Travel to Italy

Just a taste of the school trip to Italy.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
This will be our last full day of "tourism". We’ll be making an early – inhumanely early – start to the day on Friday to begin the journey home.Wake up was at 0800 and breakfast at 0900. We walked back to Piazza San Marco to meet our guide for a walking tour of Venice. The walk back to the Piazza San Marco did not seem quite so confusing. Perhaps it was a bit of familiarity with the route, perhaps it was because I started taking notice of the yellow signs painted on the buildings that marked (with arrows) the route to the piazza.Venice was founded in the fifth century by dwellers fleeing the barbarian invaders. By the 12th century, Venice had established itself as a world trading and commercial hub. It was from Venice that Marco Polo set out on his great journey to the Far East.

Over time, the city acquired a vast overseas empire and wealth poured into the city funding the building of great churches and palaces. The power of Venice declined as other trade routes to the east were opened and the republic fell in 1797. In 1866, the city became part of the newly unified Italy
We began our tour by walking along the Riva degli Schiavoni to the crossing of the first canal – at the Rio di Palazzo. From there, it’s possible to look north to see the Ponte dei Sospiri (the Bridge of Sighs). The bridge connects old prisons with interrogation rooms in the Doge’s palace. The bridge acquired the name in the 19th century thanks to the poet Lord Byron. There are two legends surrounding the name – one says that the name was earned because it was the windows on the bridge that gave prisoners their last glimpse of Venice before incarceration. Another legend refers to the route that the condemned would take from the prison over to the square in front of the Doge’s palace; the site of execution. The reality is that the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built, and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals. Local legend says that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge.

The Rialto area of Venice was one of the earliest parts of the lagoon to be settled. It stands on some of the highest ground in the city and is one of the areas less likely to be flooded. Rialto was an early centre of commerce; Venetian merchants controlled trade between Europe and the Far East. The name Rialto was as familiar to medieval money men as Wall Street is today. The first bridges across the Grand Canal at Rialto were simply boats rafted together. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the first of what eventually were five wooden bridges were built. In 1557, a competition was held to choose a design for a stone bridge. Designs were submitted by Palladio, Sansovino and Michelangelo – but the commission for the bridge went to Antonio da Ponte for his (at the time) revolutionary single-span design. The sides of the span are devoted to pedestrians and provide "back-door" access to the shops that run down the centre of the bridge.
For more check out the blog at http://korahinitaly2008.blogspot.com/2008

Duke of Edinburgh Awards

DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARDS

GOLD –

Britta Allen

SILVER -

Erik Allen, Dwight Newton, Hilary Ortiz, Allister Smith, Kaitlyn Teller, Eric Sparrow, Vivienne Steele, Paul Bursche

BRONZE –

Laura Christie, Megan Hamor, Elyse McCarthy, Marissa Schliephacke, Joseph Tassone, Kaitlyn Teller, Gabe Wetzel, Yi Quan, Olivia Christie, Sadie Puddister

SPECIAL CERTIFICATE FROM DAVID ORAZIETTI-

Stephanie Graham, Jessica O’Connor, Karina Seto

Traffic

Traffic – With two red robots in view, Sir Jimmy is maneuvering to pick up the Blue ball in this match. Teams are randomly partnered up for each match and their team alliance’s colour for that match (denoted by the colour of the flag each robot must carry) determines what colour of ball they are allowed to carry. Other robots and balls must be avoided during each two and a half minute game round.

Lap one

Lap one – As team 1535’s drive team member Aaron Dodds looks down at "Sir Jimmy", his job is to use a joystick control to command the manipulator arm to raise or lower as it carries the blue game ball around the track. Teams score two points for each full lap the robot makes, and an additional two points for each lap the ball makes as well.

Practice Start

Practice Start – With three robots lined up, the "blue alliance" for this match had the Sault’s "Sir Jimmy" (yellow robot on left) with two others for the start of the race. Drive teams stand behind the thick lexan shield, with The Knights of Alloy visible in their bright yellow colours. This year’s game is a nascar-like oval track race with a large heavy exercise ball added in that must be manipulated while the robots race around the track.

Waterloo Regional FIRST

Practice day finished in Waterloo; "Sir Jimmy" starting to roll. Mar.20, 2008
Day one of the Waterloo Regional FIRST competition was a practice day for The Knights of Alloy and their robot, Sir Jimmy required a patient hand and much tweaking to get going today.
With several practice rounds available for the Pit Crew and Drive team to get comfortable with their robot, the day started with a fizzle as the rookie drive team made a critical error and failed to turn on the main power on their robot before the bell sounded for the first practice round. Jimmy was left dead in the water as the other robots raced around the track.
Later practice rounds had Sir Jimmy running but sluggish as apparent programming glitches and some loose wiring left him hard to control. Scoring was low and the drive team struggled to gain control. Back at the pits, the Pit Crew went to work to solve some early problems and the next round went much better.
In the third practice round, team 1535’s robot began to move and work on handling the large and heavy exercise ball that is the main piece in this year’s game. Part way into this round, a collision with another robot broke off a key switch in the manipulator arm, leaving it unable to control the ball. Back to the pits for more repairs and Sir Jimmy was ready to go.
In the final practice round, the Sault’s yellow machine was gaining stability and finally able to make several laps while adding some ball control as well.
As practice closed today, the team showed that it could face a rocky start and improved with each match. Further modifications to programming and drive systems have the team confident that it will be ready to hit the track running tomorrow morning for the start of Round Robin play. First matches start at 9:15 in the morning and will continue until 5pm. The Knights of Alloy will have nine matches on Friday and another two for Saturday’s conclusion of the round robin portion. Championship rounds will begin at 1pm on Saturday and the tournament will conclude at about 3pm that afternoon.

Mustang Sally & Character Education

Mustang Sally was asked to be part of a Character Education Day at Parkland Public School on February 28, 2008. It was a success and everyone joined in the fun. Mustang Sally performed for the school’s staff and students, who were united in rhythm, fun and good will. The power point presentation that accompanied the set list proved to be a challenge for the electrical system, so the power point presentation had to be sacrificed to let the show go on. Mustang Sally emphasized the importance of team work with their first song, "Hockey Night in Canada." "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Respect" came later in the set to emphasize the importance of respecting self and others. The attributes of friendship, loyalty, and perseverance were also spotlighted with songs such as "Doin’ It Right," Not Ready to Make Nice," "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," and ‘Higher and Higher." Students and staff celebrated their spirit of cooperation and sense of community by dancing to songs together. Mrs. McKenzie, the principal of Parkland Public School, showed her true leadership form as she encouraged staff and students alike to join in the dance, celebrating community spirit. Hooray Mrs. McKenzie – you rock! There were smiles galore. After the set, Mustang Sally invited some of the intermediate students to visit the stage. Following this, the musicians were inundated with requests for autographs, to which they very willingly obliged. Later in the day, Mustang Sally students went in groups of three to visit classrooms, where they talked about their involvement with Mustang Sally and high school life, with an emphasis on several character attributes that have helped them to succeed. They addressed the importance of perseverance, courage, cooperation, teamwork, integrity, and leadership in helping to contribute to the success of Mustang Sally and to their own individual success as a musician and a high school student and moved on to facilitate a class discussion about how elementary students are displaying these same attributes.