Friday, June 15, 2012

National Geographic Project

Every other year my Geography students make a National Geographic magazine.  They do research and write five articles with certain guidelines.  In all it takes about four months to complete.  The end result is very rewarding to see.  Some of the magazines look really good.  But my joy is in seeing how proud they all are of their hard work.



Some great covers






They did an awesome job on their articles too.






I was so proud of them.

Field Day

Field Day at our school is a big thing for our students.  It's one of those special end of the year events.  I like it because it means no teaching for a whole day.  What could be better?



First, is the obstacle course.


Then football throw.


Potato Sack Race


Basketball Shoot


Dash


Balloon Toss



Distance Run


Soccer Kick


Standing Long Jump



Shot Put



A break for lunch and recess at the park.


And finally, the school tug of war.  The kids love ending the day this way.  God was with us because it was supposed to rain all day but didn't.  However, 10 minutes after we went inside around 2:00, it started to pour rain. 

Sunday, May 06, 2012

New York City 2012

This is the view that we had from the top of the Empire State Building.  Yeah, they meant it when they said there wasn't a view.  Thanks to all the rain and fog, there wasn't much to see.



The fog did drift away a few times so we could get a quick shot before the fog was back. 




The highlight for us all was seeing a guy propose to his girlfriend on top of the Empire State Building.  


Off to see Mary Poppins in the evening.  Four of the boys had suits on.  I was impressed.



A motorcycle at the Statue of Liberty from the American Chopper TV show. 



Ellis Island was great and I could have spent a whole day there.  They have really fixed the whole building up with displays.  Great place to learn about history.



The Great Hall where all the immigrants waited to be seen. 








Brooklyn Bridge was cool to see, even if it was a hike up a hill to just see the river.  But it's one of those places that you see once and that's good enough. 






We visited the 9-11 Memorial.  Stuart Seid Louis was in the South Tower that day and was killed.  He is the brother of Sylven Beck, who is the head of our Board of Ed. and a member of our church.  She is the one who gives us a free lunch in Chinatown each year.  It was nice to find Stuart's name there.
 

I can't say I was overly impressed with the memorial.  I thought it lacked something.  It was one of those places where I don't know if I'd care if I went again, which is sad to say, considering what happened there.  That's how disappointed I was in the memorial. 







Now the tallest building in New York City, One World Trade Center is still in the process of being built. 


We finished our time in New York City by going to Times Square.  I was on a big huge screen.  If you look closely, you can see me.  I'm standing in the front middle with my right hand waving in the air.  My camera is in front of my face, so you can't see my face well, but I'm there.  How cool is that!