Diana's friend and coworker Katie needed some volunteers to help judge History Fair entries, as part of Milwee Middle School's participation in History Month celebrations, so I agreed. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured it wouldn't be too bad!
Over the week, she brought me a stack of essays to read. The grading instructions boiled down to "always find something positive to say" and "remember these are junior high kids" while selecting the essays that best stuck to the theme of "important people and their impact on today". Most of the essays I read (a dozen or so in total) did a good job of selecting someone famous, but many didn't strongly tie in their impact on today's society. The other major criteria was a bibliography containing various numbers of sources (I sorta glossed over that figuring the other judges would pay more attention).
On the morning of the fair, I showed up and noted the setup. The library (er... Media Center as they are apparently called today) was split into a few areas for the different categories: multimedia, websites, essays, and the cafeteria stage was used for displays. Multimedia and websites?! Good to see the relentless march of technology. :)
Anyway, the two other essay judges and I went into a small side room, where we interviewed each of the students individually. This wasn't meant to be grueling, but some of the kids seemed really nervous or outright terrified. Our questions were straightforward, things like "what gave you the idea for picking this person", "what was the most interesting thing you learned" and so on. After chatting a bit, the kids all relaxed as they got excited talking about their essay. We had a range of historical figures, from Knute Rockne and Elvis Presley to Nikola Tesla and Marie Curie to local figures like Henry Flagler.
After wrapping up and selecting the finalists, I got a tour of campus courtesy two of the students: Anita and Courtney. They were in 8th grade and had an entry in the Displays category. They were either on the yearbook staff, friendly with Katie and the other teachers, good students that were looking to duck out of a few more minutes of classes by showing me around, or all of the above. In any case, they were really helpful and fun to talk to, as I thought back to my junior high school days.
I realize all the students I saw today were among the best at the school, hence they were participating in the contest. School-wide finalists would advance to compete in a county-wide competition to be held in a few weeks, and from there I suppose there will be a state-wide one. I gathered from Katie that the History teachers all assigned the essay topic to their students. Hey, sounds like reasonable arm-twisting to me! After grading the essays, making comments and suggestions for improvement, the students that came back and worked on their essays more were eventually tapped for the fair.
Katie bought door prizes and made Certificates of Appreciation for everyone. I was happy since I won two bags of Starbucks Coffee.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
School Nostalgia
I gave into some pressure and joined Facebook, after several friends kept inviting me. Plus, the local bike club here is surprisingly active on it.
While fiddling around, I decided to search for a bunch of people I went to junior high school and high school with. Junior high was a bit unusual compared to others, because I went to a DoD school for American kids in Frankfurt, (West) Germany, and for obvious reasons it was tough to keep in touch - families moved and so forth. Dad worked at the U.S. Consulate and my classmates were so-called "army brats" or kids of civilian employees (Justice Dept, State Dept, etc). I loved it there - aside from living overseas and getting to see a lot of Europe, I had many friends in school. We all got along, probably since everybody was used to moving a bunch, my peers were all relatively laid back. We all realized we were all in this together. ;)
To my surprise, I got a hit - Trenna (Keiper) Bingham, a junior high classmate! We've traded a few mails and it's so fun contacting somebody from back then.
After more searching, I found more info on Frankfurt American Junior High School. One alum created a page for FAJHS, and a link to a Yahoo Group! I requested to join and hope that goes through soon. Maybe I'll find a few others and see what they've been up to.
There are other websites underway, FAHS.org and FAJHS.org, so I'll keep an eye on those.
Anyway, Holly's page has some maps of Frankfurt. The High School map is fun for me to look at, because I lived near it!
On that map, circled in the upper left near the word "Ginnheim", was Frankfurt Elementary School #2, where I finished 6th grade. A bit lower to the right, under the word "Schurz-Sdl" is a small street named Plieninger Strasse - that's where I lived. Across the yellow road on the map, is the "Amerik. Hochschule" circled with a pen. The Consulate my dad worked at is somewhere around the Grüneburgpark area, but I can't find it.
Both FAHS and FAJHS don't exist anymore. The bases were closed down, areas decommissioned and returned to Germany. Now they just exist virtually!
While fiddling around, I decided to search for a bunch of people I went to junior high school and high school with. Junior high was a bit unusual compared to others, because I went to a DoD school for American kids in Frankfurt, (West) Germany, and for obvious reasons it was tough to keep in touch - families moved and so forth. Dad worked at the U.S. Consulate and my classmates were so-called "army brats" or kids of civilian employees (Justice Dept, State Dept, etc). I loved it there - aside from living overseas and getting to see a lot of Europe, I had many friends in school. We all got along, probably since everybody was used to moving a bunch, my peers were all relatively laid back. We all realized we were all in this together. ;)
To my surprise, I got a hit - Trenna (Keiper) Bingham, a junior high classmate! We've traded a few mails and it's so fun contacting somebody from back then.
After more searching, I found more info on Frankfurt American Junior High School. One alum created a page for FAJHS, and a link to a Yahoo Group! I requested to join and hope that goes through soon. Maybe I'll find a few others and see what they've been up to.
There are other websites underway, FAHS.org and FAJHS.org, so I'll keep an eye on those.
Anyway, Holly's page has some maps of Frankfurt. The High School map is fun for me to look at, because I lived near it!
On that map, circled in the upper left near the word "Ginnheim", was Frankfurt Elementary School #2, where I finished 6th grade. A bit lower to the right, under the word "Schurz-Sdl" is a small street named Plieninger Strasse - that's where I lived. Across the yellow road on the map, is the "Amerik. Hochschule" circled with a pen. The Consulate my dad worked at is somewhere around the Grüneburgpark area, but I can't find it.
Both FAHS and FAJHS don't exist anymore. The bases were closed down, areas decommissioned and returned to Germany. Now they just exist virtually!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sacramento
Bev called up in October, to wish me a happy birthday. We hadn't seen each other in a year or more, so she invited me out for a weekend in November. Also flying out was another friend of ours from Houston, Patti.
We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Bev got her inlaws to watch their two boys Friday and Saturday, so the four of us (Bev and Ben, Patti, me) took some bikes out to a park with trails. But... it proved to be a little too hilly for the group so we packed up and just visited wineries!
We visited a few, but eventually wound up at Ben and Bev's favorite winery, V. Sattui. The winery has a small museum, just one room with some old equipment, fairly large picnic grounds, and is very scenic. Plus, it has a generous wine tasting program: tasting 6 of 9 regular wines for $5, or tasting 6 of 9 premium wines for $10. For comparison, some of the other wineries we stopped at were more expensive: $25 for tasting, or another one was $10 for 5 samples, etc. We were cheap and just left those places after a brief walkthrough.
On Sunday, Ben and Bev had their boys back, so we took it easy in the morning. In the afternoon, we visited a salmon hatchery along the American River, and then went for a walk/hike. It was a really nice trail: paved for bikes, with a gravel lane for runners! Past the gravel lane were trails along the bank good for hikers or mountain bikers. We collected flat rocks and skipped them in the water. :)
We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Bev got her inlaws to watch their two boys Friday and Saturday, so the four of us (Bev and Ben, Patti, me) took some bikes out to a park with trails. But... it proved to be a little too hilly for the group so we packed up and just visited wineries!
We visited a few, but eventually wound up at Ben and Bev's favorite winery, V. Sattui. The winery has a small museum, just one room with some old equipment, fairly large picnic grounds, and is very scenic. Plus, it has a generous wine tasting program: tasting 6 of 9 regular wines for $5, or tasting 6 of 9 premium wines for $10. For comparison, some of the other wineries we stopped at were more expensive: $25 for tasting, or another one was $10 for 5 samples, etc. We were cheap and just left those places after a brief walkthrough.
On Sunday, Ben and Bev had their boys back, so we took it easy in the morning. In the afternoon, we visited a salmon hatchery along the American River, and then went for a walk/hike. It was a really nice trail: paved for bikes, with a gravel lane for runners! Past the gravel lane were trails along the bank good for hikers or mountain bikers. We collected flat rocks and skipped them in the water. :)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Rally
This election season has gone on for a long time, nearly 2 years (!), but it is winding down soon.
My friend Diana called up and wanted to know if I would be interested in attending a rally - Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were stopping in the area late on Wednesday. Late as in 11 pm, in the Kissimmee area, which is already about an hour drive away. I agreed, so we made plans to meet and drive down there early enough to park, line up, and meet two of her friends.
The rally was held at a county fairgrounds, and was jammed with people, even though we got there almost 3 hours early! We passed the time in line just chatting, but during quiet moments I thought of all the rallies that all the candidates held, and how thousands/millions of other citizens in every state had done this same thing. Getting there 3 hours early means you can line up to stand in the crowd - those people that get bleacher seats, behind the candidates on a TV camera... I can't imagine how early they had to arrive. Probably in the morning, or those seats are invitation only. Mind boggling! I also tried to recall any other time I've seen a U.S. Presidential Candidate or President live... and the only time I could remember was in the early 90's in Houston, where George Bush Sr. gave a talk during an economic summit. Since part of campus was closed, I wandered over and attended it.
Anyway, the rally was fun. Obama aired a commercial before the World Series, and they played it on big screens. There were a few other speakers: the actor Jimmy Smits, plus an attorney who was organizing poll-watchers and legal teams. Bill Clinton came on to various cheers, and spoke for a while, and then Obama came out on stage and talked.
I had heard parts of his speech before, from other news coverage, but it was exciting to hear it live! I tried to take some pics but we were too far back to get really good ones.
Afterwards, it took nearly 1 hour before we could even move from the parking lot, and then it was another hour back home. So it was a pretty late night for both of us, but both Diana and I were glad we went! Mai and Charles wanted to go as well, but they had to stay home and watch their daughter. :)
The next day at work, I searched through the Orlando Sentinel website and found their writeup of the event.
My friend Diana called up and wanted to know if I would be interested in attending a rally - Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were stopping in the area late on Wednesday. Late as in 11 pm, in the Kissimmee area, which is already about an hour drive away. I agreed, so we made plans to meet and drive down there early enough to park, line up, and meet two of her friends.
The rally was held at a county fairgrounds, and was jammed with people, even though we got there almost 3 hours early! We passed the time in line just chatting, but during quiet moments I thought of all the rallies that all the candidates held, and how thousands/millions of other citizens in every state had done this same thing. Getting there 3 hours early means you can line up to stand in the crowd - those people that get bleacher seats, behind the candidates on a TV camera... I can't imagine how early they had to arrive. Probably in the morning, or those seats are invitation only. Mind boggling! I also tried to recall any other time I've seen a U.S. Presidential Candidate or President live... and the only time I could remember was in the early 90's in Houston, where George Bush Sr. gave a talk during an economic summit. Since part of campus was closed, I wandered over and attended it.
Anyway, the rally was fun. Obama aired a commercial before the World Series, and they played it on big screens. There were a few other speakers: the actor Jimmy Smits, plus an attorney who was organizing poll-watchers and legal teams. Bill Clinton came on to various cheers, and spoke for a while, and then Obama came out on stage and talked.
I had heard parts of his speech before, from other news coverage, but it was exciting to hear it live! I tried to take some pics but we were too far back to get really good ones.
Afterwards, it took nearly 1 hour before we could even move from the parking lot, and then it was another hour back home. So it was a pretty late night for both of us, but both Diana and I were glad we went! Mai and Charles wanted to go as well, but they had to stay home and watch their daughter. :)
The next day at work, I searched through the Orlando Sentinel website and found their writeup of the event.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Marine Corps Marathon
After training for so many months, it was a relief to finally do the event! This was by far the largest event I've ever been to - 22000 or more participants, and thousands of volunteers. The course was nice and scenic, passing several famous monuments, the weather was perfect... I had a lot of fun.
The hilly section of the course was early, and our hill runs out in Clermont really paid off. The race went pretty well - I didn't start feeling tired until mile 21, where my left calf started feeling sore. I was worried about cramping, especially during miles 22-24 in the Crystal City area, but it didn't happen.
Marine Corps Marathon
Official time was 4:34, and unofficial time (i.e. time after I subtracted out the time I spent in porta-potty lines) was 4:25. I'm happy... after the soreness goes away I'll think about another one, a little bit faster. :)
The hilly section of the course was early, and our hill runs out in Clermont really paid off. The race went pretty well - I didn't start feeling tired until mile 21, where my left calf started feeling sore. I was worried about cramping, especially during miles 22-24 in the Crystal City area, but it didn't happen.
Marine Corps Marathon
Official time was 4:34, and unofficial time (i.e. time after I subtracted out the time I spent in porta-potty lines) was 4:25. I'm happy... after the soreness goes away I'll think about another one, a little bit faster. :)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Spy Museum
We took it pretty easy. Mai, Charles and I went to the International Spy Museum, right next door to the FBI building. I loved it... reading all the exhibits, seeing the various gizmos and gadgets on display, it was pretty interesting overall. On a previous trip to the DC area, I went to visit the National Cryptologic Museum at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, MD, which was also very interesting to me.
The Spy Museum was of more general interest, and had a few fun interactive displays. There was a recording of WWII Navajo code-talkers, a crawl space where you had to move as quietly as possible, and a covert agent game to play! Upon entry to the Spy Museum, you could spend 2 or 3 minutes learning a secret identity and then answer questions and get further instructions inside the museum. At the exit, there was a final quiz that simulated a border guard at a passport control, asking questions about your trip. Any inconsistencies resulted in a "suspicious" rating, with possible detention. Fortunately, I managed to pass through with no problems. ;)
It was rainy and after finishing up at the museum, we just wanted to get back to the hotel and rest up. Our final carbo loading spaghetti dinner was at the Pentagon City Mall food court, since it was cheap, convenient, and fast. We watched Baby Mama while unwinding in the room.
The Spy Museum was of more general interest, and had a few fun interactive displays. There was a recording of WWII Navajo code-talkers, a crawl space where you had to move as quietly as possible, and a covert agent game to play! Upon entry to the Spy Museum, you could spend 2 or 3 minutes learning a secret identity and then answer questions and get further instructions inside the museum. At the exit, there was a final quiz that simulated a border guard at a passport control, asking questions about your trip. Any inconsistencies resulted in a "suspicious" rating, with possible detention. Fortunately, I managed to pass through with no problems. ;)
It was rainy and after finishing up at the museum, we just wanted to get back to the hotel and rest up. Our final carbo loading spaghetti dinner was at the Pentagon City Mall food court, since it was cheap, convenient, and fast. We watched Baby Mama while unwinding in the room.
Friday, October 24, 2008
DC Trip
After training for so many months, marathon weekend is here!
Earlier this year I realized that 10 years ago is when I started running. Since then I've branched out, but running was the first fitness activity I enjoyed and stuck with. In order to commemorate that, I decided to do a marathon later in the year. I searched around for a suitable one, and boiled it down to Portland or Washington DC, both in October, and thus also around my birthday.
I mentioned this plan to some friends, and to my surprise, quite a few expressed interest! We met and tossed around some training plans and eventually registered for the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon.
At a party at Venky's. Only Charles is missing from the pic. And yes, Linda is really tall (6'2").
We flew up in several groups throughout the day. Since I was splitting a hotel room with Mai and Charles, I met them and we went to the expo, where everybody had to go to pick up race numbers and info packets. Fortunately, we met up with the others and went to dinner afterwards!
Charles, Mai, me
Earlier this year I realized that 10 years ago is when I started running. Since then I've branched out, but running was the first fitness activity I enjoyed and stuck with. In order to commemorate that, I decided to do a marathon later in the year. I searched around for a suitable one, and boiled it down to Portland or Washington DC, both in October, and thus also around my birthday.
I mentioned this plan to some friends, and to my surprise, quite a few expressed interest! We met and tossed around some training plans and eventually registered for the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon.
At a party at Venky's. Only Charles is missing from the pic. And yes, Linda is really tall (6'2").
We flew up in several groups throughout the day. Since I was splitting a hotel room with Mai and Charles, I met them and we went to the expo, where everybody had to go to pick up race numbers and info packets. Fortunately, we met up with the others and went to dinner afterwards!
Charles, Mai, me
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