2012-2013
In the fall of 2012 we went on a 4-day trip to Glacier National Park starting with a tour of the Capitol in Helena, stopping at the Giant Springs and Lewis and Clark Intrepretive Center in Great Falls. This trip threw a lot of curves at us. Since we took our trip the week after Labor Day, there were a lot of closed activities or changes in schedules, and we all learned how to adapt as the schedule changed. We went to the Plains Indian Museum in Browning, stopped at the East Glacier Lodge then had to learn all about renting vehicles as we couldn't take our bus over the Going-to-the-Sun Road and the shuttle services were no longer available. We hiked to Avalanche Lake then traveled over the Going-to-the-Sun Road just before dark. That was awesome because we nearly had the place to ourselves. We went to Hungry Horse Dam, went to the Amazing Fun Center, and took the Lake McDonald Boat Tour. The final day was spent touring the House of Mystery vortex, which turned out to be the unanimous favorite activity of the trip, then drove home through Big Fork, stopping at the St. Ignatius Mission. This trip cost about $1500 but we had earned more than enough money over the summer selling concessions at several functions to pay for it.
In the spring of 2013, we had enough money left over that we used a third day of school to go hiking and exploring at the Ringing Rocks at Pipestone and then learned how to mine for gemstones in historical Philipsburg. Groups of students then wrapped up their day by making videos using Monroe's Motivated Sequence for a persuasive sales pitch for their English assignment. Most of the groups used the famous Philipsburg candy store for their commercials.
In the spring of 2013, we had enough money left over that we used a third day of school to go hiking and exploring at the Ringing Rocks at Pipestone and then learned how to mine for gemstones in historical Philipsburg. Groups of students then wrapped up their day by making videos using Monroe's Motivated Sequence for a persuasive sales pitch for their English assignment. Most of the groups used the famous Philipsburg candy store for their commercials.