Space Camp Day 1 Mission: Arrival

Day 1 Mission: Arrival.

Today starts the journey of a life long dream of mine, to go in space. Well, okay, so I’m not really going into space, but it’s the closest I will probably ever come to being in space. I was one of a group of teachers from around the world who applied and was accepted to Honeywell Educators Space Academy (HESA), in other words, Space Camp. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of going on missions to Mars and to the Moon. I used to play Star Trek as a kid with some of my friends. I never got to be the captain; I was always one of the crew. I’m hoping I might get to be captain for one of the missions this week; we will have to see how that plays out. In 2011, I headed down to Florida with my husband and  children to watch the last shuttle launch of the Endeavor, however, at the last minute the mission was cancelled due to some technical issue. I couldn’t get any more time off from work and ended up watching it on television. I cried when I called my boss and asked for a few more days to watch the launch and he said no. I since have a new boss who thinks me embracing my inner geek, is cool, and not only allowed me to miss the last few days of school, but also encouraged me to write about it.

When I applied to HESA, I think my husband thought I had lost my mind. “Aren’t you a little old for that?” He asked. Nope. You’re never too old to follow your dreams. “Aren’t you afraid of throwing up in the anti-gravity chamber?”  He asked. Yep. Now that one, I am a little afraid of. Let’s face it; I get dizzy watching the merry-go-rounds. It’ll be challenging for me, sure, but being able to conquer my fears and have the adventure of a life-time far outweighs my being afraid to make a fool of myself.

Today, I met teachers from all over the place. I’ve met teachers from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Slovenia, teachers from California, Arizona, and New York. My suite mates at the University of Alabama, where we are staying are super cool. Tamera is from North Dakota, and Karen is from Mexico. We were all so excited to receive our flight suits tonight. We were all taking selfies and shamelessly posting them to Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat.  I put mine on as soon as I got it and wore it proudly. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually going to sleep in it. I don’t think I ever want to take it off!

Our first mission starts tomorrow at 7 a.m. We were told it was going to be a long 12-hour day. Hey, we’re teachers, we’re used to long hours. We were also told to bring our flight suits with us, as we will need them for part of the mission we will be working on. I am so giddy about the prospect of getting to wear that suit, I don’t know if I will even be able to sleep tonight!

Mission arrival: success! Over and out.

To the Class of 2016, With Love, From Me, Your Science Teacher

This post is dedicated to the graduating class of 2016 at the Science & Arts Academy, where I am lucky enough to work with such wonderful students.

What does it mean to be an SAA graduate? When you graduate from 8^th grade it can be a bittersweet time in your life. On one hand, you are excited about the prospect of making new friends, taking cool classes, and maybe even trying out for the high school team. Yet at the same time, you have mixed feelings about leaving a place that you have called home for so many years.

When I was hired at our school 7 years ago, you were a scrawny group of 2^nd graders with smiles that lit up a room. You were a quirky group of kids, especially when one of you wanted to donate their “lethargic brain dead cat” as a class pet. But you were curious too. Anything I showed you in science class you seemed to ooh and ah over. As second graders, it seemed that I could show you a dust bunny from underneath my couch and you ‘d think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I cried when I was promoted to the upper grade science teacher that year, but I knew I was leaving you in very capable hands and that when you came to middle school we would meet again.

Some of you are new to SAA and haven’t had the full SAA experience such Mr. Solberg demonstrating how to heal, making a commercial for Mr. Bayer’s drama class, but this class has all survived my favorite, the dreaded 7^th grade sludge test of Chemistry. You manage to separate your elemental compounds without blowing up the school lab; we are forever grateful for that! Whether you’ve been here for your entire elementary school career or you came within the last two years, you are part of the SAA family, and you will remember the friendships you’ve made these past years. More likely than not you will remember these times fondly and someday share stories with your children and grandchildren about your former classmates, along with how many bowel movements you've had that week, and nature of kid's today being no damn good. 

You will remember Leon and Juliana’s artistic talents. You will remember the bridge that Emilie built that had the amazing efficiency rating. You will remember the bubbly personalities of Jude, Julia, and Masha skipping down the hall, Mark and Benjy’s quick wit and dry sense of humor, Martin’s one liners that are spot on, the time that Matt, Izzy, and Emily, all went to Nationals for Science Olympiad and Internationals for CMPS. You will remember Jeromey telling everyone that I’m really a country western music fan, even though I denied it. Okay Jeromey, it’s true; I actually do like some country music, but let's just keep that secret to ourselves. You will remember Claire’s strength when she stood up for what she believed in; you will remember, Sophie’s artistic dance, Jenna’s ability to check any hockey player, Szymon’s smile, Celina’s quiet demeanor, and Anna’s cat ears and tails that she wore quite often. You will remember Marshall’s dance moves both on and off the stage, Meilyn’s ability to soar as Peter Pan, Finn’s obsession with all things Apple, seriously, dude, give Android a chance, and Grahams beautiful poem that he wrote and recited at the graduation, which by the way, was his very first time to ever speak in front of an audience.

When I looked at my Facebook account, yes, I am making reference to that social networking device to where we share our cares, our burdens, our triumphs’, and our high scores for fruit ninja and candy crush, it occurred to me that most of my contacts are from grade school. It isn’t that you won’t make long lasting friendships in high school, you will. It’s that they will be different. You might have one friend in a couple of your classes’ freshman year and then not even see them again until senior year passing in the hall. You'll wonder how the heck that kid got so tall and has so much facial hair. You’ll take in-depth classes in high school, and have hours of homework each night. You will go to football games, basketball games, school plays, and have a world of opportunities of extracurricular activities to choose from. Heck, you may even attempt to ask someone out to a school dance and your parents will proudly post every single picture of you in your suit or dress on social media, just like they did when you were a kid and lost your first tooth or had your first dance recital. In high school, you will take the PSATS, the SATs, and the ACTs. You will scan college brochures, visit college campuses, hopefully decide on a college path and get into the university of your dreams. You will also learn to drive in high school, God help us all when that finally happens. You should see what some of these guys did with my dynamics carts in Physics this year. 

Most of you will find that you do well in high school due to the fact that you are highly gifted in some areas and have been well prepared by my colleagues and me. Think about the education you have been given from the highly qualified teachers all who are passionate about what they do. You croon and play with the best of them because of the fantastic music department. Your art is meaningful and proudly displayed, Shakespeare is like child’s play from the teachings in both our drama and literature classes, and math isn’t scary at all; well, okay, it’s math, maybe a little scary for those of you who hadn’t had a chance to take Algebra II, and even then it's still scary, because, hey, it's math.  And when your future science teacher asks if anyone knows what momentum or impulse is, you’ll proudly describe how you designed an egg device to withstand an egg being dropped from the gym ceiling some 30 feet in the air, and how 5 of your classmates all tied for the coveted extra credit for having indestructible devices. You have ben given an education that isn’t available everywhere and to just anyone. You’ve been given advanced classes, accelerated concepts, meaningful class discussions, and guidance from all of the teachers at SAA. From the gym antics and crazy hats the gym teacher wore to the months of work on the History Fair. You covered more Latin than just et tu Brutus and kicked butt at Certamen meets, which for those of you like me who didn't know about them are contents for geeks who like Latin. Who knew kids would be so into wearing togas and shouting out, Barba tenus sapientes.  And many of you will use your Spanish and French skills when you travel abroad.

Hopefully, we have done our job and prepared you well for your future endeavors in addition to helping you realize your potential. It is also my hope that you will remain in contact not only with us, as we will be curious how you are surviving and who you will become someday, but that you will also continue the friendships you have formed here. Friendship isn’t about whom you’ve known the longest – it’s about who came and stayed by your side, and never left you when you needed someone the most.

While having dinner with one of my friends from grade school, we were discussing our jobs. I had the opportunity to share with her what it is I get to do everyday. Though we may have some challenges here, out of all the jobs, I have every had and of the schools I have worked, I am truly the happy here at SAA. I not only have smaller class sizes but classes that welcome the rigorous challenges we offer and get our quirky and sometimes corny jokes. I enjoy the fact that I can be the geek I was in grade and high school by finally having others who appreciate a good science joke and are fans of Doctor Who! My friend said to me at dinner, “Colleen, you are changing the lives of those kids there.” And I thought about that and said, “No, no they’re ones who’ve changed me. I’m a better person for it.”

So, that’s what it means to be an SAA graduate. You have made lifelong friendships, and touched the lives of those who had the wonderful opportunity to get to know and teach you. And for that, I say thank you. Graduate, you have made us all so very proud! Go forward holding your head high, because you are now alumni of the Science & Arts Academy. Congratulations to the class of 2016!

7 Things I Learned This Past Year About Owning a Dog

7 Things I Learned This Past Year About Owning a Dog

For Mother’s Day last year, my husband gave me a puppy. We named her Tessa, but pretty much, she was called Bad Dog, No! since that’s pretty much what she heard on a daily basis. I haven’t had a puppy in several years. I mean like, since I was a kid. I thought I was ready for another dog, since our beloved Sheltie of 12 years had passed away the previous year. I knew I wanted another Sheltie, as they’re intelligent, friendly dogs that make great family pets. When we received our first Sheltie 12 years ago, she was already nine months old, potty trained, and almost past the chewing stage. She was timid, trained very easily, and pretty much followed us around everywhere. I don’t know what I was thinking, but, note to self: not all Shelties are the same. Just because one was a great angelic dog, doesn’t mean they all will be.

Personally, I wanted a black and white dog, one that wouldn’t be a painful reminder of what I had lost. My daughter wanted a reminder of what she had lost. Me, wanting to please my daughter and have her involved with this new dog’s life, we went with the sable colored pup, and the new pup is very close in coloring to what our last dog was. That’s the only thing they had in common.

New pup is named Tessa, my daughter named her after Tessa Grey from Inferno Devices. A fine name for a pretty female Shetland sheepdog, maybe just a bit close to the dog we lost, named Trixi. There are times when I would mistakenly call Tessa, Trixi, but then again, I often call my children by the wrong names, too, when I am yelling at them. And yelling, I seem to do often, especially with this pup. Here’s what I learned this past year while raising a puppy:

One, puppies are a lot of work, and I mean a lot of work. They whine and cry during the night and you have to take them out unless you want to clean up puppy pee the next morning. And then, even when you do let them out at midnight, and then again, at 3 a.m. you still step in puppy pee the next morning. This lasted for quite a while until her bladder grew large enough to hold her pee longer. Just as when my now teen aged children were infants, I was woken up during the night several times to a crying, whimpering pup, who didn’t always have to go pee, but just wanted to play. I’m not very playful at 3:30 a.m. when I have to be up in a few hours to go to work. In fact, I’m down right crabby when I don’t get my sleep.

Two, Shelties are barkers. I didn’t know this. Our other dog, Trixi, barely barked, maybe when a stranger was approaching the house, but that was about it. I had no idea how “barky” Shelties were because ours never barked. This one. Oh. My. God. She barks non-stop. You open the front door, she barks. Open the garage door, she barks. Go up the stairs, she barks. Close the dishwasher, she barks. She especially barks, when anyone hugs. Seriously, I try to hug my husband or my children, and she goes crazy! And I’m talking not like a cute little, oh, that’s a sweet bark type of bark, but an ear piercing, holy crap, that barking is driving me mad, type of bark. I read that you should squirt the dog with water when they bark to teach them not to bark. Uh, yea, doesn’t stop the barking. In fact, I think she’s become immune to it and actually enjoys the water.

Three, everything is fair game when it comes to chewing. If something is left on the floor or within reach for her, it’s hers. This dog loves to chew. We’ve spent what seems like hundreds of dollars on chew toys to try and get her to not chew on what she shouldn’t, and she does chew those, to bits and pieces. If it’s a stuffed dog toy, she shreds it, pulls out the squeaker, and leaves a trail of stuffing throughout the house. It’s kind of like living with the furry version of Sid, the evil kid next door who dismantled toys, in Disney’sA Toy Story. She doesn’t just stop at toys, but also shoes, belts, underwear, briefcases, student papers that you hadn’t gotten to grade yet; basically, anything that’s on the floor she claims as her own and puts her mark on it. And by mark, I mean teeth marks. You should have seen the people at For Eyes optical when I took in my chewed up glasses case and glasses that were only 2 months old. Let me tell you, dog chewing isn’t covered by the warranty. She’s also very good at emptying coat pockets. If you ever come to visit us, please don’t leave your jacket over the back of a chair, she’ll go through your pockets and take out your keys, your chewing gum, and even a tampon that you had in there for emergencies. I learned to hide my shoes and place anything of importance up off the floor.

Four, Shelties need a lot of exercise. These dogs are natural herders. They like to run. They need to run. She has all this energy that she needs to expel. I have learned that she is much better behaved when we take her to the dog park and she can run freely with the other dogs. Or when we take her outside and play soccer or Frisbee with her, though once she gets those items, she chews them, but still, she will run and chase after them first. Having my Sheltie has definitely kept me in better shape. I find that I walk with her, play with her, even run with her. As much as I want to be sedentary, she doesn’t allow me to. She gives me those big puppy dog eyes, rings the bell on the front door, and wants me to go out with her. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. She’s looking out for my health!

Five, she eats some really strange things. I read that carrots and sweet potatoes were healthy for dogs. She loves them, can’t get enough of them. When I’m making dinner, I have to make sure I have a few extra raw carrots for her. She also loves ice cubes. It’s really funny at times, she can be sound asleep at the other end of the house, yet will come running when she hears the freezer door open! The dog loves to eat ice cubes. She tosses them into the air, chases them around the hardwood floors, and then crunches them like they were the best treat in the world. She also eats cat poop. It’s a race to see who gets to the litter box first, her or me. If I don’t scoop the poop as soon as the cat goes, she happily munches down on it. Gross, I know! So I learned to clean the litter box quickly. 

Six, she and the cat are best friends. Well, okay, maybe frienemies. There are times when the dog is relentless and the poor cat is growling and hissing, which the dog takes as, oh wow, the cat really enjoys this, let me chase him some more, and until we say to the dog, “drop it” or “leave it”, she continues to torture the cat. You’d think the cat hates it, but secretly, the cat loves it. How do I know? Because when the dog is sleeping, the cat will sneak up on her and do something playful, will come lay with the dog, or will even start grooming the dog. There have even been times when the dog and cat are in cahoots together. The cat will jump on the counter, knock something to the floor, and the dog will enjoy the benefits of something new to chew on. I’m pretty sure that’s how my glasses had gotten partially eaten.

Seven, even though she barks, runs to the neighbors house as soon as I open the door to let her out, and chew shoes, she knows when I need a hug. I don’t know how she does it, but she seems to sense when I’m in a sour mood, sad, or just need a hug. She will jump up on the couch next to me, and lay her head on my lap. I was distraught when my grandmother passed away this year, and as soon as I hung up the phone, the dog was right there, comforting me. When I had become ill, and missed almost a full week of work, she lay with me everyday, keeping me company. So I learned, that even though the dog was more work than I thought it would be, loves to chew anything personal, likes to eat full rolls of toilet paper right off the holder, barks like crazy, and rips toys to shreds, she really isn’t always Bad Dog, No!, but can be Good Girl, Tessa, more often than not. It takes a lot of patience on my part, and some real effort on her part. But as she grows, we are learning about each other, and coming to an understanding. This past year, she has taught me patience, kindness, and love exists between cats and dogs. She has also taught me to pick up after myself and not leave things on the floor. Most importantly, she has taught me that dogs need guidance and unconditional love. I can’t just expect her to know these things innately, but have to train her not to chew, not to bark, and not to eat cat poop, and I need to love her no matter what, as she loves me, despite all my faults.

T-13 And Counting...

Okay, so, I'm not your typical teacher. My kids might say, I'm not your typical mother either. My husband...he'd probably agree that I'm not like most wives either. And that's okay. Let's get this straight, right now people. It. Is. Okay. Ready for this? To be different!

Funny thing, I'm not really all that different, it only appears that I am. But honestly, I am as human and boring and ordinary... as the rest of them!

Case in point. Everyone has something to look forward to, right? Students are looking forward to no more homework. You may be looking forward to that vacation you desperately need. Someone may be looking forward to an upcoming birthday, or an outing to Wrigley Field! Me...I'm counting down the days to Space Camp!

It's interesting, when I tell people I'm going to Space Camp, I either get this, awe, that's so cool!  Or, I get this, uh, heh, aren't you a little old to be playing dress up as an astronaut? Doesn't matter what others think. Only matters what you think of yourself.

When I applied to be a part of it, I didn't tell anyone. Not that I was embarrassed by the fact I was applying, but embarrassed by the fact that I might not get in. It was a grueling process too, let me tell you! I felt like I was applying for a new job! And, I figured my chances were slim. Good thing they didn't ask if I throw up on Merry-Go-Rounds, but ah, won't that be interesting! I was at a Science Olympiad competition in Ohio when I received the news that I was accepted along with other teachers from around the world! What an incredibly exciting night that was! I was jumping up and down as if I won the lottery! To me, I did. My dream of entering the Space Program was coming true. Well, okay, so it's not the real Space Program, and I won't really be going into space, but hey, I'll take it!

I've been watching HESA videos, reading blogs, and joined their Facebook page! I watch those videos, and yes, I admit it, I get teary eyed... did I forget to mention I'm part geek? Can I help it, if every day I mark down on my calendar how many days are left before I leave? I even announce it in that deep announcer voice while holding my toothbrush as if it were a microphone, T-13 and counting...

Truth is, I haven't been this excited about something in a long time, not in a really long time. There were times that I felt as if my teaching were becoming flat and stale, my life too. But once I knew this was happening, it was as if a dark cloud had been lifted and I started to be happier about things! Even my students commented that I seemed like I was in a good mood all the time (I still have those grumpy moments, we all do). Want the honest truth? Truth is, I'm terrified and excited, both at the same time. I forgot to mention to HESA that I am afraid of heights, and that I get dizzy really easily, like from Ring Around the Rosey, dizzy. And, the fact that I'm kind of out of shape, well, all that scares me. And then, there's the big one, what if I make a fool of myself and fail? That's a big one. You know what? Who cares! I'll conquer my fears, I'll throw up if I have too, and so what if I fall on my face, make a complete utter fool of myself, and fail? I continuously remind my students that you learn more from a failure than you do from a success. So I need to heed my own advice.

I think this guy, sums it up for me, "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." ~ Winston Churchill. The point is, how can I fail if I don't even try? So, I fall on my face. So, I throw up after my ride in the anti-gravity chamber. At least, I put my self out there!

So, for today, imagine me standing proudly, and you hear that deep announcer voice, T-13 days and counting...

Click here to check out where I will be going!