Project Red, White & Food

I've already shared many times that I'm an active volunteer with the Red Cross, and last year on 9/11, I shared my story from that day... and the weeks that followed as I served at the Pentagon with the national Disaster Relief Operation. Last year was also the first year that community service club I co-sponsor created an activity for this day.
This year, in recognition of the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance, club students created Project Red, White And Food. Our school colors are red, white & blue, so the name was both recognition of the school and of our chosen project. We chose to make sandwiches to donate to the DC Central Kitchen.
The club set up stations during all of the school lunch shifts, and each student had the opportunity to make a sandwich. Everybody that made a sandwich received a foam sticker in the shape of a piece of food as a thank-you. We made 374 sandwiches before running out of lunch meat, but we were able to donate the additional gloves, hand sanitizer, and bread to the Kitchen, along with some fresh produce.
At the end of the school day, we had a pep rally, and the students ran relay races where they have to put together sandwiches made from one of the play food kits. The senior class showed their class spirit by making the most sandwiches, and winning the relay race at the pep rally.
The project would not have been possible without support from Whole Foods-Reston, Wegmans-Sterling, and Giant Food-Sterling. Thank-you!

Flat Stanley: Flying Back

Dear Friends,

I had to get up very early this morning (and it was tough because we were at Disney until 1:00 a.m.!) to catch our plane back to Baltimore. I almost got left behind at the hotel, but fortunately one of the teachers with the group found me. It would have been a very long walk from Orlando to Baltimore.

It was cold this morning in Florida. Our flight left Orlando very late, and so we missed our connection in Atlanta. We did not get back to Baltimore until after 4:00 p.m., so everybody was very tired by the time the Red Cross picked us up at BWI. We saw snow flurries on the way back (and its APRIL!).

When we made it back to the high school, the group had a present for the Red Cross staff that picked us up: a Mickey Mouse light saber. How cool! It even lights up in rainbow colors.

As soon as the teachers have all the pictures of me done, they are going to send me home. I can't wait!

Flat Stanley: Walt Disney World

Dear Friends:

Today, we went to Walt Disney World Resort. Walt Disney World has many different parks to visit. My group went to Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom. The other students also went to Typhoon Lagoon, which is a water park.

At Magic Kingdom, we went on a lot of rides. We went on Space Mountain, and the Tea Cup ride. We also took pictures of the fireworks and Cinderella's Castle at night.

At Animal Kingdom, we went on the safari and saw lots of animals, including a tiger, hippopotamus, and an ostrich.

We ate dinner at Hollywood Studios at the Vine restaurant, and then went on Terror of Terror, and shopped at the Star Wars store to get a Jedi Mickey light saber for a friend.

The students who went to Typhoon Lagoon went on the lazy river, lots of water slides, and the wave pool. They also snorkeled with sharks.

Flat Stanley: Fondue!

Dear Friends:

Tonight, I went to dinner with the students from Extra Mile. They went to a fondue restaurant. This is a restaurant where you cook your food at your table. They started with cheese fondue. You dip bread, apples or vegetables in the melted cheese. Or, I guess anything you might want, but the restaurant gave us bread, apples and vegetables. Then, we got hot broth to cook the main dish in. One girl at my table only eats vegetables, so I got to try eggplant, and spinach tortellini, along with steak and shrimp. The last course was chocolate fondue with marshmallows, brownies and cheesecake to dip in the chocolate.

After dinner, we took a group picture around the fountain, and headed for Downtown Disney to visit DisneyQuest and
do some shopping. We are going to Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios tomorrow. I am not going to Typhoon Lagoon with the group because I don't like water very much.

Flat Stanley: National Youth Institute

Dear Friends:

Today we spent all day in workshops learning about how the Red Cross does different activities. One of the highlights was the lunch session: there were 5 different groups from the same area as the Extra Mile club students who are hosting me. This was really amazing to see all of these teens working to make their communities better. They ate lunch together and got to know each other a little bit. There was also a slide show that the students from Extra Mile were in because they worked at the Presidential Inauguration!

After dinner, we had a birthday surprise because two of the students had birthdays. The local Red Cross chapter helped the Extra Mile group get a birthday cake. Then, we went to the dance. I must say, I looked stylin' in my neon bracelets!! Some of the students investigated the hotel swimming pool... but I don't like water very much!

---Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley: Flying to Florida

Dear Friends:

I flew to Florida today with some of the students from the Extra Mile Club. Half of the group went on a different flight, but the students I traveled with stopped in Cincinnati, Ohio before getting on another plane to go to Orlando. I'm waiting impatiently for the pictures, so I can post them here.

We had a storm delay, but finally got to Florida and found the other group. We had some problems with a car rental, and so didn't get to the hotel until really late. We had to miss our trip to NASA because of that. How sad: I've always wanted to go in a rocket!

Tonight we did conference activities, and then we went to Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Tomorrow, we are at the conference all day long.

---Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley: Arriving in Virginia

Dear friends,

Today I arrived in Sterling, Virginia. I'm being hosted by the Extra Mile Club from Park View High School. The students in the club do community service activities. Some of the activities that they have done this year include ringing the bell for the Salvation Army, working at the Presidential Inauguration, and making/sorting cards for veterans.
The club is going to Florida tomorrow to attend a Red Cross Conference for Youth. They are also going to go to Disney World, and a fondue restaurant.

---Flat Stanley

Guest Blogger

Starting on Thursday, April 2, ITC Fusion will be hosting Flat Stanley as a guest blogger on the site. Flat Stanley lives with A & his family. Flat Stanley has come to visit us because the students in the Extra Mile club (the community service club I co-sponsor)are going to Florida.
We'll be attending the National Youth Institute, which is co-sponsored by the Red Cross, visiting Kennedy Space Center, and Walt Disney World. It should be an interesting trip...


But, we'll let Stanley tell you about it as he experiences it. We will also take pictures of Stanley (and the students!) while in Florida! :)

Long Overdue

I haven't updated the blog as often as I should have in the last few months... I was feeling a bit guilty because we have been doing some interesting activities. One group completed all of their This I Believe essays, and have moved on to working on a recipe project. Students were instructed to find a recipe that meant something to their culture or their family. They were then required to complete a worksheet about the recipe, and a research worksheet that asked why the recipe was chosen. For the research worksheet, students also had to use websites to find the origins of at least 3 foods. The food origins was harder than it should have been; I will need to find better websites for the students to use for this portion if I want to do this activity again. I've included a link to the worksheets on my wiki. All of these projects are easier to do with the grant we received from Best Buy last year.

In another class, students are working on identifying deductions and earned income, fixed and flexible expenses. For years we did this activity using a postboard with velcro and "pieces" that attached. This year, I've updated the activity so it works on Classroom Suite, and I might also do a version that will work in ActivStudio on the Promethean Board. Of course, to do that part I really need to get the software installed on my laptop. Right now there are also worksheets to reinforce the concepts learned in the hands-on activity on my wiki.

The students in the club have been busy as well, and we had 9 students work the 2009 Inaugural, and 12 students completed training in order to serve. We have 8 students going to the National Youth Institute in Florida in a month, so we have been fund raising like mad. We were very fortunate to get some local corporate and individual sponsors that enabled us to get the students to the conference! Just last week one of our students spoke about what we have done this year, and what volunteering and being in the club has meant to her to the Disaster Action Team in our county. We showed an incredibly cheese video I made of their activities after her speech.

The Extra Mile Goes Farther

I probably couldn't have come up with a cheesier title for this entry if I'd tried. And the only excuse I can think of right now is that my brain is frozen... even if it is for a good reason.
The last 3 weekends have had the students in the club providing lots of service to our community. On Black Friday, 3 students and my co-sponsor gave up their post-Turkey Day shopping to ring bells for the Salvation Army in front of a local grocery store. On December 6th, some students helped at an elementary school's holiday party, and others went to Red Cross National Headquarters to sort cards for Holiday Mail For Heroes. Today, students spent another 4 hours ringing for the Salvation Army, even though the temperature today didn't get much above freezing, and had a wind chill of about 20 (degree F).
While all of this is going on, the students are also trying to raise funds so they can attend the National Youth Institute this year. A local Uno's Pizzeria is going to host 3 separate restaurant fund raisers for us. The first is this Thursday, December 18. If you live near Dulles Town Center, please consider helping the students in Extra Mile get more training, so they can keep helping just as they have been. You'll need to take this ticket with you to the restaurant: