Smart boy

So proud of this guy. He's been in the country for less than two years, and he's only been speaking English for less than a year. This was his first year in a regular high school (as opposed to the newcomer high school he attended last year), and we warned him it would be much, much harder this year.

I stand corrected.

He survived the year with all A's and B's, achieved the highest rating of English in all areas (Advanced High) on his TELPAS exam (a yearly rating on how a student is doing in listening, speaking, reading, and writing--the teacher rates all areas except for reading), and he passed all three of his STAAR tests--Algebra, Biology, and English 1 (three out of five state tests that he has to pass to graduate).

He played JV football for his school (and decided not to continue it next year), he played JV soccer and was voted Defensive MVP by his teammates, and he got accepted into the soccer athletics class for next school year (which means he might play Varsity next year).

He sure is a great kid and just as smart as he tried to tell me when he first came home. A year ago, I wrote about waiting for the moment that the reality of his adoption would hit me. Now, a certain phrase goes through my head every morning when I drop him off at school, every time I take him to a church event, every time I watch him play soccer . . . it is a privilege. It is such a privilege to be his mom.