Dive!, Dive!, Dive!

Today we finally were able to test our underwater vehicles. We evaluated their maneuvering capabilities in the pool and nearly all designs worked as originally planned, although some tweaking may need to happen. Next, we will be mounting sensors for temperature and depth of the water on our vehicles. 

Click here to see our video!

After Winterim

Tonight (Tuesday) LA is sending all students off campus to three different locations. The first is LazerCraze an arcade type deal that also has an indoor arena for laser tag, located in North Andover. The second place students are going is SkyZone in Boston, an indoor trampoline park. The final location is a rock climbing facility called The Boston Rock Gym. These are all promising endeavors of entertainment and should be fun.

Yesterday (Monday) there was indoor soccer, archery, a Zumba class, and a rigorous workout called the Poulinator. Tomorrow night (Wednesday) there is a Celtics game, another Poulinator, and a Worcester Ice Sharks game. Thursday is an all school IMAX movie event in Methuen.

Continued Production

The "set" - Waters House (my home)

Production continues on the horror films coming out of Waters House. The dorm was transformed into a movie set for much of the time. The make-up artist is here today and the "blood" is flowing.

Tools of the Artist

Jug of fake blood

Poor Teddy Bear

Discussing important matters

Creativity in Various Forms

On campus today three groups continued to meet, learn and use their creative minds.

Beyond Monopoly has split into two groups and is using creativity to design and build an original strategy game.  Each has come up with some basic concept of a game and they are working to create the game board/pieces and flush out the details of how to play (and win) the game.  Neither group has a name for their game yet, but one group has a clear "one-liner" to explain what it will be:  A futuristic territorial acquisition game played on a modular board where players need to explore unknown planets and establish a new civilization on one of them.

The Chess group is also involved with strategy gaming but of another sort, which also requires creative thinking.  There is a game board and pieces and the game requires you to "think ahead" and plan for various moves your opponent might make.  At first chess may not appear to be "creative" thinking  but since a person needs to recognize several alternatives or possibilities at one time, it is in fact a highly "creative" game.  Actually, playing chess will help you to develop this type of flexible thinking. (Today, Tuesday, the group is having a tournament.)

Just down the hall from Chess is the Watermedia Painting group.  They went off campus this afternoon to visit Sharon Wooding's studio and an art gallery.  It was a perfect time to capture some finish products and those in process on camera.  Here we see creativity in a specific art form.

 

The Adventure Continues

The sailing Winterim is pressing on, they are experiencing the wonders of sailing on the Caribbean. They are doing everything from cooking their own meals to body surfing. The area they are in is beautiful, the weather is perfect.  Read the blog written directly by the students from their sailing vessel.  (The 4th tab above will also take you to their blog; it is updated regularly.)

  

Peru Painting and Playing

After a fun day of whitewater rafting, Project Peru was back to work. Their work on Monday consisted of painting a pre-school room and playing with the kids. Check out the pictures of their work!

                 

                 

D.C.

White House

The System traveled to Washington D.C. to experience the Justice system at work in our nation's capital. While in D.C. they are visiting historic sites. They are also meeting with Representative Griffith at the Maryland State House.

Group shot infront of a famous building. Can You name it?

Statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Washington Monument

An Ancient Land

Students in Ireland are visiting landmarks for photo opportunities. They are allegedly taking better photos than one of their Winterim Leaders. They came together and celebrated a student's birthday, and they got to see a castle, which is currently a 5-star hotel.

Trinity College in Dublin

Photo shoot overlooking the Irish Sea on the East Coast

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Croagh Patrick (statue is St. Patrick)

Ashford Castle

Thank Goodness we Still have Snow

Thank goodness we still have snow or our Total Mountain Experience Winterim would not have much to do during these two weeks at Wachusett Mountain.

Taken from Wachusett Mountain Photo Gallery - Ariel View

Besides skiing and snowboarding the students in this group are assigned to different areas of the mountain business to work - ski school, grooming, snow-making, business office and etc. They will learn the inner workings of how a ski mountain functions from day to day by spending time working closely with the professionals through their Wachusett Shadowing Program. They were assigned to customer service, terrain park maintenance and the cafeteria. They also helped with rentals and helped in the waxing and repair shop. Today, (Tuesday) due to the weather we are going to Polar in Worcester for a tour. Polar is run by the Crowley Family, who also owns Wachusett Mountain.

Mind, Body and Spirit Interconnected

The Yoga Beyond the Mat Winterim is quite interesting. (I'm trying to imagine being that relaxed all through Winterim!)

They spent the first week learning about the techniques of Yoga.  They had speakers come to LA to teach them about nutrition, martial arts, and breathing as well.  They visited Nashua Community College to learn about massage therapy, a degree program they offer. They planned to visit Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA on Friday, but the snow day cancelled this visit.  In the first week, they also set goals with their instructor, Kim Johnson, who has been a yoga practitioner for over 12 years.

Yesterday, Monday, Peter Dolan, a meditation and yoga expert, came to speak with them about meditation techniques and benefits. He said meditation will allow us to feel more a part of relationships with our personal self, others and nature.  It is about opening yourself up to the connectedness of everything in life. Once you become more aware of your thoughts and connections, you will be more in control of these things, as well. He says you should be relaxed, in a quiet place, be stretched out or warmed up, use breathing techniques for focus and don't "force" the conscious awareness.  Mr. Dolan also said that meditation is cumulative - you get more from it the more you do it. So it's best to meditate for a short time each day than try to meditate only once a week or month for longer durations.