July 4, 2011

Daily Report from the Journalism Committee

Fourth of July Fun by Allison

Our Fourth of July holiday started this morning with a special treat; sleeping in and not having any specific wake-up time. We all got to get out of bed at our own pace, a wonderful way to start celebrating Independence Day! When we got dressed we all had in mind the colors red, white, and blue. We were having a "most patriotic" contest at the end of the day judging the people dressed in the most festive clothing. The first half of our day was very laid back. We stayed at Seaside Farms for the morning and part of the afternoon, playing in the big open pastures or sitting and talking in the pavilion. We also had the chance to go down to the beach. Early in the afternoon we were all asked to go to the beach for a van competition. We were going to have a beach-art contest. All of the vans had forty-five minutes to collect objects on the beach and use them to create a piece of artwork. We were judged on five categories: originality, the name of our piece, symbolism, resourcefulness, and creativity. After everyone was done and the pieces were judged, we went back up to the campground and played group games of "If you love me, please smile." Everyone was laughing by the end of the game. We loaded the vans and went downtown at four fifteen. Once we got there we had an hour and a half to walk around and go into stores. We were all back by the vans to watch the Fourth of July parade at six o'clock. Before the parade we got our phones so we could call our parents to say "Happy Fourth of July!" The parade was short, but we had fun watching the floats and chasing the candy that was thrown from all of the floats. When the parade was over we loaded the vans again and drove back to Seaside Farms. We had a little free time before hug time. At the end of hug time we were informed the winners of the beach-art contest, the Moose van, then we were wished one last "Happy Fourth of July" before we all said goodnight and went to bed.

Untitled by Kyle

Conrad Field and his daughter Eryn are two very amazing people. They know so much about ecosystems and the environment around us. I think I could ask Conrad any question about the plant life and animals of Alaska and he would know the answer. Everyone learned something new from Conrad, whether it was about the plant life or the critters stuck to the docks. I learned something new every time he opened his mouth and talked to us. One thing I learned today was about a plant, when it is eaten the plant can lower your blood pressure. This is important to me because I have high blood pressure because of a surgery I had a couple years ago. Conrad also talked about the people of Alaska. He told us how the natives didn't need McDonald's, Subway, or Taco Bell. The natives lived off of the land, instead of steak they ate seal, and instead of Doll salads they pick their own vegetables. They also use the land to heal themselves, there are plants for just about anything. Pain, sore throat, cough, and just about everything else you can think of.

Conrad's daughter Eryn is pretty amazing too. She is about half my age and she knows and has seen more then I ever have. She is fun to be around and can put a smile on anyone's face. They are two amazing people and I wish we could have spent more time with them. We could all learn a great deal from them too. Maybe instead of buying tomatoes in the store we could grow our own vegetables.

The tide pooling was really cool. Marine biology has always been an interest of mine and it was cool to learn about all the animals that are right below you as we walked across the dock. When we found a critter that looked cool we showed Conrad and he knew what it was and everything about it. He would pull the critter out of the water and start talking about what it does and why it resides here in Alaska. I learned so much from them and I hope if I can come back next year I can meet them again.