I started fourth grade in August 1997. Since we moved during third grade, I was now back at the elementary school I had attended for kindergarten and first grade. And this school was also experimenting with two teachers: having one teach reading and writing while the other taught social studies/science/math. I still didn't like this system.
- The summer before I started fourth grade, my family went on our first out-of-state trip. We drove up to Toledo, Ohio, where my dad was from for two weeks. It was exciting, although all we really did was catch up with my dad's old friends. One of his friends had built a lake behind his property and had a paddle boat so my brother and I had a blast on that. I remember a lot of boring visits to family/friends. My parents getting in awful, awful fights. And spending our last night sleeping in a trailer. Obviously, not a fun trip.
- Before school started, I had joined a cheerleading squad. I have no idea why my mom signed my brother and me up but it quickly became an awful decision. I ended up making the junior-varsity squad and cheered for a horrible football team. I think they won one game the entire season. But I was on a super competitive team with crazy coaches who wanted every girl to be at every practice, no exceptions. While cheering for our team, we also were preparing for two competitions. There was so much pressure put on us but we ended up placing third in each competition. I loved cheerleading but hated the five-days-a-week practices and having to wake up early every Saturday to cheer at a game. I was so happy when it ended!
- We had to complete major projects every month. It was supposed to prepare us for middle school but I never had to do projects with this magnitude until college. Seriously. For the most part, my mom did a majority of the work for me and I just added little things here and there. One month, we had to do a project on a specific state. We had a whole laundry list of information to complete. I picked Ohio, since it was my dad's home state. It was one of the projects I actually worked on myself (with the help of my mom). And it actually ended up being the best project in both classes. Go, me!
- In fourth grade, I ended up with two new best friends: Alicia and Tabby. Alicia was a cool chick who ate Lunchables everyday for lunch. I could count on one hand the number of times I ate a Lunchable in a year. So I was a little jealous of this fact. Tabby was a girl who lived in my neighborhood and we became best friends and worst enemies. I would sleep over at her apartment a lot, although she was super bossy and ultra-competitive. But she was Cool & Popular so I put up with it.
- We had student teachers this year. One was a very pretty lady with curly blonde hair. I don't remember much about her, though. The other was a super studly guy with dark brown hair. (For some reason, I picture Freddie Prinze, Jr. when I think of him.) Basically, all the girls fell in love with him. I remember him a lot better than my lady intern. I also remember him being our waiter at Olive Garden one time and wondering why he wasn't teaching. (This was in the summer.) I thought he had given up on the profession and felt sad for him.
- Every week, our teachers would name a "TerrifiKid of the Week." Many students got this award a few times a year. When I was finally named the TKOTW, I was so excited! I went to the ceremony, where I first learned my last name was German. And I got a certificate, pencil, and a bag of popcorn which was probably gross but ten-year-old Stephany loved it. The sad part is, I ended up leaving the popcorn in my desk and when I got into my mom's car, I begged her to let me go back and get it but she refused. (Aww, Mom!)
- Everyday after lunch, both classes would come back to the room and my afternoon teacher would read us a chapter from a book. The rooms were connected by a sliding panel, which we usually opened when we changed rooms. And my teacher was obsessed (I mean, obsessed) with Roald Dahl. I swear we read every single one of his books that year. I wasn't a big fan, preferring The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High to his books. (My taste in books still run pretty cheesy and easy to read.)
- During fourth grade, I started experiencing major problems with my eyesight. It had never bothered me before up until this year. My mom finally made me an appointment to see an eye doctor where it was confirmed that I would need glasses. I was excited, though. Going from barely-being-able-to-see-the-board-from-the-front-row to crystal clear images is good news for everyone! Plus, I was excited about my glasses! Oh, I also started wearing deodorant this year. 'Nuff said.
- Towards the end of fourth grade, my family was evicted from our apartment and we moved from a three-bedroom apartment to a three-bedroom mobile home. It was located in a mobile home park. I want to stress the fact that it was not a trailer park. The mobile home was quite nice and fairly large. I wasn't excited about moving though, but my parents pulled a fast one and kept my brother and me at our old school. Yay!
- Sometime in fourth grade, my mom, brother, and I spent a week at a hotel. We were given a timeshare and had to use it so even though we could only use it at night (my mom wasn't able to get off work that week) it was still very cool. I remember swimming in the pool after school and the adventures with our car. Basically, it was a new car that looked cool but stalled all. the. time. It seriously took us 15 minutes just to pull out of a parking spot because it stalled so much! (At the time, my brother and I found this hysterical. Mom - not so much.) For some reason, my dad didn't come with us.
