After another fountain cool down we reached our Faneuil Hall our final destination for the day. Here we enjoyed various street artists, birthday gift shopping, visiting with the local horses, and Maya’s all time favorite dinner, Mac & Cheese.
Georges Island is dominated by historic Fort Warren, a Civil War-era fort known for its graceful granite archways and reputed ghost, the Lady in Black. Maya led us on a random walk tour and we eventually joined the end of a ranger led tour which took us through the very scary Dark Tunnel.
We arrive on Georges Island just in time to enjoy a wonderful performance of Brazilian music by graduating students of the Berkeley School of Music.
We boarded the Island Discovery ferry for the 30 minute voyage to Georges Island, part of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
As the day was rather warm, Maya stopped to cool down at the leaping waters fountain on the green way. She was careful to study the timing pattern and was only partially drenched when it was time for us to leave for our scheduled ferry.
For her birthday Jeanine and I treat Maya to a day in Boston. Our first destination is the Long Wharf. When Maya realized this sculpture was alive she paused for a photo opportunity.
In preparation for an all-day adventure in Boston with her parents, Maya spends some time with Nala playing bubbles (worth enlarging the photo for a better view).
Maya is now 11 years old. Her day stated with French crepes filled with fruit, whipped cream, Nutela and topped with powdered sugar. Nico and Jeanine did the crepe making while Kyle and I assisted Maya with crepe consumption.
In this event, teams of student seek to suspend a bucket of balls using only their feet for as long as possible.
I was able to join the afternoon Fun Day activities courtesy of iRobot summer hours which allow for half day Fridays. In this event, one student is wrapped about the middle in double sided tape as their partner guides them, wheelbarrow style, over a course strewn with plastic balls. The goal is to pick up a many balls as possible using the tape. Still photos cannot convey the hilarity of this event.
It seems like only yesterday that Maya was in Kindergarten, and today, she is celebrating her last day of elementary school. During the morning, Jeanine was on hand to watch as Maya delivered a graduation speech to parents and students, the text of which is included here.
Hi, my name is Maya Calabria and I’ve been a student at Willard School since I was five.
I’ve enjoyed 6 years, 6 last days, 6 teachers, 6 carnivals, and unfortunately only 4 ice cream socials.
This year has been the hardest transition I have ever had to make. I’ve really had to step up and take responsibility for my learning by being organized and managing my time well. I learned how to be independent and to persevere.
In past years my work ethic has been to ask my parents for help. Now I can be patient and problem solve on my own.
I have learned more than in any other year and I had my first “ah ha” moment when one detail helped me link two pieces of history together. I will miss Willard but I am looking forward to the new challenges of Middle School and to making new friends.
I’d like to thank all of my teachers for being so understanding, for helping me to prepare for the future, and for choosing to devote their time to educating students. I’d also like to thank my parents for encouraging me and teaching me to value my education.There aren’t enough ways to say thank you.
Nothing like a “thermal event” in one of my test labs at work to spice up the day. A shorted motor in a test fixture induced a failure in the circuit board that was controlling it producing enough heat to melt everything in the vicinity resulting in a plume of acrid smoke. Before releasing a product we conduct a battery of stress tests to ensure the quality of our designs. These tests run 24/7 in unoccupied labs. In this case we were testing a wheel assembly and after 2000 hours of operation the brushes in the motor wore out and the springs which support them shorted together. Far better that we discover this failure mode in our labs rather than in a customer’s home and the incident will result in design improvements and a new smoke detection/power interruption system for all our test labs.
Everyday I drive past this field of yellow flowers. Today I paused for a moment to capture the image. During the early morning or evening hours it is not uncommon to see deer grazing here. Although the boys are busy studying for final exams it is unclear to me how watching World Cup soccer is helping them do this. I must confess to taking in the first half of the 7AM game between Chile and Honduras myself.
Jeanine and I attended Maya’s Portfolio Celebration this morning where we had an opportunity to view her best work from the past school year. Each child in the class prepares a very official looking portfolio of their best work in each subject area to which they add a statement explaining why they selected each piece. It is a great opportunity for parents to share in the scholastic accomplishments of their child and in our case there was much to admire and be proud of. Maya poses with the welcome poster she helped create for the special occasion.