Weapons of Skill

The students of Martial Arts are divided into two different groups: one that practices with the bo staff and one with the nunchuks. Today students had an important lesson and trial to check their level of mastery. Students will get their first colored (green) belt stripe, which will show their talent and skill. Moreover on this trial students will finish the basics of Karate and start more complicated and difficult movements of defense. They were practicing a lot and learned a lot of new combos, which they successfully performed - check our video.

Just a Small Town School...

After leaving campus early Monday morning, the Dominican Service Project Winterim has been spending their first week mainly working on their project. This assignment entails the students working with the Cabarete Coffee Company and Tres Mariposas organizations to renovate a public school in Cabarete and spending time with the kids in and out of the classrooms. They've spent most of this week working with the school and the kids while getting familiar with the Dominican culture. Next week, in addition to working on the main project, the students also plan to climb through the Damajagua waterfalls, and trace the footsteps of the widely renowned Mirabal sisters on the 50th anniversary of their deaths. This jam-packed Winterim, led by Ms. Meghan Smith and Mr. Scott Smith, pushes students to widen their perspectives by working and interacting with people who have very different experiences and life-styles.

Cabarete is a small town known for its beaches and beauty and is a popular tourist attraction. It is located in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic. The area is brightly

illuminated by constant sunlight, while the sky remains a pale blue and clouds are nowhere to be found. Palm trees are everywhere, and the beaches are picturesque with the vast turquoise, yet freezing cold ocean sprawled out endlessly. Knowing how the gorgeous the scenery of this small town is, the Dominican Service group is very lucky to be in such a warm location, especially when compared to the gloomy rain and grey skies we're getting here in Groton.

(Beach photo cred: Cabarete Dominican Republic)

(Waterfall photo cred: 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua Cascadding Hike)

The Horror, The Horror!

The Horror, The Horror! is the scariest Winterim that we offer. The students make a horror film, that will be scary as heck! Mr. Cabot, a horror fanatic, is leading this group in an effort to make this year's film as scary as possible. The group is made up of many kids who enjoy a good scare, and love to scare people out of their minds. This Winterim program is great for anybody who wants to go into film making or just wants to have a great time.

The crime scence for LA's newest production.

Press

As of yet, the paparazzi of RUaDgtalNativ? have been unable to gain access to the production site of this movie. The group doesn't have a trailer for the media yet and they would not even let us get a peek at their progress! Here's what we do know: the movie is being filmed in Waters dormitory. We think it is about "Mary, the ghost of waters," a girl who hung herself in one of the closets of this dorm. We are eagerly awaiting the day when this story will unravel in front of our eyes -- unless we've got to keep them closed.

As close as we could get to the production.

A New Outlook on Life for LA Students: Perspectives from Head Start

Max and Jasmine both are working at Head start, an organization that provides disadvantaged families with an opportunity for their kids ages 3-5 to learn and grow. Each student works with a teacher, and 10 to 20 kids in the classroom and on the playground. These kids look up to LA students and not only do they learn something, so do the LA students. They learn about the kids in the classroom but even more on the bus rides and seeing where they live. Every student who has volunteered said it's truly amazing and just making them smile and laugh is an unreal feeling words can't express. (Jasmine's video is below. Max's is coming soon.)

A Little Help Goes a Long Way!

The ARC volunteers have been a huge help to the staff at this center. These students go the Fitchburg center every day to work and interact with adults with disabilities. The staff at ARC is very happy with the work and company that our students offer to these people. "One patient really likes to walk around a lot, and some of the kids walk with her," one staff member says. "It's a really big help to us, that one thing alone. It's amazing, the company these kids offer to them." The ARC volunteers spend lots of time with these people, watch movies with them, do puzzles, exercise, color pictures and do many other activities.

1 Week Down...1 to Go...

Today to finish off the week we had a field day. Sean and Mike headed over to Martial Arts, interviewed students, and took videos and pictures. Cheng and Sarah went to Head-Start in Lowell, visited the classrooms, and talked to Lawrence Academy students about their experience. David observed the Baking Basics group and watched them make muffins. I (Paul) went over to Iron Forging and watched them work on making their designs. It was a long and tiring week but everyone worked hard and got through it.

Shapes in Progress

Now five days into Winterim, the students of "Turn, Baby, Turn!" have learned a lot of woodworking skills. After a lot of hard work, the students' projects are finally taking shape.

Mr. Ken Lindgren, the group's teacher, continues to show the students how to create beautiful woodworking projects. Students use different tools to shape their wooden pieces and to smooth their surfaces.

Thanks for reading my article and watching my video. I appreciate it!!!

I will keep following this group to monitor their progress.

If you like what you see, please leave a comment!

Iron Forging

The Iron Forging group has been working hard this week and has a lot of work to show for it. When we went to visit they had made metal fish, forks, and various other designs.

Here's a video I took while visiting the group

Mixing it up.

Baking Basics, an on campus winterim, which involves precisely following directions and baking up delicious treats, that at the end of the day can be munched on by others. Today I was in the the kitchen with the Baking Basics group. I took a bunch of short films today of the group trying to make a batch of muffins (video to be uploaded soon). They had to follow a lot of directions, and they had to follow them very carefully, trying not to make any mistakes.

The faculty leader of this group is also blogging about her experience with them.  Check out Ms. MacKeekin's blog.

See, the thing I like about Winterim is...Interview with Mr. Wiggins

What is your favorite thing about Winterim?

What is your favorite memory about Winterim?

What do you mostly do over Winterim?

Are there any problems that have ever happened that you can remember?

If you could go on a winterim/make one up for you to lead what would it be?

Thank you Mr. Wiggins for helping us understand what you do over Winterim.