- an archive of every e-mail message I send out to my East Coast Trip families
- a suggested packing list
- a countdown to our take-off
- a camera comparison guide
- more helpful information to come as we get closer to our trip
- photos and updates once we have begun our trip
We had a great roommate meeting today, and I would like to have our next student meeting next Wednesday, February 24, at lunch in my classroom.You bring your lunch, and again I will provide dessert.Some of the topics we will discuss at our meeting will be:
- packing suggestions and answering common packing questions
- how to make sure you sit with your friends on the airplane and on our motor coach
- which chaperone group you will be assigned to on the trip
Please feel free to email me at rippolito@gmail.com if you can think of other helpful content to add to the blog, or if you have any questions.If you are a student, I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday at lunch.
If you are a parent, I look forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 18, at 7:00 p.m. for our predeparture meeting.
We have all been waiting to find out when we're flying out, and I just received tentative flight information from USA Educational Adventures.We are scheduled to depart Los Angeles on Sunday, April 4, and return home on Saturday, April 10.Here's our schedule at this time:
4-AprDepart LAX at 1055PArrive BWI at 655A (5-Apr)
10-AprDepart JFK at 600PArrive LAX at 938p
Of course, flight information is subject to change, and we won't know our exact itinerary for sure until our pre-departure meeting on March 18.As more information comes in, or if anything changes, I will keep you posted.
Our East Coast Trip is now 53 days away and now is a good time to get out and stretch those legs. We walk an average of seven miles each day in this trip--through museums, up and down the National Mall in DC, along the battlefields of Gettysburg, and through the big-city streets of Philadelphia and New York City. Even the most physically-active students can get worn out by the amount of walking in our trip.
I encourage all our East Coast Trip families to take a family walk two or three days a week. If you really feel the need to get a special new pair of shoes for the trip, get them now and start breaking them in. On every trip I've done, there's always one student asking for band-aids to patch up blistered heels from a new pair of shoes. Don't let it be you!
While on the subject of footwear, we will have one special dress-up night in New York City when we see our Broadway show. Again, consider a nice, but sensible pair of shoes for this evening. If you wear cute little strappy high-heels, it's likely your feet will be both cold and in pain by the time the evening is over. In the next few days, look for me to send out a more comprehensive list of what to pack. In the meantime, get out there and start walking!
In a little less than two months, we will depart for our big adventure to New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Washington, DC.I love historical travel and I'm very excited to see some of our nation’s historical landmarks and greatest treasures. I am especially excited to share these treasures with your son or daughter this April.
As I indicated to many families at the end of last school year and at the beginning of this, I spend a lot of time from the fall until now NOT communicating with you. This was only because I wanted to wait until we were 100% certain of everyone going on our trip. I don't want to start sending out e-mails, getting kids excited, and signing up roommates if we have students who are dropping from the trip. Believe me, you will receive at least WEEKLY e-mails from me between now and Spring Break, and you'll get several updates each day we're on the trip, so I will more than make up for it!
The good news is we now know FOR CERTAIN who is going on our exciting adventure, so it's now time for me to let you know about two important dates:
Tuesday, February 16, lunch, my classroom (B-7) –ROOMMATE meeting
This is what so many students have been waiting for!Bring your lunch, and meet everyone who is going on the trip.We have 24 girls going on the trip (exactly six rooms of four) and 14 boys (two rooms of four, two rooms of three).We will start with an icebreaker to get to know everyone, and then we’ll get down to the business of choosing roommates.You bring your lunch; I’ll provide dessert.
Thursday, March 18, 7:00pm, Rio Norte Library – Pre-Departure Meeting
Organized by USA Educational Adventures, and hosted by both myself and our tour company rep, this meeting will go over the specifics of the trip.We finally get to see our exact itinerary, hotel and flight information, and all that good stuff.Now that we know for sure everyone who is going on the trip, our tour company is working hard right now to get us the very best flights and hotels possible.
Here is my very IMPORTANT request right now:please e-mail me back just to simply say, “Yes, you have the right e-mail address, Mr. Ippolito.”I will be using e-mail quite a bit from this point on, not only to share important trip information with you, but also to share photos and trip updates with parents while we’re back East.It’s very important that I have an e-mail address that your family checks regularly.Also, please let me know if you like to add an additional e-mail address (other parent, child going on trip) to get all this information as well.
If you ever miss one of these e-mails, it gets accidentally deleted, or you wonder if maybe you missed one, you can see an archive of every message on my Ippolito trip website, http://trippolito.blogspot.com. Trip with Ippolito? trippolito? Get it? :-) In the coming weeks, this website will be full of other great resources, too, including trip photos and real-time trip updates.
This is a big trip, and you are placing your child into my care for a week.Please feel free to e-mail me at rippolito@gmail.com (this is the e-mail address I check wherever I go) or call or text message me directly at the number I sent you via e-mail if you ever have any questions about the trip.
I'm very excited about our Spring Break 2010 trip to the East Coast! If you are a student traveling on our trip, or a parent of a traveling student, you won't be hearing much from me until our final payments are all complete next month. At that point, we will know for sure all the students who are joining us on the trip, and we can begin getting our group together, assigning roommates, and all that fun stuff! In the meantime, should you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail Mr. Ippolito at rippolito@gmail.com or call/text 661-347-4990.
Contact Mr. Ippolito immediately if you are interested. A wait list will begin once the trip fills. Deposit money is fully refundable for any wait-listed students who don't end up going on the trip.
I will host a brief, 15-minute Parent Information Meeting on Thursday, September 10, right at the end of Back-to-School Night.
This a great opportunity to find out more about this exciting opportunity. I currently have about 20 students traveling on this trip, which means I have room for about 25 more (45 maximum). At this meeting, I will give all interested families information about this year's trip, plus a packet of all the materials you will need to register for the trip.
If you aren't able to attend the meeting, I urge you to do a couple things: 1. Check out the link at the right. You can download the PowerPoint from the meeting that may answer many of your questions. If you have other questions, e-mail me at rippolito@gmail.com or call (661) 347-4990.
2. Send your child to Room B-7 so I can meet your son or daughter and give him/her the packet of materials.
The past two years, my trip has filled completely by the end of September. I intentionally keep my numbers small so that students can have a more personal, meaningful traveling and learning experience. If you believe your son or daughter is ready, and has the maturity and responsibility to handle this trip, then you'll want to sign up before it's too late. Please call or e-mail if you have any questions!
We were moving pretty quickly that last 36 hours, and although we spent PLENTY of time in the touristy souvenir shops, we skipped some historical gift shops at the end of our tour that I wish we had more time to explore, but they still offer a selection of items online. Here are three I would recommend:
Thank you again to our East Coast Trip parents for being so supportive and helpful in making our trip safe, fun, educational, and memorable. Thank you to our chaperones: Mr. Martinez, Ms. Reinhold, Miss Bretthauer, and the lovely Mrs. Ippolito for all their help in keeping kids safe, for counting so many times (. . . 41, 42 . . . 43, OK we have them all!) and for reminding students that they are proudly representing their families and representing Rio Norte with their good manners and citizenship. I think our chaperones' greatest strength was that each was a role model and an example of good character for all our kids.
Thank you to our students. For as frustrating and annoying as some of the behaviors were in the first couple days of our trip, after a few conferences with students and a handful of e-mails and phone calls to parents, we all settled into "a groove" with each other and the last four days went great. I was especially proud of our students in Washington, DC. While other middle and high school students from other groups were chasing each other around monuments and memorials, smacking gum in cemeteries, and texting in museums, our students were polite, thankful, and respectful. We were praised by several adults along our travels for how well-mannered and polite we were.
Most impressive throughout the whole trip was that our students were so ON TIME. This promptness, the best I have seen out of all these East Coast trips I have done, meant that we were able to see more and do more than any other student group I have traveled with.
The Day 6 photos are now online, and I was able to capture a few videos from our trip as well. You can check out the videos here:
I will have over 1,000 photos from my camera and Mrs. Ippolito's camera burned to a disc and ready to give to your child by Tuesday, April 14 (if you come to visit me in my classroom on Monday, April 13, you can wish me a happy birthday, but I probably will not have your disc ready yet, so just give me one more day back in my classroom). Also available for pickup will be your child's student ID card. Hanna Kerby, I found your disposable camera. E-mail me, and we'll figure out a way to get that, and your photo disc, to you.
Anything I missed? If so, let me know. Thanks for a great trip!
We visited Ford's Theater and the National Archives this morning, and just finished lunch. We are now off to the airport to come home!
As we have more flight info, I will pass it along to you via the blog. Remember we have a plane change in Salt Lake, so I'll keep you posted on that too.
We have faced a few health challenges this evening! Nothing too serious, and all the appropriate parents have been notified. However, Mr. Ippolito is tired.
As such, I am currently preparing photos for posting, but they may be without captions tonight.
I also should mention that in the past 24 hours, our kids have--for the most part--been wonderful.
The docents at Mt. Vernon this morning commented on how pleasant our students were, and the server at Dobbin House last night mentioned that we were the BEST group she has had all season.
Thank you, parents, for helping us hold our students to such high standards of behavior. We want to represent our school and our community in the best way possible, and that all begins by being courteous, kind, and caring to each other, and the people we encounter during the trip.
Just left the National Cathedral (amazing photos you'll see tonight!!) and we're now in American History. Just saw the big Lincoln exhibit, and about to see the ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz, among other cool Americana. After this, dinner at King Street Blues and then memorials at night.
Thanks to all parents who responded to my call for help. It has been a good night, and with the exception of one girls' room (we've already spoken with them), our security guard has said that it's a quiet night.
I appreciate your support. We're looking forward to a great day tomorrow! The weather probably won't be as great as it was today (we're expecting cold and rainy tomorrow in PA), but we're ready.
We are having such a great time on our tour, and I think our students are having a great learning experience. However, one of things we seem to need a refresher course is being considerate while traveling. We have spoken with them quite a bit, but I think it would also help coming from you.
When you speak to your child tonight or tomorrow morning, please take a moment to talk to your child about consideration. In the hotel room, we are not the only guests there. Families with children, men and women on business, and other patrons share the hotel with us, and our students right now are way too loud with their doors, their footsteps, and their voices.
Also, our students are having a problem remembering to clean up after themselves. Whether it is in a restaurant, or on our coach, they need to remember that if they don't clean up after themselves, they are just creating an unnecessary job for someone else.
Thank you so much for your help in this matter. I believe that if we both send this strong message together, it will be that much more effective. Even if think, "Never MY child!" please send the message anyway, and encourage your child to be a role model to others.
This time tomorrow, we should be checking in at the Delta gate, ready for our big adventure. I'll make this last message short.
Wear your blue USA shirt tomorrow. If you forget it, I have extras. We all wear the same shirt because for the first 18 hours of the tour, we're all still getting to know each other. It helps everyone if we all look alike. You'll be able to shower and change before Broadway. Yes, of course, wear your jacket over it when we're out in the cold, but your blue shirt should still be underneath.
Do a final packing check. Batteries and chargers are the most frequently forgotten-at-home accessories on this trip. Go through your whole packing list and check and double check.
Transition to the blog - I will no longer be sending out these broadcast e-mails to you. Instead, I will be posting regular updates on the blog. These updates will include a collection of photos each evening. Check from work, check from home, my goal is to post a trip update every 4-6 hours. Again, that address is http://trippolito.blogspot.com
I'm ready. I'm packed. I'm excited. Hope you are too!
OK, here are just some few last-minute things I've been thinking of:
Attendance on Friday - I think it's important to be at school Friday. First of all, I don't think the school would let me continue my trip if tons of kids kept turning up absent. Second, Hey, I'm going to school! And third, I don't think it's a good idea to stay at home and sleep/lounge all day. You WANT to be tired by Friday night. You want to get some sleep on the plane. Taking a three-hour nap in the middle of the afternoon will just throw your sleep pattern off even more, I think. Stay healthy, eat well, get a good night's sleep Thursday night, but don't spend all Friday napping.
To reward those who come to school Friday - I am going to hold a drawing. You must come see me in person sometime on Friday (brunch or lunch) to enter yourself into the drawing. The winning student will receive an "I HEART NY" t-shirt when we arrive on Saturday. Hanna and Lucas, since you don't attend Rio Norte, I'm going to assume you are going to your respective school on Friday and enter your name into the drawing. I'll announce the winner when we're on the coach heading down to LAX.
Weather reminder - If you've been checking the weather, it looks like it's going to be in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, with a bit of rain here and there. Be prepared!
Luggage captains - I have had one strong student (thank you, Lucas) volunteer to be a luggage captain. Marc, I've heard a rumor you're interested, too. If anyone else is interested, come see me.
Name badge preference - If you have a preferred nickname that you'd like on your name badge other than the name that is officially on my roster, let me know. If it doesn't matter whether you are "Katrina" or "Katie," "Christopher" or "Chris," then don't worry about it.
I said "second-to-last" e-mail because I imagine there will be one final one later Thursday afternoon/evening. See you in about 40 hours!
