Minneapolis Marathon 3:59:31!

It wasn't pretty, but the goal was achieved. My first sub-four hour marathon is now in the books! Didn't know if I was going to make it there for a while, but thankfully I pulled it together enough to sneak under 4 hours (with 29 seconds to spare!) A special thanks to Tim (3:50 Pacer) & Sam (4:00 Pacer). I really don't think I could have done it without them. Also, thanks to the 3:50 group. Michelle, John, John, Scott, and all the others whose names I've forgot. It was great to run with you, and I hope you all achieved your goals of 3:50 or whatever you may have been shooting for. Team Ortho put on a great marathon and I'm thinking it will be around for a while. Finally, thanks to my wonderful family. Mom & Rich, I'm looking forward to your book about How to Follow a Marathoner (this is not true, but should be!). Dad & Jan, thanks for figuring out where to go after I gave you terrible instructions on where to go. Jon, thanks for flying in from Indy. Was great to see you and it really helped me stay strong. Will be looking forward to see you run the Twin Cities 2009 Marathon this year. Todd, I didn't see you, but I'm sure you were there. Thanks for always supporting me in my running adventures. Great to have a big brother like yourself. My incredible wife Jessica, thanks for putting up with all my training and I promise it will be a while before I run another one. You are my rock, and I couldn't have done it without you. I can't wait until we run our first 5K together.  Jane, thanks for coming out and supporting your son-in-law. I look forward to the next race we run together. Still working on finding a good 10K to run in August (maybe anyone who has read this mini-novel can help point me out in the right direction). I could probably go on and on here, but I'm already getting a bit long. Thanks to all who I didn't mention here that supported me with my marathon running. 

Minneapolis Marathon

It's finally here!  The first annual Minneapolis Marathon will start @ 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. My goal will be to finish under four hours. I'll post my time and maybe even some pictures early next week.  Let's hope it doesn't rain!

Scrabble Club

Summer is finally here! Now what? Well, if you are looking for things to do, there has been some interest in continuing the Scrabble Club @ the Ugly Mugg. Please vote on which day works best for you on the poll to the left by Sunday night at 9:00 PM. On Monday morning, I'll post the date and time of the first meeting of the Scrabble club. Let your parents know that they are more than welcome to come and play, but also let them know they could drop you off and I'll watch you for the time you are playing Scrabble. The time would be from 10:00-11:00. It will be interesting to see what day is voted. Now, quite playing on the computer and go out and enjoy the summer!

End of the Year Letter

May 28, 2009

Dear students of C-10,

“Be quiet! Here he comes!” was what I could barely hear from a few busy body students scurrying to their seats behind the closed door of C-10 one day after lunch. It was no secret that as I walked into a dead quiet room and strolled by the Smartboard towards my chair, that the students of C-10 were coming together once again to remind me of how perfect they could be. I played along trying to be the perfect teacher and I think we all enjoyed a few minutes of what the “ideal” classroom would look like according to the scripts in Hollywood. We all knew that this wouldn’t last a whole day, but we enjoyed the ‘moment’ for a few minutes before carrying on the agenda set forth for that day. It’s funny to think back and reflect on what types of memories one keeps close to their heart as they travel through life, but the before mentioned few minutes in time is something I’ll always remember about the class of C-10 fifth graders during the 2008-2009 school year. There are countless other memories that come to mind when reflecting back over the year and I’ll do my best to cover some of them in some poetry as this class seems to have a special talent when it comes to creating poems. So, here’s my first ever try at a “special memory poem” entitled________ (don’t have a name for it yet, maybe you could help me). Enjoy!

(unknown title as of now)

We started the school year early,
And we didn’t get a Spring Break,
But we learned lots about math and reading,
So it’s knowledge with us we’ll take.

Our teacher was very driven,
To keep us reading and writing,
We responded by devouring books,
Some even read by natural lighting.

Then there were games of Scrabble,
Creating words with various points,
An after school club at old the Ugly Mugg,
One of our favorite local food joints.

And please don’t forget all the smiles,
Or getting sidetracked on a lesson,
The wonderful poets and artists,
To guide them was such a blessin’.

Bouncing balls and bouncing kids,
Was something that was seen,
Kids recycling and using less,
Being smart and being ‘Green’.

Our field trip to Camp Pepin was great,
Our memory books supported that fact,
The end of the year is now here,
Let’s get this summer on track.

Now the time has arrived to part ways,
And I know for me that’s a bummer,
But to be optimistic and not so sad,
At least there’s the start of the summer.

Remember to make time for reading,
And you may also might want to write,
In the morning, at night or whenever,
So in 6th grade you’ll shine nice and bright.

I know summers are sacred to students and teachers alike, but to improve your reading and writing skills, I suggest doing a little each day. “What! Read and Write EVERYDAY during the SUMMER? Mr. F, Are you crazy?!”. Not that I know of, but I’ve been called crazy before (and probably even worse), but I guarantee that if you read and write EVERYDAY over the summer, your skills in those areas will improve. Now, to do this you will have to have a journal or writer’s notebook (check) and something to read (a book, magazine, newspaper, dictionary, articles on the W.W.W., whatever). I’d advise to select a time where you can do this each day. 15 minutes of writing and at least 30 minutes of reading. It’s only 45 minutes a day and gives you something to do in the summer (I know that some of you complain to your parents about being bored!). You have strategies on how to select what to write, use them to the best of your abilities. If you need help, contact me through the blog and I’ll see if I can help. Not only will your parents will be very impressed and you might actually learn something or enjoy a great book.
To wrap things up, I just want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for being a great class. I know I’m not the easiest teacher to deal with, and you’ve done a great job putting up with me for a whole year. The way this class worked as a community was really special and I’m glad I was a part of it. If you are interest in playing Scrabble or blogging, make sure to visit the classroom blog as I will be working on it over the summer. Finally, I’ve never been one who enjoys “good-byes”. True, I’m happy for all of you for being ready for 6th grade, but that means you won’t be here at Akin Road next year. And with that I'll sign off.


Sincerely yours,

Mr. Troy M. Feustel

Camp Pepin

I hope this blog post finds you caught up on sleep from the past few days and ready to create a wonderful Camp Pepin memory book. Remember to get your photos printed quick as your memory books are due Thursday, May 21 at 3:30 PM. We will go over the form for the different pages in this book on Monday & Tuesday and will be spending an hour or two each day this week. Bring your scrap booking supplies if you have them! We'll do some brainstorming at the beginning of the week to help job your memories, but if you want to share some via the blog, I'm sure the readers would love to read them.  As always, thanks in advance to those who post!