Below is the link for the Shutterfly photo compilation of all the students' photos taken throughout the trip.
http://ilimacivicclubdcnyctrip2010.shutterfly.com
A password prompt will appear. Enter "Skip" --make sure you include a capital "S" as it is case-sensitive.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Reverberations of a Teacher's Soul
Two quotes come to mind that I find particularly relevant to the 2010 spring break experience and the lesson learned from it:
"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." -Socrates
"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." - Chinese Proverb
In taking nearly thirty students across the world to Washington, D.C. and New York City in hopes of cultivating the globally-minded citizen in them, the advisors recognized that our actions alone were not necessarily responsible for their higher learning nor were our words enough to inspire them to engage in all that we saw. Rather, the advisors were merely the vehicle, the catalysts if you will, that connected them to these opportunities. It was these students, once in the new, unfamiliar environment, that took it upon themselves to not shy away from the huge buildings, fast cars, foreign cities, and mobs of people, but embrace and engaged with their surroundings. The students did not waste one opportunity to take full advantage of the experiences around them. Whether it was approaching strangers with gifts of Aloha and a smile or clearing the misunderstandings by students in other travel groups from the mainland that they didn't paddle canoes to school (quite an amusing conversation, I must say) or representing the island state with pride and respect, the students did not wait for these experiences to come to them--they went out and got them on their own!
We can't begin to say how proud we are of Jayde, Arlene, Anjelika, Bryson, Tiffany-Joy, Brenda, Kawehi, Breanne, Carlo, Kaleialoha, Thomas, Ellis, Nicole, Lees Marie, Quignon, Tiffany McCoy, the twins Dillon and Triston, Peter aka Pedro, Jun Dennis, Shaina, Alex, Eliza, Lindlelyn, Princess, and Raven. These 27 students were ambassadors not only from Ilima Intermediate, but Hawaii and radiated joy, excitement, eagerness, sense of adventure, and civic awareness to all who met them. For the entire year, these kids busted their butts to raise money for this trip, knowing that every service project, every fundraiser, and every volunteer opportunity was another step closer to making this dream a reality. Each one of them is an amazing individual in their own right and we cannot wait to see the great things they will embark on as they get older.
For me, it was, hands-down, my favorite experience in my short yet eventful teaching career--it was my swan song, the last hurrah. I'm disheartened to know that this is the last time I will be able to engage with this students, or any other students, in this way again. Though 4th quarter awaits us, I feel a sense of longing to return back to the first day of the trip, when parents were dropping kids off at the airport, and everyone was burning with anticipation and excitement. I feel extremely fortunate that I was able to be a part of such a fantastic opportunity for our students. Even with Furlough Fridays, teachers in Hawaii are able to provide meaningful experiences for their students outside the classroom that keeps them inspired and self-motivated to be seekers of knowledge and guardians of their education. The excellent teachers who guided these students on the trip, Cherilyn Inouye, Tracy Palmgren, Jenna Skedeleski, and Tanya Weida, can all attest to this truth. In these times, it is so important to be politically and civic-minded. Students need to understand the government is not some obscure, hard-to-access institution but rather an institution that is empowered only by the people. By deepening their understanding of the underlying workings of our federal government and meeting elected representatives of Hawaii, like Rep. Mazie Hirono, students now understand that there are actual people behind the newspaper headlines, media blasts, and electoral ballots. Furthermore, President Obama provided the ultimate inspirational learning moment that despite your background, even an African-American from Hawaii can be elected President of the United States of America. If that can happen, the possibilities for our students are limitless.
In the days to come, I hope these kids reflect on this trip and understand that they were really a part of something special, something atypical, out of the ordinary, which makes them special and out of the ordinary too. I hope they recognize that they are full capable of pursuing any dream or passion they desire and all they need to do is to stand bold, dream BIG, take a chance and pursue their endeavors.
"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." -Socrates
"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." - Chinese Proverb
In taking nearly thirty students across the world to Washington, D.C. and New York City in hopes of cultivating the globally-minded citizen in them, the advisors recognized that our actions alone were not necessarily responsible for their higher learning nor were our words enough to inspire them to engage in all that we saw. Rather, the advisors were merely the vehicle, the catalysts if you will, that connected them to these opportunities. It was these students, once in the new, unfamiliar environment, that took it upon themselves to not shy away from the huge buildings, fast cars, foreign cities, and mobs of people, but embrace and engaged with their surroundings. The students did not waste one opportunity to take full advantage of the experiences around them. Whether it was approaching strangers with gifts of Aloha and a smile or clearing the misunderstandings by students in other travel groups from the mainland that they didn't paddle canoes to school (quite an amusing conversation, I must say) or representing the island state with pride and respect, the students did not wait for these experiences to come to them--they went out and got them on their own!
We can't begin to say how proud we are of Jayde, Arlene, Anjelika, Bryson, Tiffany-Joy, Brenda, Kawehi, Breanne, Carlo, Kaleialoha, Thomas, Ellis, Nicole, Lees Marie, Quignon, Tiffany McCoy, the twins Dillon and Triston, Peter aka Pedro, Jun Dennis, Shaina, Alex, Eliza, Lindlelyn, Princess, and Raven. These 27 students were ambassadors not only from Ilima Intermediate, but Hawaii and radiated joy, excitement, eagerness, sense of adventure, and civic awareness to all who met them. For the entire year, these kids busted their butts to raise money for this trip, knowing that every service project, every fundraiser, and every volunteer opportunity was another step closer to making this dream a reality. Each one of them is an amazing individual in their own right and we cannot wait to see the great things they will embark on as they get older.
For me, it was, hands-down, my favorite experience in my short yet eventful teaching career--it was my swan song, the last hurrah. I'm disheartened to know that this is the last time I will be able to engage with this students, or any other students, in this way again. Though 4th quarter awaits us, I feel a sense of longing to return back to the first day of the trip, when parents were dropping kids off at the airport, and everyone was burning with anticipation and excitement. I feel extremely fortunate that I was able to be a part of such a fantastic opportunity for our students. Even with Furlough Fridays, teachers in Hawaii are able to provide meaningful experiences for their students outside the classroom that keeps them inspired and self-motivated to be seekers of knowledge and guardians of their education. The excellent teachers who guided these students on the trip, Cherilyn Inouye, Tracy Palmgren, Jenna Skedeleski, and Tanya Weida, can all attest to this truth. In these times, it is so important to be politically and civic-minded. Students need to understand the government is not some obscure, hard-to-access institution but rather an institution that is empowered only by the people. By deepening their understanding of the underlying workings of our federal government and meeting elected representatives of Hawaii, like Rep. Mazie Hirono, students now understand that there are actual people behind the newspaper headlines, media blasts, and electoral ballots. Furthermore, President Obama provided the ultimate inspirational learning moment that despite your background, even an African-American from Hawaii can be elected President of the United States of America. If that can happen, the possibilities for our students are limitless.
In the days to come, I hope these kids reflect on this trip and understand that they were really a part of something special, something atypical, out of the ordinary, which makes them special and out of the ordinary too. I hope they recognize that they are full capable of pursuing any dream or passion they desire and all they need to do is to stand bold, dream BIG, take a chance and pursue their endeavors.
| "I shall be telling this with a sigh | |
| Somewhere ages and ages hence: | |
| Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— | |
| I took the one less traveled by, | |
| And that has made all the difference" |
Aloha means Goodbye...
Our first stop was at FAO Scwarz and the kids were in materialistic nirvana: huge stuffed animals, flying machines, man-sized Lego statues of Batman and Chewbacca, and the giant-sized piano made famous from the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks (another movie reference that went over the kids' heads and furthered signified my age). We gave the kids about an hour to browse through the two floors of toy madness. I found enjoyment in watching the salespeople show off the flying planes and hacky-sacks and watching the amazed expressions of all the kids who watched on with eager eyes. After we had our fill at the toy store, we headed back out and caught a couple shots of the famous Plaza Hotel, a New York City landmark and also made famous by the movie "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (finally, a reference within their realm of relevancy!) The students thought the horse-and-carriage buggies were really cool, especially the ones with the drivers who were all dressed up in fanciful attire. However, with a 2:30pm flight, we regrettably had to load onto the bus and make our way to the airport. We drove past uptown, through Harlem, which looked far better than it used to.
As we drove out on the highway, Ms. Inouye asked the students to come forward on the bus, grab the mic, and share their favorite moment from the trip. As each student came forward, there was a mix of witty, sarcastic responses combined with more somber recollections of the experiences had. For some, students were really appreciative that they visited the most famous monuments, buildings, institutions, and places in our nation's capital and the greatest city in the world--the Statue of Liberty, White House, war memorials, West Side Story, Times Square or the Capitol visit. For others, they really enjoyed the opportunity to live 'independently' in the hotels and travel without their parents. Some students really embraced the opportunity to strengthen friendships with their close friends while forging new ones under the context of such a memorable occasion. Either way, all students wanted to stay in NYC and keep the dream alive. The advisors and I also shared our sentiments, and when Ms. Inouye started to cry and some kids joined her, you can tell that this trip struck a deeper chord that resonated within.
We arrived at the airport and it was time to part with our dearly beloved bus, bus driver, and tour guide. Skip, an older gentleman who served as our bus driver the entire trip, was bummed to see us go and kept going about how pleased he was that the students respected his bus during the trip. Kelly, our tour guide, was a bit more sentimental, as within a week she developed a really strong rapport with the group that was different than her past experiences. The kids really responded to her and vice versa. For me, I was sad to see both of them off but the way I look at it, I just met some new friends! Check-in went smoothly and before we knew it, we were boarding for San Francisco. Initially, I thought that this could possibly be the only time that the students would be in New York but I knew getting onto the plane that they would be back, somewhere down the line. And they would remember this trip that exposed to the wide world out there.
Once we arrived in San Fran, we were bummed to find out that our flight was delayed by an hour and a half--because the crew was late. Imagine that! We kept ourselves occupied by watching movies, checking out the Kid's Zone in the airport with a full-on tornado simulator, and playing the card game Speed (also known as Spit in some circles). After I talked smack to everyone, I went on a 3-game winning streak and finally, Tiffany was determined to take me down. It came down to the very last card and she pulled off the victory. As I slinked away from the kids, with their laughing and jockeying, I found comfort in learning that we were finally boarding. Though our flight was scheduled to be booked, there ended up being a bunch of open seats so we got to reconfigure our seating arrangement to maximize our lounge space. I got a whole row to myself. What luck! Soon after, all the kids were fast asleep and would wake up back on island time.
We landed in Honolulu around midnight and the parents were waiting outside the baggage claim, eager to see their kids. One by one, each kid left, and I started to feel...I guess what it was....what I'm trying to say is....I started to miss them!! Having spent the whole week with them, I realized how much fun I had with them in our traveling utopia, watching them learn and grow as young adults and now we were back to the real world where all good things come to an end.
As the last of the students were picked up, I said my goodbyes to the other advisors and caught my ride back to the North Shore. Kyle Bond, a fellow teacher and good friend, picked me up and as we pulled away from the airport, I sank into my seat, exhausted from a week's worth of traveling, walking, instructing, explaining, leading, teaching, coaxing, encouraging, laughing, and sight-seeing. As we merged onto H1, Kyle started up a conversation with the opening question, "So...how was the trip?" Naturally, if you know me, I wanted to start from the airport drop-off on opening day and give him the full gamut play-by-play analysis through our arrival back. So many memories flooded my mind but I pulled back, thought for a second, and replied with a smile, "Kyle, it was the one of the best things I have ever done in my life."
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Day Five: Erin Go Bragh, Lady Liberty, Times Square, and the Empire State
St. Patrick's Day is finally here and in celebration, all the students wore their finest green outfits. The second to last day of the trip would prove to be one of the most memorable. My mom and sister Alana joined us on the bus for the day's adventures.
Last night, I stopped at my house to pick up some St. Patty's Day props for the kids to make things extra festive. After taking several detours due to the flood we arrived at the Liberty State Park a little behind schedule. The building that we waited in for the ferry reminded me of the an old warehouse that had been renovated into a nice museum.
While we stood around, the boys took turns showing off their impersonations of heel-clicking leprechauns.
The ferry ride over to Ellis Island provided an incredible panoramic view of the New York City skyline as the morning sun poke out from behind the clouds. Kawehi, Jayde, and Ms. Inouye led a group of students in a Hawaiian song, but then it evolved into some improvisation on the lyrics. I followed with some Jersey Shore impersonations that keep everyone rolling. Crossing the Hudson River was the first time many of the kids had been on a major body of water other than the Pacific.
I loved those first experiences and the excitement they drew out of the kids! We arrived at Ellis Island, and after problem-solving the timetable for a minute or so, we allowed the students to split into groups of three and venture off on their own. My mom, sister, and I decided to take a walk to the archives where you could look up on an extensive computer database any relatives who might have passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and the early 1900's. After securing a computer, I found the records of great-uncles from my mom's side of the family as well as my great-grandfather on my dad's side. Since my last name is very rare, it is easy to trace the genealogical trail to someone who has the same name.
We ventured around the museum and checked out the various exhibits about the millions of immigrants that migrated from Europe during the turn of the century. Outside along the wall with the names of the documented immigrants' inscriptions, I found another relative's name.In celebration of the Irish holiday, we sat down in the cafe and munched on the day's special, corned beef and cabbage. We had to gobble down our meal though, because the ferry was leaving for the Statue of Liberty and we definitely didn't want to miss that.
As we landed on Liberty Island, I witnessed another moment where the students were in complete shock and awe at the sight of the 180-foot oxidized Lady Liberty. Again, we allowed the students to group up and walk around the island to explore. When we rendezvoused at the front of the statue for a group picture, nearly all the students had purchased the foam green crown, which further added to their St. Patty's Day flare.
The whole mood was very happy and students felt so privileged to stand at the base of such a majestic statue. I fielded a ton of questions about how the U.S. transported it from Europe, why it was green, what the inscription meant on the book ,which led me to believe that their curiosity was hitting a high point. PERFECT! 
The foghorn sounded, which indicated that the ferry was ready to leave. Back on the ferry, I sat with Kawehi and Kalei, explaining the cause and effect relationship between the influx of immigrants and the industrial boom that occurred in the country as a result. As they asked insightful question about the immigration process, I correlated it to the migration of immigrants to Hawaii with the advent of the sugar plantations. Meanwhile, we were taking bets on whether or not Ms. Skedeleski was going to lose her lunch due to sea sickness.
To our disappointment, she was able to hold her lunch down. =)
We unloaded off the ferry onto Battery Park, named after the fort that stood right there used as a defense against enemy ships in the early 1800's. We came across street performers, artists, troubadours and musicians and the whole place had a lively buzz to it. A group of street acrobats did a 20-minute performance that culminated into one of the guys doing a running full frontal flip over five participants. Pretty amazing, and the kids were totally captivated. As we waited for the bus to arrive, we came across a ball sculpture about 20 feet. in diameter that used to sit below the World Trade Center.
After the towers collapsed, it was badly damaged but as a symbol of the city's resolve, they relocated it to Battery Park, despite the dents and gouges in the metal framework. Just another eerie reminder of how gruesome that day must have been and the kids were very quick to pick up on it.
Back on the bus, we headed towards Times Square for dinner at the famous Dallas BBQ. Since we got there a little early, we allowed the kids to check out a couple of stories on the block. A solid majority followed an overly eager Ms. Skedeleski as she sprinted to the Hello Kitty store. I took a couple of boys to the Quiksilver store, where we became friends with the manager.
Quignon, Joseph, Peter, and I started a mini dance party and became the pro tempore mascots for 10 minutes. At Dallas BBQ, we continued to receive compliments for our students' excellent behavior. A hometown friend of mine stopped by to say hi and joined my mom, sister, and crew. Ms. Weida also had her whole PA family come too! It was great to spend time with friends and family.
The last stop of the evening was the Empire State Building. Even I hadn't been inside the tallest building in Manhattan so I was super amped.
A good college friend joined us for the ascent and she was so impressed with how well-behaved and engaging the students were. We took an elevator 80 stories up and had to hike up the remaining 6 flights to the 86th floor. The aerobic capacity of our students could be better after seeing some huffing and puffing. Once w reached the observatory deck, the sight was breath-taking.
We caught the end of sunset so there was a faint orange-reddish hue upon the horizon line that made the lighting perfect for pictures. As the sun faded and the night set in, the city lights looked like Lite-Brite (http://www.hasbro.com/litebrite/ for explanation) We could see how narrow Manhattan really was when we got above the skyscraper fray. Despite how crowded it was, we still got a bunch of awesome shots of the bridges, Chrysler Building, and other famous buildings. The light at the top of the building was green in accordance to the St Patrick's Day holiday. As we celebrated our last night in the city from over 1,000 feet high, we took a moment to appreciate our awesome time in New York I know that the experience in the city changed our kids' perception of the possibilities available to them One more night to go.
Last night, I stopped at my house to pick up some St. Patty's Day props for the kids to make things extra festive. After taking several detours due to the flood we arrived at the Liberty State Park a little behind schedule. The building that we waited in for the ferry reminded me of the an old warehouse that had been renovated into a nice museum.While we stood around, the boys took turns showing off their impersonations of heel-clicking leprechauns.
The ferry ride over to Ellis Island provided an incredible panoramic view of the New York City skyline as the morning sun poke out from behind the clouds. Kawehi, Jayde, and Ms. Inouye led a group of students in a Hawaiian song, but then it evolved into some improvisation on the lyrics. I followed with some Jersey Shore impersonations that keep everyone rolling. Crossing the Hudson River was the first time many of the kids had been on a major body of water other than the Pacific.
I loved those first experiences and the excitement they drew out of the kids! We arrived at Ellis Island, and after problem-solving the timetable for a minute or so, we allowed the students to split into groups of three and venture off on their own. My mom, sister, and I decided to take a walk to the archives where you could look up on an extensive computer database any relatives who might have passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and the early 1900's. After securing a computer, I found the records of great-uncles from my mom's side of the family as well as my great-grandfather on my dad's side. Since my last name is very rare, it is easy to trace the genealogical trail to someone who has the same name.
We ventured around the museum and checked out the various exhibits about the millions of immigrants that migrated from Europe during the turn of the century. Outside along the wall with the names of the documented immigrants' inscriptions, I found another relative's name.In celebration of the Irish holiday, we sat down in the cafe and munched on the day's special, corned beef and cabbage. We had to gobble down our meal though, because the ferry was leaving for the Statue of Liberty and we definitely didn't want to miss that.
The whole mood was very happy and students felt so privileged to stand at the base of such a majestic statue. I fielded a ton of questions about how the U.S. transported it from Europe, why it was green, what the inscription meant on the book ,which led me to believe that their curiosity was hitting a high point. PERFECT! 
To our disappointment, she was able to hold her lunch down. =)We unloaded off the ferry onto Battery Park, named after the fort that stood right there used as a defense against enemy ships in the early 1800's. We came across street performers, artists, troubadours and musicians and the whole place had a lively buzz to it. A group of street acrobats did a 20-minute performance that culminated into one of the guys doing a running full frontal flip over five participants. Pretty amazing, and the kids were totally captivated. As we waited for the bus to arrive, we came across a ball sculpture about 20 feet. in diameter that used to sit below the World Trade Center.
Back on the bus, we headed towards Times Square for dinner at the famous Dallas BBQ. Since we got there a little early, we allowed the kids to check out a couple of stories on the block. A solid majority followed an overly eager Ms. Skedeleski as she sprinted to the Hello Kitty store. I took a couple of boys to the Quiksilver store, where we became friends with the manager.
Quignon, Joseph, Peter, and I started a mini dance party and became the pro tempore mascots for 10 minutes. At Dallas BBQ, we continued to receive compliments for our students' excellent behavior. A hometown friend of mine stopped by to say hi and joined my mom, sister, and crew. Ms. Weida also had her whole PA family come too! It was great to spend time with friends and family.
The last stop of the evening was the Empire State Building. Even I hadn't been inside the tallest building in Manhattan so I was super amped.
A good college friend joined us for the ascent and she was so impressed with how well-behaved and engaging the students were. We took an elevator 80 stories up and had to hike up the remaining 6 flights to the 86th floor. The aerobic capacity of our students could be better after seeing some huffing and puffing. Once w reached the observatory deck, the sight was breath-taking.
We caught the end of sunset so there was a faint orange-reddish hue upon the horizon line that made the lighting perfect for pictures. As the sun faded and the night set in, the city lights looked like Lite-Brite (http://www.hasbro.com/litebrite/ for explanation) We could see how narrow Manhattan really was when we got above the skyscraper fray. Despite how crowded it was, we still got a bunch of awesome shots of the bridges, Chrysler Building, and other famous buildings. The light at the top of the building was green in accordance to the St Patrick's Day holiday. As we celebrated our last night in the city from over 1,000 feet high, we took a moment to appreciate our awesome time in New York I know that the experience in the city changed our kids' perception of the possibilities available to them One more night to go.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
In A New York State of Mind...Day Four.
Our first day in New York City! Everyone was full of excitement and anticipation for what the Big Apple had in store for us. The bus ride from D.C. to New York went smoothly and we found various ways to kill the time. Between scavenger hunt races, karaoke sing-alongs, and the occasional breaks at the rest stops throughout New Jersey, we found no trouble burning the 4-hour car ride. The drive was all too familiar for me and I was excited to share my "neighborhood" with the students. As we approached the New York City skyline, I blasted Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" at which point there was an eruption of cheers and singing. Pictures, stories, and references from song lyrics, textbooks, and movies were all these kids knew when it came to New York. now they were going to have a first-hand interaction with the greatest city in the world.
As we approached our hotel in Fairfield, NJ, I pointed out to the kids that my hometown was a mere 10 minutes away. We had to take a minor detour, however, because of the excessive flooding that occurred over the weekend's Nor'easter, a very powerful rain and wind storm that swelled the surrounding river to record-high levels. The transition into the hotel was smooth and within an hour of our arrival, the troupe was fast asleep with New York City on their minds.
The group was up and at 'em in the A.M. and we enjoyed a tasty omelet breakfast in the hotel dining room. Everyone donned their "I (heart) NY" shirts that my mom had sent a couple months ago so we hopped on the bus with our new tourist-looking threads and made our way into Manhattan. We handed out a bunch of gifts like pencils, stickers, notepads, etc. labeled "Live Aloha" and "Hawaii" that I received from the Hawaii Visitor Bureau for kids to give to people they met along the way. I challenged the students to find the New Jersey-New York dividing line marked inside the tunnel--for a split second, they were in two states hundreds of feet underwater! For many, it was the first major underwater tunnel they ever passed through. Once, we reemerged from the tunnel, we were in the middle of Skyscraper Madness. The expressions on all of the students' faces were priceless--they had never seen so many tall buildings crammed together! And all the people walking fast down the streets! For the first twenty minutes, they went into sensory overload, taking in as much as possible with mouths gaped open in astonishment.
We proceeded to pick up Mary Beth, our licensed NYC tour guide. Over the next four hours, she navigated us all over the city, from Wall Street on the south side of the island to Strawberry Fields on the Upper West Side to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side. Within a 12-hour period, we managed to traverse nearly the entire 23 square miles of the island. The energy was high and the sun finally poked through the clouds and dried up the rain for the first time all trip. No umbrellas for today.
We first started off downtown and checked out Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center stood before its collapse. The students had no prior knowledge of what the area looked like before the attacks, so at first, it just seemed like a rare open space in the dense urban landscape. There was construction taking place with several huge cranes, and we could see the exoskeleton of one structure already erected. We walked into a store that was converted into a gallery display of the new building, Freedom Tower. We got to see the blueprints and the miniature architectural prototypes with its futuristic design, but more importantly, there was a detailed timeline with accompanying images of the attacks on September 11th. Once they saw how the actual buildings fit into the landscape of the surrounding area, they quickly realized the magnitude of the void that once was the Twin Towers.
We walked through St. Paul's Chapel, which stood right across from the WTC site. Surprisingly (and some would argue by a stroke of God), the church survived the tower collapse unscathed while other surrounding buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. Outside the church, tombstones dated back to the 1600's, while the cemetery was surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Inside, the church was converted into a memorial. Tons of letter, badges, flags, pictures, banners and other items of remembrance from the victims' families and sympathizers of 9/11 decorated interior. After reading some personal, heartbreaking letters and images addressed to deceased firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers, a couple kids noted that they were moved by what they saw. On another note, also inside the church was George Washington's pew and chair that he prayed from after his inauguration as President. He worshipped at the church until the capital was moved from New York to Philadelphia. As we left this area, I believe students had a strong sense of what it means to make the ultimate sacrifice for one's country, and were grateful and proud of the fact that our country is comprised of so many of these patriots.
Not far away from Ground Zero was Wall Street, the epicenter of the financial business. Though the students didn't have a strong understand of the inner workings of the New York Stock Exchange or Federal Reserve, they caught on when I explained the origins of the recession and bank bailouts occurred here. The buildings were reminisced of Greek architecture, as were most government buildings and other structures in New York and D.C.
The interesting part of this area was that there were no vehicle traffic, unlike nearly every other part of the city. We were able to freely walk around without fear of the crazy taxi drivers. A couple students came up to me and asked me why people were dressed in "fancy clothes" and I explained that it was the norm for banking jobs.
We couldn't resist a group photo with the 30-foot statue of George Washington (he never gets boring) and once we found the famous Merrill Lynch bull, we threw up our own horns in imitation. We stopped by South Street Seaport to check out the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. This was yet another first for them and the kids couldn't get enough pictures.
I wanted the students to get a chance to experience some of the bazaar parts of the city and what better place to go than Chinatown.
We pulled over on a corner with several bazaar-esque shops and after a few pointers from the advisors, the kids began their first lesson in Bargaining 101. I was laughing hysterically as I walked around and supervised the students conducting business with the anxious Chinese salespeople--"What you like? What you like?"--they hovered like hungry seagulls and squawked like parrots as the kids weaved in and out of the shops, trying on cheap sunglasses, hats, and t-shirts with funny slogans. A seller even told a student that they would give her the Asian discount. I was impressed to see students bargaining the prices of bootleg designer wallets and good down from the ticketed price. Nicole wanted a crocheted polar bear ski hat and was able to work the man down to a reasonable price. After everyone picked up a trinket or two for friends and family back home, we hopped on the bus to continue our sight-seeing tour.
As we headed up towards the Upper West Side, we passed through Little Italy (whoo whoo!!), Greenwich and the East Village and gave the kids the historical context behind each area.
We arrived on the outskirts of Central Park across from the Dakota apartment, where John Lennon lived before he was assassinated on its front steps in 1980. The weather was finally beautiful and very warm outside, compared to the rainy coldness we dealt with in D.C. so we decided to take a walkabout through the park. We entered the park through the Strawberry Fields entrance, eponymously named after Lennon's song, and meandered along the path, observing all the people going about their day.
We came across a huge tile mosaic titled "Imagine" and were surrounded by a bunch of John Lennon
wanna-be's who wore his signature round-shaped spectacles.
The scene was very laid-back, with folks reading newspapers or just conversing on the benches and a gentleman playing a steel lap guitar that captivated the boys and my attentions for a good 10 minutes. However, once one student exclaimed, "SQUIRREL!", the peace turned into a frenzy to capture the furry rodent on film. The new focus of the walk became a squirrel photo-hunting. However, a mob of 27 students is good cause for a squirrel in pursuit to find safety up a tree so the focus turned to the horse-and-carriage buggies that trotted around the park.
Around noon, we dropped off Mary Beth and thanked her for her company and commentary during the sight-seeing tour and headed back into Times Square to get a bite to eat. The kids were SO excited and taken back with the action going on. Bright, flashing lights, Megatron screens, huge storefront displays, massive video billboards, taxis honking and swerving around, on top of the thousands of people walking in a blur. We couldn't decide what to check out first!
Quignon decided to give a performer from the Broadway show Chicago a gift of Aloha and this turned into a theatrical photo op. After getting a bite to eat at McDonald's with the super-sized arches, we waited along a side street for our bus driver Skip to pick us up.
I noticed there was this humongous pothole in the road and every time a car ran over it, the whole car got rocked and sometimes bottomed out. I took a guilty pleasure in watching this and the kids caught on. Within a couple of minutes, we began counting the number of cars that flew over the hole and every time we saw it, we went crazy.
Our cheers and laughter drew the attention of the disgruntled pothole-afflicted drivers and two police officers across the street chuckled at the sight of our game. By the time Skip arrived, there were 23 cards that had mowed over the hole in a 10 minute period. Luckily, none of the drivers were hurt, but their pride might have been taken down a notch. We stopped at the flagship Hershey's and M&M's stores, the latter proving to be the superior one. Everyone had the opportunity in manhandle humongo chocolate bars and bottles of syrup. Surprisingly, the kids didn't buy as much candy as I'd anticipated so at least any cavities couldn't be attributed the visit to the chocolate factory.
As we poured into the M&M store, we were greeted by the rapping duo, M&M boys.
This store was three stories of milk chocolate mayhem, but I found myself dancing in the lobby and freestyling with the rapping duo. Soon after, a handful of the kids, led by their fearless leader, were Dance Dance Revolutioning all over the place. Customers entering the store assumed we worked there but were amused to find that we traveled 5,000 miles just to dance in the lobby. As we left, Jayde gave one of the M&M boys a gift of Aloha and left them feeling stoked! On the bus ride to the Met, with Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blaring over the bus speaker, I taught the students the art of the signature Jersey fist pump, a novelty in the Garden State.
Needless to say, they passed with straight A's. I have the video and it is HILARIOUS.
We arrived at the Metropolitan Museum and I wasn't sure how the students would react to walking around a museum filled with art and sculptures. However, once we entered inside, they immediately darted to the exhibits of knights in shinig armor, the Egyptian temple displays with original hieroglyphics, and Samurai swords with warrior outfits. The museum was incredibly massive and since time was of the essence, we focused on the Egyptian section (including two mummy sarcophagi).
The students got a kick out of the nude Greek/Roman statues so once the inappropriate jokes began coming out, we made our way to the exit.
The nighttime was reserved for the Broadway show so we decided to head back to Times Square to prepare. We had dinner at Schnipper's, known for it's Sloppy Joe burgers, right across from Port Authority.We were joined for dinner by Grace, our tour coordinator form Boston. While at the restaurant, the kids did a great job of taking turns and changing in the small bathroom from their streets clothes to nicer outfits for the show. As were eating, a couple students asked when they were going to have a meal that included rice. "Expand your palettes!" I replied, but I could tell they really missed their rice. "At least we have free soda refills," one kid noted.
One of the students approached an older couple sitting in our vicinity (how brave) and offered them some "Live Aloha" buttons and they were so appreciative. I really loved watching the kids interact with the random people we encountered and out of the goodness of their hearts, offer the Aloha spirit in the form of a gift. People living in New York City typically aren't used to people (kids, furthermore) giving them free gifts for the sake of being nice so there were mixed reactions that provided a great learning opportunity. After we dressed, we were stoked for West Side Story.
I for one had never been to a Broadway show, nor would I have pictured myself attending one anytime soon.
The kids all looked dashing in their dress outfits and I'm proud to say that they were the best dressed student group in the theater. After we hiked up to our nose bleed seats in the balcony, we took in the red velvet carpeting and giant curtain that draped across the stage. How fancy it all was! As the performance began, I was totally impressed with the talent level of the actors. A couple pseudo romantic scenes made the kids giggle but most of the kids thought the first half was exhilarating. At the beginning of the second half, Ms. Skedeleski let out an outburst of laughter that set off a chain reaction amongst the students, for what reason we are still trying to figure out. The play climaxed with a gunshot to Tony and everyone jumped out of their seats. As we left the theater, everyone excitedly talked about the show and a couple of students got to meet the actors in the lobby. Here, Kaleialoha poses with the lead actor, Tony.
On the bus ride back to the hotel, the show continued, thanks to Ms. Inouye's purchase of the soundtrack (note the sarcasm here). By the time we made it back, most of us memorized the lyrics to "Maria", "America", "The Jet Song", and Dillon's favorite, "I Feel Pretty." Our first day in New York was a memorable one and Thursday couldn't come any sooner.
As we approached our hotel in Fairfield, NJ, I pointed out to the kids that my hometown was a mere 10 minutes away. We had to take a minor detour, however, because of the excessive flooding that occurred over the weekend's Nor'easter, a very powerful rain and wind storm that swelled the surrounding river to record-high levels. The transition into the hotel was smooth and within an hour of our arrival, the troupe was fast asleep with New York City on their minds.
The group was up and at 'em in the A.M. and we enjoyed a tasty omelet breakfast in the hotel dining room. Everyone donned their "I (heart) NY" shirts that my mom had sent a couple months ago so we hopped on the bus with our new tourist-looking threads and made our way into Manhattan. We handed out a bunch of gifts like pencils, stickers, notepads, etc. labeled "Live Aloha" and "Hawaii" that I received from the Hawaii Visitor Bureau for kids to give to people they met along the way. I challenged the students to find the New Jersey-New York dividing line marked inside the tunnel--for a split second, they were in two states hundreds of feet underwater! For many, it was the first major underwater tunnel they ever passed through. Once, we reemerged from the tunnel, we were in the middle of Skyscraper Madness. The expressions on all of the students' faces were priceless--they had never seen so many tall buildings crammed together! And all the people walking fast down the streets! For the first twenty minutes, they went into sensory overload, taking in as much as possible with mouths gaped open in astonishment.
We proceeded to pick up Mary Beth, our licensed NYC tour guide. Over the next four hours, she navigated us all over the city, from Wall Street on the south side of the island to Strawberry Fields on the Upper West Side to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side. Within a 12-hour period, we managed to traverse nearly the entire 23 square miles of the island. The energy was high and the sun finally poked through the clouds and dried up the rain for the first time all trip. No umbrellas for today.
We first started off downtown and checked out Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center stood before its collapse. The students had no prior knowledge of what the area looked like before the attacks, so at first, it just seemed like a rare open space in the dense urban landscape. There was construction taking place with several huge cranes, and we could see the exoskeleton of one structure already erected. We walked into a store that was converted into a gallery display of the new building, Freedom Tower. We got to see the blueprints and the miniature architectural prototypes with its futuristic design, but more importantly, there was a detailed timeline with accompanying images of the attacks on September 11th. Once they saw how the actual buildings fit into the landscape of the surrounding area, they quickly realized the magnitude of the void that once was the Twin Towers.
Not far away from Ground Zero was Wall Street, the epicenter of the financial business. Though the students didn't have a strong understand of the inner workings of the New York Stock Exchange or Federal Reserve, they caught on when I explained the origins of the recession and bank bailouts occurred here. The buildings were reminisced of Greek architecture, as were most government buildings and other structures in New York and D.C.
The interesting part of this area was that there were no vehicle traffic, unlike nearly every other part of the city. We were able to freely walk around without fear of the crazy taxi drivers. A couple students came up to me and asked me why people were dressed in "fancy clothes" and I explained that it was the norm for banking jobs.We couldn't resist a group photo with the 30-foot statue of George Washington (he never gets boring) and once we found the famous Merrill Lynch bull, we threw up our own horns in imitation. We stopped by South Street Seaport to check out the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. This was yet another first for them and the kids couldn't get enough pictures.
I wanted the students to get a chance to experience some of the bazaar parts of the city and what better place to go than Chinatown.
As we headed up towards the Upper West Side, we passed through Little Italy (whoo whoo!!), Greenwich and the East Village and gave the kids the historical context behind each area.
We arrived on the outskirts of Central Park across from the Dakota apartment, where John Lennon lived before he was assassinated on its front steps in 1980. The weather was finally beautiful and very warm outside, compared to the rainy coldness we dealt with in D.C. so we decided to take a walkabout through the park. We entered the park through the Strawberry Fields entrance, eponymously named after Lennon's song, and meandered along the path, observing all the people going about their day.
We came across a huge tile mosaic titled "Imagine" and were surrounded by a bunch of John Lennon
wanna-be's who wore his signature round-shaped spectacles.
The scene was very laid-back, with folks reading newspapers or just conversing on the benches and a gentleman playing a steel lap guitar that captivated the boys and my attentions for a good 10 minutes. However, once one student exclaimed, "SQUIRREL!", the peace turned into a frenzy to capture the furry rodent on film. The new focus of the walk became a squirrel photo-hunting. However, a mob of 27 students is good cause for a squirrel in pursuit to find safety up a tree so the focus turned to the horse-and-carriage buggies that trotted around the park.Around noon, we dropped off Mary Beth and thanked her for her company and commentary during the sight-seeing tour and headed back into Times Square to get a bite to eat. The kids were SO excited and taken back with the action going on. Bright, flashing lights, Megatron screens, huge storefront displays, massive video billboards, taxis honking and swerving around, on top of the thousands of people walking in a blur. We couldn't decide what to check out first!
I noticed there was this humongous pothole in the road and every time a car ran over it, the whole car got rocked and sometimes bottomed out. I took a guilty pleasure in watching this and the kids caught on. Within a couple of minutes, we began counting the number of cars that flew over the hole and every time we saw it, we went crazy.
Our cheers and laughter drew the attention of the disgruntled pothole-afflicted drivers and two police officers across the street chuckled at the sight of our game. By the time Skip arrived, there were 23 cards that had mowed over the hole in a 10 minute period. Luckily, none of the drivers were hurt, but their pride might have been taken down a notch. We stopped at the flagship Hershey's and M&M's stores, the latter proving to be the superior one. Everyone had the opportunity in manhandle humongo chocolate bars and bottles of syrup. Surprisingly, the kids didn't buy as much candy as I'd anticipated so at least any cavities couldn't be attributed the visit to the chocolate factory.
As we poured into the M&M store, we were greeted by the rapping duo, M&M boys.
We arrived at the Metropolitan Museum and I wasn't sure how the students would react to walking around a museum filled with art and sculptures. However, once we entered inside, they immediately darted to the exhibits of knights in shinig armor, the Egyptian temple displays with original hieroglyphics, and Samurai swords with warrior outfits. The museum was incredibly massive and since time was of the essence, we focused on the Egyptian section (including two mummy sarcophagi).
One of the students approached an older couple sitting in our vicinity (how brave) and offered them some "Live Aloha" buttons and they were so appreciative. I really loved watching the kids interact with the random people we encountered and out of the goodness of their hearts, offer the Aloha spirit in the form of a gift. People living in New York City typically aren't used to people (kids, furthermore) giving them free gifts for the sake of being nice so there were mixed reactions that provided a great learning opportunity. After we dressed, we were stoked for West Side Story.I for one had never been to a Broadway show, nor would I have pictured myself attending one anytime soon.
The kids all looked dashing in their dress outfits and I'm proud to say that they were the best dressed student group in the theater. After we hiked up to our nose bleed seats in the balcony, we took in the red velvet carpeting and giant curtain that draped across the stage. How fancy it all was! As the performance began, I was totally impressed with the talent level of the actors. A couple pseudo romantic scenes made the kids giggle but most of the kids thought the first half was exhilarating. At the beginning of the second half, Ms. Skedeleski let out an outburst of laughter that set off a chain reaction amongst the students, for what reason we are still trying to figure out. The play climaxed with a gunshot to Tony and everyone jumped out of their seats. As we left the theater, everyone excitedly talked about the show and a couple of students got to meet the actors in the lobby. Here, Kaleialoha poses with the lead actor, Tony.
On the bus ride back to the hotel, the show continued, thanks to Ms. Inouye's purchase of the soundtrack (note the sarcasm here). By the time we made it back, most of us memorized the lyrics to "Maria", "America", "The Jet Song", and Dillon's favorite, "I Feel Pretty." Our first day in New York was a memorable one and Thursday couldn't come any sooner.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A Meeting with the Congresswoman...New York City Skyline
When I first began planning this trip, I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like: take the club on it's first White House visit, seeing the famous nation-founding documents in the National Archives, experience the yearly Capitol tour and visit New York City. So far, all of these ambitions have came to fruition. However, today was a one part generosity, two parts hospitality and three parts Aloha!!
I knew today was going to be ambitious when everyone was up and at 'em on time and ready to roll. After a filling breakfast, we made our way to the National Archives to see our nation's Charters of Freedom! Luckily, we arrived at the National Archives about 30 minutes before it opened so we were right in front of the line. Once we got in, we were amazed by the incredible architecture inside. The kids were stoked to see the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other major handwritten documents of American antiquity. Ms. Inouye and I were completely floored when we started reading the original lines of the Declaration of Independence..."The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America..." For me, a childhood dream fulfilled, and for the kids, the beginning of their patriotic homage.
We had to hurry out of the Archives because the next visit was going to be a once-in-a-life-opportunity that even I didn't anticipate.
We arrived at the Capitol around 11:30am. We power-walked/jogged/trotted/horse-backed our way up the side pathway to meet the assistant to Congresswoman Mazie Hirono. Pat Okimoto was so helpful in orchestrating the White House tour as well as setting up the Capitol tour. Unbeknownst to us, we received admittance to the House Gallery to watch a live session of the House Chamber with Congresswoman Hirono presiding over the floor as the pro tempore! Democracy in motion!! After watching the brief debate between a Democrat and Republican House Rep on health care, we left the chamber only to be greeted by Congresswoman Hirono herself at the foot of the staircase!! From there, we were invited into the Speaker of the House's chamber to have a photo opp with Con. Hirono. Kawehi presented the Congresswoman with a lei and so began the photo ops with Mrs. Hirono.
The photo with the Congresswoman was a very rare opportunity that many other school groups from Hawaii do not have the fortune to experience. Congresswoman placed a request to the House Speaker Pelosi's office for this opportunity and the kids were so stoked! The picture tells a 1,000 words. We left the room and made our way outside to the steps leading up to the Capitol. There, Congresswoman engaged the students in an open forum where the kids asked questions about health care, education, and life working in the Capitol. She was totally receptive and did a wonderful job of
providing the hometown connection to the national limelight. I reveled in the moment for my students. =)
After several groups shots with our club banner, everyone was totally fulfilled with our time at the Capitol. I conveyed to the students that they experienced a most rare, incredible afternoon that many people would not have the chance to have. I could tell that they were very appreciative and exhilarated from the visit. Mission accomplished.
After the Capitol visit, we had to hurry to the bus so we could make our way to New York. We pulled another Clark Kent/Superman in the bathroom and on our way we were.
Needless to say, everyone caught a second wind when we got back on the bus and headed towards NYC. The weather continued to be raining but everyone persevered. The bus ride was filling with sing-a-longs, snoring, and singing competitions. During a point where most of the students were sleeping, I busted out a mean air-guitar performance of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey--just a tip of the iceberg of what's to come.
We made a stop along the New Jersey Turnpike for dinner and once the Empire State Building came into view, we blasted the Jay-Z song in victory.
New York, here we come.
Over and out.
I knew today was going to be ambitious when everyone was up and at 'em on time and ready to roll. After a filling breakfast, we made our way to the National Archives to see our nation's Charters of Freedom! Luckily, we arrived at the National Archives about 30 minutes before it opened so we were right in front of the line. Once we got in, we were amazed by the incredible architecture inside. The kids were stoked to see the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other major handwritten documents of American antiquity. Ms. Inouye and I were completely floored when we started reading the original lines of the Declaration of Independence..."The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America..." For me, a childhood dream fulfilled, and for the kids, the beginning of their patriotic homage.
We had to hurry out of the Archives because the next visit was going to be a once-in-a-life-opportunity that even I didn't anticipate.
The photo with the Congresswoman was a very rare opportunity that many other school groups from Hawaii do not have the fortune to experience. Congresswoman placed a request to the House Speaker Pelosi's office for this opportunity and the kids were so stoked! The picture tells a 1,000 words. We left the room and made our way outside to the steps leading up to the Capitol. There, Congresswoman engaged the students in an open forum where the kids asked questions about health care, education, and life working in the Capitol. She was totally receptive and did a wonderful job ofproviding the hometown connection to the national limelight. I reveled in the moment for my students. =)
After several groups shots with our club banner, everyone was totally fulfilled with our time at the Capitol. I conveyed to the students that they experienced a most rare, incredible afternoon that many people would not have the chance to have. I could tell that they were very appreciative and exhilarated from the visit. Mission accomplished.
After the Capitol visit, we had to hurry to the bus so we could make our way to New York. We pulled another Clark Kent/Superman in the bathroom and on our way we were.
Needless to say, everyone caught a second wind when we got back on the bus and headed towards NYC. The weather continued to be raining but everyone persevered. The bus ride was filling with sing-a-longs, snoring, and singing competitions. During a point where most of the students were sleeping, I busted out a mean air-guitar performance of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey--just a tip of the iceberg of what's to come.
We made a stop along the New Jersey Turnpike for dinner and once the Empire State Building came into view, we blasted the Jay-Z song in victory.
New York, here we come.
Over and out.
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