Friday 2-22-08 - Off to Punta Arenas and visit to elementary school

Friday - It was sad to leave the beautiful "El Establo" and venture off to Punta Arenas. On the way to the DoubleTree Resort, we stopped at a local elementary school. I thought nothing could top the zip lines, but when I saw how Costa Rican students welcomed us with smiles and hugs, this quickly became the highlight of everyone's trip. The students embraced us, our students played soccer with them, and we signed autographs for them...hahaha. It truly was a unique and gratifying experience that touched each and every one of us that visited the school.

The EHHS and Wagner students playing soccer with the Costa Rican kids. They loved it.

Ari actually washed and brushed her hair today.

Shot of the school - It's amazing how the teachers are able to teach effectively and achieve with the little resources they have. It made a lot of us appreciate what we have and how we take it for granted.

Mrs. Marion refused to take her bracelet off after our stay at El Establo. It had been three days and started to reak. That is why none of the kids wanted to take a photo with her. Ari, the good samaritan and model student that she is, felt sorry for Mrs. Marion and decided to take a photo. Ari actually had to hold her breath for this shot.

We actually walked in during an English lesson. Most Costa Ricans know how to speak English.

Larson, Brochu, and Bajana doing research on the correlation of school uniforms and higher order thinking. I think we might see them for the upcoming year. If we do, you can thank those three.

Ummm. I just kicked the ball with my flip flops and I stubbed my toe. Now my toenail is going to turn black and fall off. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?

Lindsay, one of the Wagner chaperones and Miles interacting with the little guys.

Lindsay pretty much took over the class and started to sing and dance with the students. I thought the teacher was going to drop kick her.

The students were very ambitious. Most of them were inspired by the show CSI and wanted to get into forensics or some type of police investigative work. Others wanted to be engineers, doctors, and some wanted to get involved in politics.