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CALYPS3O
2006 Journal
We hope you will enjoy reading about what we are doing. Please leave us a comment so that we know you have seen our blog!
Epilogue: Our trip has ended and everyone arrived safely, but VERY tired, back in Indianapolis. Even though the trip is over, the experiences of CALYPSO will continue during the coming school year with students making presentations about their trip to each school. Hopefully, each student will carry memories of their experiences throughout their lives and will never forget how fortunate they are to have seen and done so many unusual things in Florida. We are truly grateful to those who have made our trip so successful: Our anonymous benefactor & Mr. Ron Elberger Divers III, Inc: Bill Kiesel, Jennifer Kiesel, Dave Flick, Bill Morris, Tom Mullineux Downtown Indianapolis Sertoma Club, Discover Scuba Program Larry
Collins, Senior Dive Supervisor, United Space Alliance Babs
Angel, Public Affairs Patrick Air Force Base
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Teacher's note: The Enchanted Forest is a 393-acre sanctuary created by the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program of Brevard County, Florida. It contains five different kinds of habitat: oak scrub, mesic hammock, hydric hammock, wet prairie, and pine flatwood. Several endangered species of animals live within the Enchanted Forest, including the eastern indigo snake and the gopher tortoise. Beautiful butterflies are often numerous among the tropical plants. Florida has been experiencing severe drought and the water level of the St. Johns River was down by as much as four feet. Many air boat operators could not provide rides due to the low water levels. ------ Mrs. Huckleberry Jarvis (ISD): Today was the final day of CALYPSO activities. We went on a nature hike in the Enchanted Forest. It was interesting and we saw many different plants and animals. There were banana spiders (golden orb weavers) everywhere! They were pretty big and most of the girls were very scared of the spiders. After our hike in the forest, we went to a place where we could ride on an airboat. Airboats look like boats with giant fans on the back to push them forward, instead of having a boat motor with propellers. The ride was awesome and it felt good since the wind was blowing past us. We ate lunch after the ride on the airboat. We went back to the hotel and went to the pool for our last opportunity to swim. We swam until dinner time. For dinner, we went to Applebee's. The food was good and we ate so much we felt bloated! We went back to the hotel to relax and finish packing. We will have to get up at 1:30 am so that we can be ready to leave at 2:15 am to go to the Orlando Airport!
Olivia (ICHS): This
was our last full day at Cocoa Beach. We began the day like all the
others, up at 7:00 am and breakfast at 8:00 am in the hotel. Our first
activity of the day was a nature walk through the Enchanted Forest.
We saw many spiders, a lizard, a few birds, a huge grasshopper, and
many plants. I, as well as the rest of the group, was slightly disappointed
that we didn't see any larger animals, such as a gopher tortoise or
an armadillo. Our next stop was to the Lone Cabbage/Twister Air Boat
Ride Center. We went on an airboat ride through the everglades and saw
the ecosystems of the St. Johns River. We saw a few gators, but our
captain said because of the heat, wind, and severe drought, the gators
don't stay on the surface for long. After our airboat ride, we sampled
alligator tail and frog legs. They tasted like chicken and were surprisingly
very good. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to pack and soak up
our last sun rays at the pool and beach. We met at 5:30 pm to go to
Applebee's for dinner. We enjoyed our last meal together with mixed
emotions. We were all happy to be going home, but sad to be leaving
our new friends. We returned to the hotel, loaded our bags in the vans,
said goodbye to the beach, and went to bed. We all knew 1:30 am would
come all too soon!
Day
9, June 16, 2006
Joshua (ISD):
Will (ICHS):
Students
climbed to the top of the Apollo I block house to see a beautiful Christy (ISD): Hello!!!!
Today we went to Patrick Air Force Base for our tour. We saw the basin
where the Trident nuclear submarines come in to be loaded with weapons.
We saw many different launch pads and also saw some that are historical
and famous. We got to see firing rooms that were used in the late 1950’s
and early 1960’s. They are much different than the launch pads
that are used now. The computers in the firing rooms that were used
to launch rockets and missiles are much larger than the computers used
today, and had much less memory. I’m sure that it took them hours
to finish their duties. After seeing the firing rooms and block houses,
we went to the museum where they have pictures of the monkey and chimps
that were launched into space. I learned that the chimpanzee Ham was
the most successful one. Enos was the one that was not happy when he
came back and that he scratched and bit people. They found out why he
was so mean after returning to earth after being launched into space.
There was a short circuit in his space suit that kept giving him horrible
shocks every time he did the routine things he had been trained to do
as part of his duty. After that, we went to see the launch pad where
the Apollo I fire happened. The launch pad was huge with smudges of
black color all over the ground. I learned that parts of the movie “Armageddon”
were filmed at that place. Actor Bruce Wills donated a plague for the
Apollo I launch pad. After that we went to have lunch at the cafeteria.
I ate Burger King. It was delicious!!! On the way back to our van, Travis
(my scuba buddy) and I kept teasing each other. He made me laugh a lot.
He told me to be careful with Bill (our scuba instructor) because he
bites. I laughed. It was funny. When we arrived at the hotel, everyone,
including me, had to finish our journals, and sign thank you cards.
We went to the beach/pool to catch some waves or sun tan rays. I hung
out with the IC students for a walk on the beach. We all saw poop on
the beach, from a human, we think. It was nasty. Also there was a poor
old man putting wet sand all over himself. I felt bad for him. After
that we went back to our hotel. I joined the other students at the pool
and swam with them for a while. Mrs. Huckleberry and I had a long splash
fight. Greg used his feet to splash at us and it was a good splash fight.
I got tired of swimming and decided to go back to my room. I got ready
to go out to eat at a fancy sea food restaurant. I talked on the phone
with my parents to know what was going on back home. Finally, it was
time to go eat. I ordered fried shrimp with baked potato. Sami and I
split a chocolate cake with some frosting. It was yummy. We went back
to our hotel and the minute I arrived in my room, I immediately changed
to my pjs. Everybody else was in their room watching TV, playing games,
or sleeping. Well, I guess that’s all for today. Good Night!!!!!
Preston (ICHS): I have had an amazing trip so far and we’ve done lots of awesome, memorable things: from scuba diving and swimming with dolphins to touring the Kennedy Space Center. Today, we got to go meet some of the people who retrieve the solid rocket boosters for NASA. They taught us about all of the interesting parts of their jobs. We also got to see the boats that they use, the Liberty Star and Freedom Star. Later, we went to Bill’s condo to look for manatees, but we got stuck inside for a little while waiting for the pouring rain to give us a break. When the rain finally let up, we went out onto the dock and turned on the water hose. Apparently manatees love fresh water. They came right up to the dock to drink the fresh water. I had never seen one before. They are huge! We found four of them drinking from a drain pipe. Hipo leaned down to touch one. It startled them and they made a huge splash. We had some free time and the rain quit, so most of us went down to the beach to swim and play Frisbee. It was so windy that playing frisbee was almost impossible. After dinner, I decided to go to the weight room because I need to keep in shape for football. All of us are having the time of our lives, having tons of fun and making new friends. I am sure after this trip I will continue to keep in touch with students from ISD.
NASA's
ship, the Freedom Star Larry Collins and Manuel DeLeon talk with students about their jobs retrieving the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters after launch.
This morning, we all woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at the Hampton hotel and got ready to go. We drove to Patrick Air Force Base. We met with two men - Larry Collins, senior dive supervisor, and Manuel DeLeon, an SRB engineer. They work on two boats, the Freedom Star and Liberty Star. They are responsible for retrieving and hauling the SRBs (solid rocket boosters) back to shore for cleaning, testing, and reuse. The SRBs are the two white rockets on either side of the shuttle that helps thrust it into space. It was a very interesting speech and after the speech, we got to go look at the two ships. We couldn’t actually go onto the boat because of the new security rules at the base. After we were finished taking pictures and looking at the boat, we went to eat at the “cafeteria” on the base. It was formed of several different fast food restaurants. We stopped by Bill’s condo at Cocoa Beach on the way home, and we saw manatees in the backyard “pond” (it was saltwater from the ocean mixed with freshwater from the Banana River.) There was a hose on the dock and it was funny when we turned in on, one of the manatees came up to the dock and started drinking the water. It kept on drinking for nearly 5 or 10 minutes. After asking Mrs. Huckleberry why, she explained that manatees are so used to salt water, whenever they get the chance to have some fresh water, they’ll drink as much as they can get. When we were done, we headed back to the hotel to have the afternoon off - the teachers felt it was time because the whole time we were here, we would always get back at nighttime, so we haven’t had a chance to go to the beach or swim. Some of us went to the beach, and others stayed to rest in their rooms. We all went to dinner at Olive Garden which was deelish! After dinner, we stopped at Ron Jon’s and Wal-Mart. Upon arrival at the hotel, several went swimming, including me, and others rested in their room in anticipation of another long day tomorrow.
Day 6, June 13, 2006
Ryan (ISD): Hello, I have had so much fun so far! Of course, the weather has not really been good, but we did have lots fun at the Kennedy Space Center today. We went to see the Liberty Bell which is the Mercury capsule which was lost in more than under 16,000 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean. It was lost because the hatch blew out too early and it filled with water. Hoosier astronaut, Gus Grissom, rode in this capsule. Everyone thought that he blew the hatch on purpose, but he denied it. He later died in the Apollo 1 fire, which burned during training. We visited the Liberty Bell exhibit and read information about what happened. It was interesting how it was found 38 years after it was lost. It was there in the exhibit and we looked around it. It was interesting and it is so small! The pilot had to be less than 5’11” to fit in it. After that, we went to the memorial for astronauts who have died. It kind of hit me hard and it felt really sad. I saw the teacher’s name, Christa McAuliffe. She applied for the Teacher in Space program. She died with 6 other astronauts when the Challenger blew up shortly after launch. Many people were sad when that happened. We ate lunch with an astronaut, Charles “Sam” Gemar. He is a retired astronaut who went into space during three shuttle missions. He told an interesting story about how to go to the restroom in space and it is was really funny. Lunch was really good and there was “champion” chocolate cake. I think I got sick from eating too much of it. After that, we went shopping in the gift shop, then went to see a 3-D IMAX movie about the International Space Station. It showed how the USA is working with other countries like Russia in completing the ISS. It was fun to watch the movie in 3D! We did went to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner. It was really great because the man cooked the food in front of us and showed off his skills. He made jokes and tried to scare some of us. I had fun watching him and it was my first time to see someone show off his skills while making Japanese food. I have had a long day today and I’m ready zoom to bed!!! Brittani (ICHS): Today was our second full day at the Kennedy Space Center. We began the morning by seeing the art exhibit at the space center. There were all kinds of pictures made with all kinds of media. All of the pictures had something to do with the space program, in one way or another. After the art gallery, we tried to see an IMAX movie, but couldn’t because of technical difficulties, so we went to the Liberty Bell 7 exhibit instead. Gus Grissom was the astronaut that was in the capsule when it landed in the ocean. The hatch door exploded off causing it to sink to the bottom of the ocean. It sank over 3 miles down, which is farther down than the Titanic sank. It took over 38 years before the capsule was recovered. The real capsule was in the exhibit and it was really cool. After the exhibit we saw the astronaut memorial of all who were killed in the space program. It was very interesting to learn about it. There was life-size replica of a space shuttle to go inside. The tires on the shuttle had been in space. For lunch we ate with an astronaut at the space center. There was a question and answer session with him. He told us about his experiences being an astronaut. This was a lot of fun. The food was very good, by the way. Of course, we went shopping after lunch. We finally got to see the IMAX movie a few hours later. It was about the International Space Station and how it was built and worked. The last thing we saw of the day was the Astronaut Hall of Fame. It showed the portfolios of all the astronauts. There were interactive games we could play that taught us about gravity, Mars, weightlessness, and many more things. Today was a very fun day, tomorrow is sure to be the same.
ISD and ICHS with retired astronaut, Charles "Sam" Gemar
Today, we went to the Kennedy Space Center. We got there at 9:15 am. After we went through the metal detectors and had our bags searched, we went to the “Rocket Garden”. At 10:50, we went on a bus tour. The tour took us the LC-39 Observations Gantry, the Apollo/Saturn V Center, and the International Space Station Center.
When we went past the LC-39 Observation Gantry, we saw two different
launch pads. Launch pad 39-A did not have a shuttle on it, but Launch
pad 39-B had the Discovery shuttle on it. At the Apollo/Saturn V Center,
we saw a short movie about the Apollo missions and we also saw sections
of one of the Apollo Saturn V rocket. The last and final place we went
to was the International Space Station Center. There we saw what it
looked like inside the modules of the space station. We saw the shower
and the
I got up at 7:40 am and thought I would be the last person to get downstairs
to breakfast, as always. Surprisingly, I got to the Hotel’s Café
first before anyone else! After eating, I went up to my room and got
ready to go to the Kennedy Space Center. We went on a tour and I learned
many things. For example, I learned that astronauts must be at the Kennedy
Space Center three days before the launch and also must be ready several
hours before the launch. It takes a long time for everyone to double
check every engine and parts of the space shuttle before launch. We
saw the space shuttle Discovery on the launch pad! After that, we went
to the Apollo Saturn Building and the International Space Station Center.
We had a good time observing the materials being prepared for the Space
Station. Astronauts are putting the space station together as it goes
around the Earth. The Space Station is huge! Sixteen different countries
are working together to build the International Space Station. It is
great to know that they are building a Space Station up in space. Top 10 List of CALYPSO Foods: 10.
Bagels - all you can eat
Day 4, June 11, 2006 Today was another exciting day in Florida with the C.A.L.Y.P.S3.O. group. We began the day early with breakfast at the beach café. After breakfast, we finished packing up and left the hotel heading toward the Dolphin Cove. We went through a short orientation about the dolphins and the behaviors they would be performing, and then we were ready to get in the water with the dolphins. I was in the group with Sami, Jarvis, and Josh, and our dolphins’ names were Nicky, a mother dolphin, and Leo, a baby dolphin. Leo will be three this summer and was very mischievous. Josh and I got in the water second, and we both were very excited, but slightly nervous because we realized these animals weigh 400-600 pounds. Despite our slight fear we had a fabulous experience with the dolphins. Nicky and Leo had very pink bellies. We were told this means that they were excited. The behaviors the dolphins performed with us included belly rubs, hand shakes, kisses, dorsal tows, jumping through hoops (the dolphins, not us!), superman push, and many more. My favorite behavior was the kisses. Nicky and Leo were very affectionate. We obtained many great pictures, video clips, and memories from the fun-filled morning. After leaving Dolphin Cove we went back to the dive shop, picked out a T-shirt, ate lunch at Taco Bell, and then hit the road toward Cocoa Beach. The drive to Cocoa Beach took about 5 and a half hours, but was great bonding time for everyone. We arrived here, got settled in to our rooms, and enjoyed pizza for dinner in the lobby. After supper we wrote in our journals and sketched for a little bit, until Bill arrived to help us complete log books and wash off our dive gear. Today was another amazing day and I continue to look forward to our future activities.
We
started the day by going to the beach café at our hotel for breakfast.
There were bagels, muffins, toast, cereal, orange juice, and milk. After
we all ate the breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, and went to the
Dolphin Cove. As we arrived at the Dolphin Cove, we got on a pontoon
boat to go out on a ride in the Ocean while our guide explained to us
about the dolphin’s body parts. She also explained about what
to touch and what not to touch. We returned to the Dolphin Cove and
put on a vest to get ready to do some activities with the dolphins.
We were split into groups of four and the groups were referred to different
pairs of dolphins. Two of the people in the group started the activity
with the dolphins. We were able to pet them and play with them. The
feeling of their skin is amazing, the skin is so soft and smooth. They
are bright, they know how to communicate with the trainer and perform
some really cool tricks like pushing each of us around for a ride, doing
some jumping tricks with sticks or hula hoops. Later when we were done
with the activities with the dolphins, they were given a free time which
they would go out and jump and do some flips. The trainers would reward
the dolphins a fish or two if they perform the action or trick properly.
It was an enriching experience to do some activities with the dolphins. Joshua (ISD):
I turned to look another direction and I saw something long and brown. I took a closer look, and realized it was a shark. I jumped back and felt spooked. It was a 6-foot nurse shark. I had actually found a shark! I told our instructor Bill that I had found a shark, so Bill looked and then I told all of the other students too. All of the students rushed over to look at the shark. After that, everyone started to go up and back to the boat. I took my own precious time because I wanted to stay down longer. It turns out that I was one of the last persons to get back on the boat. When I took off my equipment I started bragging to Carrie, our interpreter, what fun she missed. I teased her and said I smelled something. She said “What?” Then I said I smell a chicken! Carrie did not do the night dive because she was afraid. It was a long boat trip back to the dive shop. We came back to the hotel about midnight. I thought about the night dive and felt proud of myself because I went against my fear of doing the night dive.
I was very excited to have another chance but also nervous about my
first time in the ocean being a night dive. The instructors were unsure
about my anxiety but I decided I definitely wanted to try. So we all
headed out to get our gear and head to the dive center. I was placed
with Bill, one of the instructors that I was very comfortable being
with, especially on such a hard dive. He sat with me on the boat, which
helped me not get so nervous on the way there. Once there we got our
gear in and jumped on in the water. I was very scared, I will admit.
As we went down Bill held my hand so that I could know he was there
even though it was dark. I did start to get a little scared but I just
tried to get down. But you know what, before I even knew it I was already
at the bottom! Once down there I was fine. It was dark down there but
the scuba lights gave enough light to see. We began to swim and I completely
forgot about freaking out or anything else. It was amazing being down
in that world that not many others can see. I saw many lobsters, one
almost the size of a basketball! There were a lot of crabs. Bill was
brave enough to pick some up but I thought it was a better idea just
to stay by and watch. J I also saw some jellyfish. I had to swim over
them to avoid them. One was pretty good size too. I saw a trumpet fish
and a lot of other fish that I’m not really sure what they were.
Now to the best part, the most AMAZING part of the dive…the nurse
shark! We almost missed it if another diver had not pointed it out to
us. It was sitting under a ledge all by itself. It was so neat! I can’t
believe I saw a shark! It was really fun. Before I knew it the dive
was over but it was so great. I’m so glad that I could overcome
such a fear and be given such a wonderful award. I will never forget
what I saw down there and I’m looking forward to more diving adventures
in the future. Day
2, June, 2006
Will (ICHS): Today was very eventful. We went on two dives. The first was at the Molasses Reef. This dive was supposed to last for one hour, but because the current was so strong, the dive was very short, only about thirty minutes. Some divers were only down for about 10 minutes and spent a half an hour swimming back to the boat. After the first dive we waited for about an hour and then dove a second time. The second dive was at Pickle’s Reef. This dive was more of a success. We stayed down for close to our intended hour and saw many exciting things. I personally saw a lobster, hog-fish, trumpet fish, eel, a midnight parrot fish, and several schools of other fish. After both dives we ate lunch at Craig’s and then returned to our hotel until dinner. At the hotel, several napped while others went to the pool or the beach. I went to the beach. Several of us caught hermit crabs and sand crabs. Preston found a dead jelly fish. After I left the beach, we learned a lot of signs from Hipolito, Ryan, and Jarvis. My skills have doubled today and if I want to sign something and don’t know the word, I can at least spell it out. I feel like we became a lot closer and better friends today. After our sea hunt, we ate dinner at Coconut’s Restaurant. Dinner was amazingly good! I ate shrimp scampi. To wrap up the day we completed our dive books and logged the two dives we completed this morning. Today was very exciting! Many of us went to the bottom of the sea today and saw many forms of wildlife that we had never seen before. Christy (ISD): Today
was the most wonderful experience I have ever had in my life. The first
dive at Molasses Reef was the hardest part of the day. I struggled with
my regulator, and the current was so strong, I couldn’t even move
or paddle. I only lasted eight minutes. The second dive was the best
part of the day; I stayed in the water for about 45 to 48 minutes. I
loved seeing those beautiful fishes. I saw a HUGE blue midnight parrot
fish, a spotted eel, and a school of tiny fishes around mound of coal
reef rocks. I saw a blue tang (but I call it Dora the fish from the
movie “Finding Nemo”). It was absolutely awesome. Once I
went in the water, and I saw the fishes, I completely forgot what I
was doing. I felt like I was in different world, and I just loved it
there! After that, we went back to the dive center to unload our scuba
gear. We went right away to the restaurant called Craig’s Famous
Sandwich Shop. They are well known for their fish sandwiches. I ordered
a cheeseburger with french fries. Something weird happened at the restaurant!
Greg’s (ISD chief of the police) ketchup exploded on him and Mrs.
Huckleberry. I was like WHOA…!!!!!! We went back to our hotel
and took a tiny nap, then I went to the pool with Olivia (Indian Creek).
I went back to our room to get ready for the dinner. We went to Coconut’s
for our supper. I ordered chicken alfredo and it was delicious!!!! I
was full by the time I was finished eating. I taught the Indian Creek
girls a lot of sign languages. I felt good when they asked me how to
sign this and that. It made me feel like they really want to interact
with us. I’m pretty sure that all of us will become good friends.
When we got back to the hotel after the dinner, we went to a meeting
and filled out our log books with our dive instructor. That’s
all for the day!!!!
Day 1, June 08, 2006
The Maggot Van The reporters for today, for Channel CALYPSO, are Sami Krieger and Preston Pameijer. Sami (ISD): The day started with us meeting at the Indianapolis Airport at four o’ clock in the morning. We finally got into line after several conflicts. We stood waiting for almost 30 minutes; time, which would have been better spent sleeping! After we checked our bags and went through security, we waited a short while before boarding our plane to O’Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois. After a short, thirty-minute flight, we had to dash to our next gate, which was clear across the other side of the airport. We boarded our second plane just in time, and we settled in for a two-hour long flight. We rented two big vans, one of which we christened “The Maggot Van” after discovering maggots squirming underneath the plastic covering on the floor of the van!!! We drove an hour and a half to our hotel in Tavernier, near Key Largo, Florida. We were all amazed at the beautiful scenery, and we are anticipating diving here very much. We settled into our rooms-three to a room-and then we all dashed into the inviting cool water of the hotel’s swimming pool. We could only stay for a short while before leaving for dinner at Craig’s Fish House, where we stuffed ourselves to the brim with delicious food. Afterwards, we stopped at a grocery store to buy some food for breakfast, and then headed back to the hotel. The boys snatched a coconut from a tree and played football with it. We all tasted the coconut milk from the smashed coconut and we agreed that it was delicious. We all then headed to the teachers’ suite to have a short meeting before heading out to bed. However, there are two kids still up, Sami and Preston, because you guys wanting to know all about our day! Enjoy the news! Preston (ICHS): I made a bad decision last night and decided I would stay up late so that I could sleep on the airplane. Which worked out for the flight to Chicago but that was a very short flight. The next flight was the one that I needed to sleep on but they were showing a movie and I decided to watch it. I figured I would just doze off but I got too involved in the movie. When we finally arrived in Tavernier I was amazed at the beauty of the hotel and the area where we will be spending the next few days. We got to go swimming for a little while. We had chicken fights in the pool which was amusing. After swimming we went to eat at Craig’s Fish house. Our waiter sold most of us with a very convincing sales pitch for a word famous fish sandwich. It was very good and I think we all ate a little too much. At the grocery store, Hipo and Ryan decided to get three packs of Mountain Dew. We have all been making alot of new friends and are having a great time. Most of the IC students knew very little sign language coming into this trip but we are picking it up quickly (with some laughs). The ISD students are trying to think of name signs for each of the IC kids. It’s getting late now and I am still running on about three hours of sleep so I am going to hit the sack. |
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