The second quarter was over and it was time for another honor roll party. This time we decided to do another Travel Honor Roll Party, but that our destinations would be different -- like the Swiss Alps.
The invitations were passports. I think I put more time into these than any others we’ve ever done. Each student’s passport had their own picture and information on it.
Friday night arrived and they brought their luggage with five random items as instructed to do so on their invitations, along with their passports, and a hat, scarf and gloves.
We checked their luggage and shoes, then they waited in our waiting area which always has a good supply of tracts to read.
Shortly after take off our captain Major Disappointment showed the students a safety video that the teachers had made for them.
Our first stop was in Mexico. . . again. This was sort of a funny deja-vu type thing, with the same parents dressed in the same outfits and the same music. And the principal sang us a another funny song about all the students.
Back on the plane the flight attendants (teachers) served pretzels and drinks from a little cart just like on a real plane.
Our next destination was Kenya, Africa. Three of our students and their family had spent three years there, and they did a very realistic version of a Kenyan house by building a plywood frame around our library corner, putting newspaper over it, using a little cookstove in the middle, washing our hands before we ate, serving scrumptious, authentic Kenyan food, and showing us items from Kenya.
We were late for our next flight and had to run back to the “plane” (pews). This time our pilot chose a student who is an avid aviation fan to be our guest pilot.
Then he crashed the plane.
We had watched our safety video, so we knew exactly what to do. After putting on our hats, scarves, and gloves, we calmly and quickly filed out the back emergency exit door and found ourselves at the North Pole.
Tulimak's Igloo
A friendly Eskimo (church brother) invited us out of the cold into his igloo. He served us hot tea and seal meat (beef jerky). We sang for him while we waited for the the plane to be repaired. When it was ready, we took pictures with Tulimak, our host, bade him farewell, and boarded the plane.
Our last stop was the Swiss Alps. We all learned a little yodeling song while we sat on sheep skins around a fireplace and listened to sheep "baaing" in the background. (We considered getting real sheep, but settled for a recording instead.) After yodeling, we sipped hot chocolate and enjoyed some fantastic apple strudel.
The students were then put into teams and challenged to make a creative sculpture out of the random things they had brought along in their suitcases. This was the winner.
Several of the older students helped us clean up while the younger ones played kick-the-can. While we were disassembling all of our "scenes" (countries), one of the moms remarked, “These honor roll parties are like having a wedding four times a year!” And she was right. They are a lot of work, but they do work. Most of the students are really motivated to make good grades, and most of them achieve their goals.
To see more honor roll party posts, click HERE.
To see more honor roll party posts, click HERE.