Mrs. Kato's Class Goes to the Hilton Waikoloa

Mrs. Kato's class went to the Hilton Waikoloa on Friday, February 1st. They went to participate in the Splash Class from Dolphin Quest which is usually a one day trip. Due to the generosity of the Delima family, they were able to spend the night in a suite...What an opportunity! The students got to make smores, watch a movie, go swimming, and venture out on the grounds to explore petroglyphs. I was looking forward to going myself, but Hollywood came up and I had my own adventure going to California for the America's Choice Conference. The students were lucky to have Mrs. Kato, Ms. Kanoa, Aunty Bev & Uncle Howard, Mrs. Kawasaka, and the Delima family to chaperone them on this fabulous trip.

This slideshow was created for the students so that they could look back and remember all that they got to do. They sure did enjoy it, asking to watch it again and again. They even requested that it be watched every Friday :-) The clip starts out with the whole 5th grade celebrating the end of the second quarter at the YWCA. Students that got to go swimming had to be sure to complete their Read to Succeed goals for the quarter AND complete independent written responses to books read. They worked hard and deserved it!

Journey Through The Universe

Today HUS had the pleasure of having scientists come to share their knowledge with our students and teachers. I was fortunate to encounter Mr. Kevin Caruso. Mr. Caruso is a dynamic and passionate electrical engineer who came to visit us from snowy Illinois.

Students from our class got to make "rockets" out of film canisters, water, and effervescent. Boy, were they surprise when they were allowed to count down and "launch" their rockets in the Hilo Union Library! There were bursts going off every which way with students dashing, dodging, and laughing the whole time.

You wouldn't think it could get any better...then Mr. Caruso chose one student to be an "astronaut." Kayla was chosen to be dressed up in a space suit with helmet, gloves, tools, pack, and many other accessories. The best part was when he "pressurized" her suit. You have to watch the video to get the full effect!

Many thanks to all the scientists who came to share what they know and love with our students. I know how much we enjoyed Mr. Caruso, I am only disappointed that I didn't get to participate with the other scientists. I am definately looking forward to next year!

America's Choice Conference 2008

January 30, 2008 - February 3, 2008

Wow! What a whirlwind of a week. The four of us were off to Hollywood for the annual America's Choice Conference. It all started with impressive virtual tours of Ewa Beach Elementary from Ewa Beach, Hawaii (where we got some information on how they do inculsion) and Chets Creek Elementary from Jacksonville, Florida.

Chets Creek Elementary got us excited about how technology is being used in other school and turned us on to blogging. I had never heard of blogging and was intimidated by how difficult it might be. Vita found out later from the "Chets Creek Gang" that it takes only minutes to set up. She was right!