Mentos Rockets

 I'll just let the pictures do the talking here.  Mentos.  Diet cola.  Kapow.

Art Class: Charcoal Shading

 We broke out the charcoal a couple Fridays ago.  For Tyler, it was his first try at creating a smudgy masterpiece.  We use real charcoal sticks rather than the pencils, so our hands were Covered.  For starters, we worked on three dimensional shapes like cubes and spheres, then we moved into our larger piece, which was a vase.

 The idea is to "pull" the sides in to create the look of a shadowed, rounded object.  I told them to draw a bunch of eyelashes, but Cadin though they were toenails. 

 Are you....taking a picture of me?

 We had some great and uniquely shaped vases.  Must be all that ceramics we've done.

 Everyone was feeling very accomplished as the vase began to pop off the page.

Seeing as most don't learn these skill until high school, I think these kids did phenomenally well!

Baseball on Swan's

 Went to Swan's a couple weeks back.  It was interesting disembarking from the Sunbeam this time around.  We've never had to climb up over the bow of the boat before.  It was the only angle that could get us close enough to the dock due to the low tide. 

 As usual, we were up for the challenge. 

 Leah, the phys. ed. teacher at Swan's Island School gathered all the kids together on the field.  She told them to line up on the white line so they could pick teams.  What did the Frenchboro kids do?  Huddle together like a pack of puppies at the far end of the line.

 With some cajoling, they did at least scooch down the line a bit to *sort of* join the others.  Hilarious.  They warmed up once we got going.  Started out with some catching drills and then the game began.  It was fantastic to have 19! kids to play ball.  The two hours positively fled by and too soon we were back on the bus with Leah's dad, Paul, at the helm.

These kids LOVE the bus.  It must be a universal kid thing...get to the back seat.  They were chatting and giggling the whole way.  Riding the bus is something so mundane for nearly all kids across the country, but these guys are still thrilled by it.  I think they might like the bus ride as much as the actual game!

Dr. Rob and Amanda Visit

Our favorite New York City emergency room doctor, Rob Gorski was up for his second visit to Frenchboro School.  Mr. Finn and Rob go back to college days at Northern Michigan University.  They kept in touch over the years and Dr. Rob is always willing to come out to some wind swept island that we happen to be living on at the time, be it in Alaska or Maine.  This time he brought his special lady, Amanda, with him.  She works at the Museum of Modern Art.  I know!  So impressive.  Two for the price of one this time around. 

Dr. Rob started the day out right, by showing everyone nasty ER pictures he's accumulated over the years.  The kids' faces were priceless.  Especially at the "draining" of the cyst.  ARGHHH!  It was so gross, and we all squealed.  One of those, "Cannot....look....away" moments.

Then we got down to business and suited up.  Booties and all.

Masks, badges, gowns...the works.  Even the masks with the splash guard to prevent "fluids" from getting in the eyes. 

Dr. Rob did an awesome workshop on suturing.  Suturing duct tape is surprisingly similar to the real thing.  In Alaska, we just happened to have a fetal seal in the freezer for suturing.  Here, not so much.

Brody, Myron and Austin were all old pros, volunteering their services right off the bat.  As Dr. Rob said, "See one. Do one. Teach one."  Whoa.

Just in case the duct tape squirted...

After watching the big kids, the little guys got in there with gusto.  They were naturals.  Future surgeons we've got out here.

Surgeons who wear camouflaged Bogs.

With suturing all taken care of, it was time for surgery.  Saylor, Myron and Cadin all suited up with the hair nets.  You don't want hair dropping in your open wound, now do you?

And masks...to keep in the drool of course.

Scrubbing up.  It's not every day that the patient gets to watch the scrubbing process.  Amanda was our guinea pig and Jayde had not yet administered the anesthesia. 

The surgical team scrubbing in.  I love using all this doctor lingo.  Too much ER, House, and Grey's Anatomy for sure. 

Then Saylor assisted the doctors with their gloves so they wouldn't contaminate their perfectly scrubbed paws. I am happy to say the surgery was successful and Amanda no longer has an appendix.

On to the casting, our favorite part!  Last time just a few kids got casts.  I think perhaps the parents were not amused when their children came home with fully casted arms.  This time, they were better prepared to have all of their children immobilized.  EVERY student got a cast.  I love Seth's eyes in this picture.  He wasn't sure what Dr. Rob was going to do with those scissors.

There was such a whirlwind of casting that in just 15 minutes, all 11 students had broken their arms, been to the emergency room and received the proper care. 

What goofballs.

I've never seen kids so happy to have broken a bone.

They couldn't stop giggling and laughing

Even the doctors were cracking up.

What do you do after you get a cast?  Have everyone sign it, of course!

....by old friends,

and new ones.

Not to mention a teacher or two thrown in for good measure. 

We finished the day with Amanda telling us about her job at the Museum of Modern Art.  I always wonder what these kids will remember later in life as they have been exposed to some of the most amazing folks out here.  We had a woman visit from the Museum of Natural History and do a lecture on early ceramics and now we've had a lecture on typography from Amanda.  SO cool!  Thanks to Dr. Rob and Amanda for visiting our little schoolhouse.  So great to learn from you both.