Primary Paws

My Old Kentucky Home

Here in KY, the biggest week of the year is about to begin!

The Kentucky Derby is next Saturday, May 2. Growing up in Versailles, KY, I have always been a horse nut! I was the little girl who begged for a horse but knew it would never happen. I would get Breyer model horses for every special occasion and save up every penny to buy ANYTHING horse related. I also told my mom that I didn't care if I ever got a boyfriend-- all I wanted was a horse. When KY Derby time came up each year, I cut out all the horse pics from the newspaper and made albums of them all.

Now-it is fun to share my love of horses with my 1st graders. It never fails that every year, I have a girl in my classroom who loves them just as much as I do and we can relate so well.

Last year at this time, I was counting my blessings and thanking God for saving my life. I had been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in October of 2013 but had it removed with a hysterectomy and then on to rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. With the help of my family, friends, and amazing school, I was able to keep teaching and living life! I was nominated to "walk" the track at the Ky Oaks race (equivalent to the KY Derby for filly or girl horses the day before the Derby) with other survivors. Now, the theme for the Kentucky Oaks is to always wear pink in honor of female cancer survivors. I'll be going again this year and I cannot wait! Here are some pictures from last year. I'm right in the front with some of my beautiful supportive friends.

In my classroom, we'll be having fun with the Kentucky Derby by reading a fun Derby fact page, webbing the facts, and using "voice" to write as if we were a horse about to run in the KY Derby. It's one of my FREEBIES, so get it, use it in your classroom, and let me know how it went!