The kids both had some great activities this school year starting in Fall 2025.
Johanna participated in her first official junior high sport - Basketball at Washington. The team was so large this year they had to split into two teams (Blue and White) with an A squad and B squad for each. Johanna was on the A squad but enjoyed subbing in for the B squad. In her first game, she drove the ball down the court and straight to the hoop for 2 points! Their team didn't have any wins but they made great improvements and had a very exciting and close final game. Johanna was one of the taller players, jumped at tip off and played the 5 position which was a new challenge for her.
Walter tried out a new sport this fall - eSports. He especially enjoyed playing any Marvel Lego games. He pretty much did his own thing during the Saturday open sessions and watched some others players, but on the last day he coordinated a group session with all kids playing the same game together. Walter discovered the Mario Smash Brothers game after playing down the street with a neighbor. He collected his money, got a contribution from Johanna, and purchased it himself to play at home.
In 5th Grade, Walter had the opportunity to volunteer for Bryant patrol and has enjoyed being a crossing guard.
Walter's favorite activities, however, are always related to animals so we are always looking for activities from Dubuque County Conversation. This fall was a night hike with Dad.
Johanna's other big activity this fall and winter was a new one for her - the Washington Robotics Team! The FTC competition objective this year was to gather and shoot balls to collect them in specified color order. She focused on outreach using her fantastic art skills but enjoyed opportunities to work on robot mechanics too. The team worked at Culvers to raise money (Walter was very jealous) and participated in outreach at the river museum and a local nursing home. It was practically a family affair with the extended family attending the first competition to watch both Jay and Johanna participate. Ann gave Johanna tips for the final presentation. Drew and Ben stopped by a practice to deliver parts and provide insight. The Dubuque teams lucked out and got to take a fancy Windstar bus together to the first competition in the Quad Cities (instead of the typical yellow school bus). Johanna's team made huge strides for the first competition where they were only a push bot to their last competition with a high score of 76 points. We were all excited to see Jay's team qualify for State and go on to achieve 4th place overall in the league.
Johanna is still in Choir too! We enjoyed her winter concert in December.
The school activity Walter is most passionate about is Starbarks - the student run mini coffee shop at Bryant. We are so proud that this year, the teacher asked Walter to help run the shop and is dubbed Assistant Manager. He was involved in interviewing other students to participate and teaching them what to do, and even got to speak during morning announcements. Walter is proud of his special permissions to open the shop for special requests - something only he is allowed to do as Assistant Manager. We enjoy seeing Walter in action when the shop is open during parent-teacher conferences.
