Flustered and back in the classroom...

Today we were all very productive as a group and got a lot done. Together, we posted about ten more new posts for the blog, worked on making the slide slide show for tomorrow's presentation, Eric visited the martial arts group, Tyus visited the Iron Chef group, Kerrin watched some chess matches, Gabe wrote a post on yoga, Judd wrote a post on casino night and talked about the trips coming back today, and I finished editing and put up the last two interviews for Head Start. We also got together in groups of two and came up with ideas for the last three blog posts for tomorrow.

The Dangers of On-Campus Winterims Volume III: RUaDGTALNATIV?

The past two weeks have taken a- publicly unknown- toll on the bloggers who created your friendly Lawrence Academy Winterim blog. On the average work day, we spend about four hours on the computer (not to mention the times we use our computers for personal purposes after Winterim). My fellow bloggers have reported headaches, hand cramps, and sore butts from sitting and working on the computer for long lengths of time. Ms. Poulin cried out in pain today, "O my hands and wrists" as she wrung her hands furiously. Although quilting and stained glass proved to be dangerous in their own right, I believe blogging takes the cake! Research warns that computer screens lead to significant eye strain without 10 to 15 minute breaks every hour. With such a heavy stream of news, it is safe to say that the bloggers have not been able to take the appropriate amount of breaks during this Winterim which has led to several headaches. Likewise, the warning labels for keyboards state that extensive use of a keyboard for many hours without breaks could lead to severe wrist and hand injuries like arthritis and carpal tunnel. Most bloggers at the LA Winterim Blog have reported tight and sore hands in the past two weeks. According to the European Respiratory Journal, sitting too long- like on planes or in front of the computer- can cause blood clots which can cause severe disability or death. Luckily, the LA bloggers have thwarted the worst of these injuries; yet, we have suffered our fair share of strained eyes, headaches, and wrist pains. Who ever knew it was such a "pain" to blog about Winterim!?

Original Taste...Original Recipe

The Iron Chef Winterim has mastered the art of making different kinds of foods including, eggs, seafood, roasting, hamburgers, and pasta. Now its time for them to put all of it together to make an original recipe. This afternoon they will be judged by the top taste testers: Mr. Wiggins, Mrs. Bagley, Mr. Horne , Mrs. Margraf, and Mr. Cassidy (Director of Lawrence Academy Dining Services). This will be the event of a life time. Only one team will prevail. Let the judging begin! Check out the video below to see the final crazed moments in the kitchen. Post a comment and let us know who won!

LA Chess Championship

The LA Winterim Chess Tournament took place today on the LA Campus. After a day of playing chess in Harvard Square, the LA chess players used their knowledge from the past two weeks try to beat each other out for the championship! By the end of the tournament, Min Soo and Steve were the last standing! If you have the news, let us know who won the tournament!
UPDATE: We've heard from Mr. Curran that Min Soo was the champion. Congratulations!

Returning to Campus

Winterim is winding down, and the following trips are coming back today:

The System Arriving campus 3:15 p.m. (approximate)

Ireland Arriving campus 5:00 p.m. (approximate)

France Arriving campus 8:30 p.m. (approximate)

Arizona Arriving campus 9:00 p.m. (approximate)

Mexico Arriving campus 11:00 p.m. (approximate)

Yellowstone Arriving campus 12:30 a.m. (approximate)

Panama Arriving campus 1:00 a.m. (approximate)

Make sure you welcome your friends back as their planes roll in this evening (or tomorrow morning!)

Going for Stripe Number 2

The Martial Arts Winterim have been training for 2 weeks. The owner Mike Luth said that it takes about 4 months to achieve 2 stripes on a white belt. However, these students have worked hard to achieve this milestone in 2 weeks. Check out our Picasa web album to see 50 new pictures.

Reflections of Head Start Volunteers

As stated on the Head Start website: "Created in 1965, Head Start is the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Nearly 25 million pre-school aged children have benefited from Head Start."

Here is a video with Jake, Will, and Mitch talking about what they love about this organization.



Please comment on my video! Thanks.

The Total Experience at Total Mountain Experience

Monday, Wednesday and Friday we arrived to the mountain at 9:00 am. We skied/snowboarded from 9:00 am to 11:30 am. At 12:00 noon we came in for lunch and then from 1-3 we worked with the Wachusett work members. The jobs were all different. We did a different job every day. Some jobs consisted of working in the park where you fixed jumps and racked the snow, working in the cafeteria serving food, working in tech fixing snowboards and skis, working in the store, working at rentals, standing at the lifts checking tickets, and ride in the snow cat and groomed the mountain. It was a great experience for us because we got to experience working by doing many different jobs and learning about how a mountain is run. On Tuesday and Thursday we stayed at the mountain until 8:00 pm and went night skiing. We arrived to the mountain at 12:30 and then worked from 1-3 the same as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Total Mountain experience was a great winterim because we got to experience two things: Working and Skiing/Snowboarding. Many of the students skied/snowboarded before and some have not. The ones who skied/snowboarded before improved by landing difficult tricks off the jumps and some who never skied/snowboarded before improved by going down the black diamonds. Many people worked before but never experienced working at a mountain so this was a great experience for us.

Pre-Game Report

The Sports Journalism group will be going to the Bruins game tonight. They will be playing the Pittsburgh Penguins. These two teams have some recent problems with each other after one of the Penguins players, Matt Cooke, took out the Bruins point leader, Marc Savard on March 7th. Conor Helfrich wrote about the upcoming meeting tonight, and the possible reactions to the cheap shot. Check out his complete article here. A video of the hit, if you missed it, is below.

The Final Struggle for Perfected Glass Art

The artwork is finally coming to a close. The art is looking beautiful and the students can almost take a breath of fresh air. The group is spending their time grinding the glass down so there are no sharp edges and polishing it to shine like a diamond. The Final Struggle is here. Tomorrow we will see the finished art work.

The Luck of the Irish doesn't Help Everyone During Casino Night!

Thursday night, St. Patrick's Day, students crammed into the Student Lounge for a night of Poker, Roulette, Craps, and various other casino games. Chips could be traded in for tickets, which would be drawn for a raffle. Winners could win various prizes, such as Red Sox fan packages, and the like. Two lucky winners received iPod Shuffles. Kids who decided not to gamble sat and watched TV, played pool, or played Rock Band.

Week 2 in Costa Rica

(Photo found at: http://travelcostaricanow.com/index.php/Central_Valley_of_San_Jose)

Report continued from Kathryn Babin and Scott Johnson:

On Monday morning we awoke early to tackle the even more challenging water of the lower half of the river and then once more met our faithful bus driver for a 3 hour drive to La Fortuna, our second to last destination. Here we will go on a safari paddle, swim in natural pools and hike the base of the volcano. This will be a real contrast to both the Caribbean sea coast of Tortugero National Park and the mountain gorge of the Pacuare River. Our trip will end with a final day in San Jose and the next morning, we will leave for home. While some may look forward to the comforts of warm showers and spider-free bedrooms, we will all be sad to say goodbye to Guapo and our experiences in Costa Rica.

Pura Vida!

Yoga on a Field Trip

Today, yoga is on a field trip to the Kripalu Yoga Center to do some new styles of yoga including heat yoga. The Kripalu Yoga Center is a well known health center where people come from all over the northeast to take classes. They will be taking part in some hardcore yoga and learning about to lifestyle of a yogi.