Zane Day was also special this year because Beth Hoole from KVLY came to record the whole day! The news story will be airing this week sometime. I will let you all know when to watch as soon as I know. Beth was also awesome with the kids! They just loved her!

I had over 120 pictures on my phone from Zane Day. Here are some of the best! Enjoy!