No debate about it, Josie’s headed to Washington

Josie holds her medal on stage after winning first place at the National History Day competition in Columbia, Mo.

Josie is headed to Washington, D.C.!

Last Saturday, she took first place in the junior individual performance category at the statewide National History Day competition in Columbia, Mo. Her project is titled “Frontiers in History: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.”

The national competition will be held June 11-15.

“I’m glad I was able to be there with my friends,” Josie said. “It was an exhilirating experience, and I was very surprised when I won.”

Josie’s not alone — several of her classmates at STEAM Academy Middle School either won special awards, or placed high enough to advance to Washington.

Josh takes notes about an 1858 letter at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ill.

Josie has spent many hours researching, writing, editing, and performing her project. After advancing in her school and regional competitions, she traveled with her family to the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Ill., where she read first-person accounts of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and even handled a document from 1858 written by a Republican committee in Galesburg, Ill., in which they promised that “our champion [Lincoln] understands the ‘little dodger,’ [Douglas] and will no doubt pin him to the wall as he has heretofore.”

I drove Josie out to Columbia early on Saturday, and we stayed there until the evening. This was NHD’s first in-person competition in several years, and it was fun to see creative costumes and props as students crowded the halls waiting for their turns.

It was fun to walk the campus and the city. Besides seeing Josie compete and win, the next best part of the day was our visit to Cafe Poland. It’s a tiny place with authentic, homemade food that was even better than I hoped. I ate the bigos (stew with sauerkraut and meat), Josie had crepes, and we brought home some pierogies to share. One of my favorite all-time dining experiences.

The Very Big Christmas Show

Josie, Joseph, and Ludi dressed for the third act.

Editor’s note: This year, Ludi, Josie, and Joseph all participated in “Miss Kathey’s Academy,” and performed in “The Very Big Christmas Show” in December. All of them did awesome. Josie in particular had a memory she wanted to share:

I am in Miss Kathey’s Academy. I didn’t really expect it, but Miss Kathey said she wanted a small kid to sing a solo called “Happy Birthday, Jesus.” She wanted someone 8 or under.

Me and my friend both went to Pastor Bob to try out. He chose me to do the solo! After that, we practiced once a month every month until December.

I was super-scared at our first performance. Even the tape that held the microphone on to my cheek made me scared. But when I got out on stage and looked at the audience, I realized I couldn’t just chicken out. I said my lines to Santa, the music started, and I began to sing.

Very Big Christmas Show

Josie performs her solo, “Happy Birthday, Jesus.”

Strings attached

Josie with her guitar
Josie with her guitar

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson offers a program called “Strings Attached” which offers students guitar lessons and the chance to earn a guitar if they stick with the program.

A spot finally opened up for Josie this year and she has worked hard. Like her older sisters, Josie often doesn’t want to practice, but she has pushed through, and performed in her first concert.

Here’s a video of Josie in action:

Josie's guitar concert from Josh Renaud on Vimeo.

Pie in the face

Our kids attend AWANA at Grace Church. AWANA emphasizes memorizing Bible verses so that the kids can hide God’s word in their hearts.

One of their teachers, Mr. Rich, has a very unusual way to motivate the kids in the Sparks club to memorize verses.

He willingly lets the kids who complete the most book sections throw a pie in his face! He has done this for many years.

Our little Josie has long wanted to throw a pie in Mr. Rich’s face. So this year she worked hard — and she won!

And boy did she make the most of her opportunity!

See for yourself:

Josie Throws A Pie In Mr. Rich's Face from Josh Renaud on Vimeo.

Thank you, Mr. Rich, for being such a good sport.

Josie-isms

Here are a few fun Josie anecdotes I have collected so far this year:

New words

Josie writes “JTL” on her DoodlePad. Then she adds an “E” at the end.

“The ‘E’ is silent,” she explains.

Birds of a feather

Joseph: “There’s a firebird! Let’s shoot it! BOOM!”

Josie: “Look, there’s a smoke pigeon!”

The secret

Josie: “I’m gonna whisper something in your ear.”

A moment later she whispers: “‘B’ is for ‘beach.’ Don’t tell anyone!”

Practicing phonics

Josie: “M. Y. … My!”

“… Like, ‘My Prreeeecioooouussssssss!!'” (in her Gollum voice)

Must be the metal

Me: “I. Am. A. Robot.”

Josie: “Can you change your voice? I don’t like robots. I’m allergic to them.”