Junior High Trip

So yes....it's been over a year since I've blogged. Yeah.....I suck. BUT I've decided to turn the mood of my blog around a bit and focus more on what I've been doing in the classroom AND my 8th graders plans for this summer.

So, this past September, my JH class asked why they never got to take school trips like other schools they've heard about. I told them that it's mostly because no one has ever brought it up and really pushed for it. So, they decided they were going to be the class to push for it. It was then decided that they wanted to go on a 2 week adventure, discovering the joys of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. This may be a strange pick of places but it's all tied to a book weirdly enough. My JH class had just finished reading "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech and they loved all the places the main character got to visit. They wanted to see the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and a few national parks in Minnesota.

To take this trip we would have to raise around $50,000. Let me tell you, this is SUPER hard in a dinky village of 400 people. Though the students have been working really hard, we did not get anywhere close to $50,000. It was time for a rearrangement. It was decided that we would only take the 8th graders, 14 total, and three chaperons. We also cut a HUGE chunk of time out of our trip. We will only be in the Lower 48 for week and three days and were only going to be in ND for two days, in the Wahpeton area, and Minnesota for the rest. It was a tough call but we didn't want to give up or wait another year.

So now we're shooting for $25,000 to take our 8th graders for the trip. We are on course and hopefully we'll make it!

Basically, my entire school year has been one fundraiser after another. This weekend marked our LAST basketball tournament and I HOPE that we've made enough money. Cross your fingers!

I'll be updating throughout the rest of the school year and let you guys know how the fundraising is going and all that. Below is a picture of one of our fundraising attempts, a Spaghetti Feed. We turned the gym into a restaurant and served everyone like a real restaurant. There were waiters and chefs and someone to personally seat you. There was also romantic Italian music playing in the background. It was A LOT of fun :D

The woman in the picture is Sheila Phillip. She is the other English teacher here in Kong and she's also coming along on the trip and has been planning this along with me. Without Sheila this trip would NOT be a possibility. She has organized all the planning for all 4 or 5 basketball tournaments we've had, along with raffles, spaghetti feeds, etc. She rocks and I'm so blessed that she didn't think I was crazy and wanted to do this trip as much as I did.

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