Hey, guys. It’s Silas and it’s November… so, of course it’s time for the Table Rock guys to grow facial hair. We don’t participate in “Movember” because we think their rules are dumb (they allow mustaches only), but I guess beards are a fall tradition here. Most of us have already skipped shaving for a few weeks so now there are some impressive beards. Dante, David, Ben, Keon, Cal, Damien and Raef in particular are looking like “mountain men.” Some of the rest of us are less hirsute but we’re giving it our best shot. So I was thinking about facial hair and thought some pics of dudes with beards would be fun. There are several types here and I hope you like the variety. Love ‘ya. Silas (and Dante).

Last night’s Halloween party was a huge success. We started off with a two-tractor and trailer hayride in the Ozark hills. I took my guitar… and one of the other teachers took his. We sang songs like “Monster Mash,” “Six little ghosts” and “Flyin’ purple people eater” and the kids loved it. We ended the hayride at “Hawks Nest” where we met up with the parents and the rest of the teachers. We were pleased (and a little surprised) that every kid had at least one parent there – and most had both.
Since the guys have all been growing beards, our boys wanted beards as part of their costumes. Alex was a champ and made beards and/or mustaches for them. Of course, Bella and Alyssa thought that was a bummer, so Alex made beards for them too. They were the cutest bearded ladies ever!
It was good to spend time and get better acquainted with the parents. They’re a good group and seem to genuinely appreciate the job we’re doing with their kids. They were all totally blown away by Hawks nest.
The best thing that happened to me was when one of the parents (a cute guy named Caleb) introduced himself and told me I’m his son Isaiah’s favorite teacher. He said Isaiah’s stuttering had been a huge problem in his former (public) school and he had been bullied there because of it. He said Isaiah would cry – or fake a stomach ache – or once even hid under his bed to avoid going to school. He says now that he’s in our school, Isaiah is up early every morning and excited about going to school and seeing his best buddies – Dub, Chance and Matty. I told Caleb I’d noticed Isaiah doesn’t stutter at all when he sings and we’ll continue working with him on it. It’s gratifying to know you’re making a difference.
We had a short day at school today because we knew the kids (and teachers) would be tired after a long night of Halloween revelry. The party was a lot of work but definitely worth it. I’m sure it’ll become an annual thing 🙂