Iron Chef Cooks!

Today's winners of the Burger Challenge.

*and because Ryan wanted to be on the blog.

RUaDN: Stuck in the Classroom...Again

Greetings from M121 in the Ansin Building!

Today we caught up on our weekend content that was submitted to us and put out roughly 13 posts. I (Gabe) spent a great part of the day for one, working on the banner at the top of the page, which has made me very frustrated. The globe kept getting stuck on Africa for one, and it's also very tedious work editing a ".gif" file because it involves alterations to every single picture collaborated into the file. Now that I'm done with my little rant, I'll move on to semi-interesting things that went down today. Mostly everyone has at least one post for each of their assigned Winterims, so we're approaching the final goal of the Winterim!

We analyzed the blog and it's reports from "Google Analytics" which showed us some pretty cool facts about our website. I mean, it's pretty cool that we've even had someone look at our website from Australia isn't it?

We also read over every single article for typos and edited the tags to make sure that we looked as professional as possible.

Now, all that we're missing is the interactive hamster we had earlier on the front page...if you support the hamster, please say so in your comments.

The Art of Glass is Only as Beautiful as the Heart of the Artist

The Stained Glass Creations are coming together like true love. The group has achieved utmost concentration. They have been working diligently for a week already and are planning to continue this hard work until Friday of this week. At the end they will have their perfected glass art and will have learned new skills.

From Stained Glass

Student Post From Yellowstone

Submitted by Meredith on Saturday: We started off the day by delivering our handmade batch of brownies to our courageous leader MacNeil. Then we drove our lovely white bus to the Roosevelt Lodge. There we started our two and half mile hike up to Tower Falls. We hiked the snow-covered road and made sure not to step in the cross-country skiers trail. On our way up we encountered three bison, the most dangerous animal in Yellowstone. After being escorted past the bison by our extraordinarily daring and wise guide MacNeil, we came across fresh wolf tracks. The tracks continued up the path towards the waterfall. Then we arrived at the viewing terrace to see the waterfall. The waterfall had an aqua blue shield of ice with flowing water visible underneath. After gazing upon that we quickly made our journey back to the bus. Next we met with Janine Waller at the Yellowstone Association Institute. We had a discussion with her about global climate change and its effects on the ecosystem. Then we took pictures with MacNeil in front of the Roosevelt Arch, before we parted ways. Our last day at Yellowstone concluded with dinner and packing for Big Sky!

Here is a slide show of the pictures the students took.

HeadStart Interviews 1 & 2

Tyus and I visited HeadStart in Lowell on Friday with Mrs. Bev Rodrigues, to interview some students about what they have been doing in their Winterim and what their favorite experiences have been so far. The goal of this course is to provide an experience through which they can learn more about children in poverty and about early childhood education by working as teachers at HeadStart. Three and four-year-olds go to school every day there and each participant will work with a professional, an aide, and about twenty children in a classroom and on the playground, assisting a teaching team through the day.



Please comment on our video and leave us your feedback.

Student Post From Yellowstone

Submitted by Barrett on Thursday: The epic day began with our grinning, fearless leader MacNeill Lyons, as we took a ride on the magic school bus around the park, we spotted the carcass of a bison that has been dead for about two years. As the day progressed we met with wolf expert, Rick.

Today, we hiked up a mountain above the Lamar Valley and found dead animal carcasses of elk, which was recently pushed off a cliff by wolves. We also learned how to protect ourselves from a curious/angry bear. As we walked down the mountain, we watched from afar a pack of wolves picking apart a dead elk. Our amazing day ended making lasagna for dinner as a group, baking MacNeill a birthday cake, and looking forward to seeing him and Rick on our final day at yellowstone.

Sports Journalism takes on the Big City and the Big East

The Sports Journalism group headed to New York City last week to watch the Big East Tournament. The group got front row tickets to a number of games, and even got to visit a professional sports desk!

Tomatoes for the Health of it

Last Friday, Food for the Health of it took a trip to an organic tomato farm where they learned about organic foods and the tomato growing process. They took a tour of the farm and talked to workers about what they do and why they support the organic sensation that's sweeping the nation. (I've always wanted to use that saying.) They got a few picture opportunities inside of the carts the workers use, and here we have a picture of James seemingly enjoying himself:

Exhilarating Experiences in Ecuador!

Saturday was probably everyone´s favorite day so far! We woke up, ate breakfast and checked out of our hotel. Then, we went Zip Lining at Mindo Canopy Adventures [see picture below]! They had about 13 different cables that totaled more than 2 miles over the rain forest. We don´t know how high we were exactly, but let´s just say that falling would not have been fun. After zip linning we went down the street, grabbed helmets and life jackets and jumped in white water tubes down a river full of rocks and waves! What an exhilarating day! For lunch we stopped at a cute hotel/restaurant place that had a lake with boats, which we all took turns riding and racing each other on. The food was delish! The second half of the day was a once in a lifetime opportunity to straddle the equator! We drove to the museum and learned all about the gravitational pulls that we experienced first hand! The second museum we stopped at was interesting because it marked where they thought the equator was 200 years ago! Lots of pictures were taken next to the equator signs.. and we are thinking there will be a Winterim 2010-2011 Book Cover Photo in our future. After the museums our awesome bus driver Carlos blasted some American and Ecuadorian music on the radio and we danced in our party bus all the way to our hotel in Quito! We went out to dinner, had some milkshakes, pizza and burgers (YUM American food at last!), and went back to our hotel for showers and a good night´s sleep! Today we are heading south of Quito for horseback riding around Cotopaxi National Park [see below] where a lot of volcanoes live! Hope they don´t erupt!! The rest of this week we are going to our second community service project to a different community to help paint and do anything else they need and on Thursday we will spend the day white water rafting!


Overall, everyone has been having the time of their lives and we will definitely miss this new culture we have learned so much about in only a week!Until next time!Adios!


TEAM ECUADOR


P.S- Mrs. Peterson: Jess is doing just fine, she having a great time, but misses you and would like some apple crisp when she gets home!

DigiPhoto Is Off To Maine!

After week one of snapping photos in and around Boston, Digital Photography is ready to ship off to Maine, where they will be staying in a cozy lodging space and capturing photos of whatever Maine has to offer. Expect photos soon!

From the best tasting eggs...to the worst tasting drinks

Iron Chef has a new task at hand. The classic breakfast food. And goes great with cheese. Eggs! The RUaDgtalNativ group took a trip to the Congregational Church with only one goal in mind: to taste the best egg meals we have ever tasted. The first plate arrived on the table. The egg frittata looked and tasted like heaven. Then the next plate was a poached egg inside of a bell pepper, called Eggs in Purgatory. It was good and my personal favorite. Lastly, we had a bacon, egg, and biscuit sandwich. It came with an iced coffee that did not come out as correctly as the group had hoped for. I tried the drink and it had a weird flavor, like an iced coffee with too much water and no ice. The winner was group 1, John, Ned, & Sun, with the egg frittata.

The System: Flying in to Our Nation's Capital

Today, The System will be flying in to Washington D.C. as the two-week Winterim period starts to come to an end. There, they will be visiting the library of congress, congress, the national archives, the Holocaust museum, and several other memorials scattered around the area. They will be coming back on Thursday to Boston and we all hope they have a safe flight to D.C.!

(Photo From: TravelHouseUs.Files.WordPress.com)

Underwater Discovery: Diving In Belize!

Today, the Underwater Discovery group will be taking a field trip to the "Whale Shoals" off the coast of Belize. There, they will be conducting research of the surrounding waters and learning as much as they can about their new environment. They're going to be snorkeling and taking a "Fish Quiz" where they have to identify several species of fish.

(Photo from: NaturalSciences.org)

Who Will Be the Next Karate Kid?

On Friday, i went to the Luth’s Family Karate center where Lawrence Academy students are learning the basics of kick boxing. The group is having a lot of fun and have given each other nicknames. They are also very supportive, and motivate each other. They have learned a lot in only five days, here is a video of some of the moves they have learned.
(music found at: www.purevolume.com)

News from Biking in Arizona!

"Hello again from AZ. Yesterday the group rode into the canyons of the Superstition Mountains. Stunning desert scenery made steep hills go easier. This has been a wet season for AZ, so the desert is green with flowers beginning to show. Stream crossings kept us cool. We’ve had our share of woes, too. We’ve had some bruising tumbles, a broken chain, and we’ve changed eight tires in three days of riding. Great group spirit through it all. Pictures include a stream crossing, rest stop in the beauty of the desert..."
-Mr. Smith (Winterim Leader)