Month: February 2018

Well hello there! Let me start with the basics: there was no musical at this school, I just wanted to insert a reference into the title.

But, we went to High Tech High! High Tech High is a charter school that allows students to do projects and learn in different ways. Pretty much, it’s PLP all over the school.

We got to attend two days there, and it was really fun! We got paired up with partners, and I got paired up with a nice girl called Nova

Nova’s a grade nine student as High Tech High Media Arts. We bonded right away over Hamilton, Steven Universe, and the fact that I had brought a small thing of cereal to eat (I was hungry, don’t judge me). She had awesome friends (who I didn’t get pictures of… whoops), and we all had great conversations about being general nerds. I felt like I fit right in.

Anyways, back to the post. We got to see how the students learned, what their electives were (Nova’s was DnD. I can respect that), and how their school was different to ours.

So, we got there on the first day, and were greeted with this:

It looks like something out of a movie! I mean, I don’t know what I expected from a California high school. I’m expecting generic teen music to play as I walk down the halls.

Anyways, we got paired up, and got a tour of the campus. It’s so big! They have five different buildings, and there’s art all over the walls.

Next, we did a brainstorm of the difference between HTH and PLP. Some differences were obvious, like the fact that we’re on different sides of the border, or that HTH is way bigger. But some differences were things I didn’t expect, like the fact that they get to run their projects and choose what they do, and that some students live an hour drive away.

Next, we did math… yay. But it was actuallly really cool, because we solved The Locker Problem. During which, I didpoorly at math (what’s new). Though, a really nice guy who’s name I forgot came up to me and was like “hey, I heard you saying you thought you were bad at math. Don’t think that way, all it takes is a little bit of practice and perseverance. Everyone learns differently”. I’m really sorry I forgot this kids name, but he was helpful.

We went to a thing they do called ‘Media Monday’, where we talked about everything from controversies about race and gender, to some sports star kissing his son on the lips. ‘It was really interesting, and I hope we do something like that in class (hint hint, wink wink).

Day two came, and we started off with a debate. We did four corners, where the room is divided into four areas: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. Then, the teacher would a read a statement. An example: Cola is better than Pepsi. And then, you’d arrange yourself into whatever corner fit your personal opinion. We did this activity surrounding Equal Education. We got into some good debates about different income households get different education, and if we could do something to help equalize the education system.

The next class was Media Arts, where we got to make mini magazines. You printed out four pictures on one page, and folded it to make a booklet. Here’s mine:

We also got to make a podcast! The issue was, HTH is very close to one of the busiest airports in America. So there may be planes in the background. My group got to talk about American vs Canadian stereotypes, which was really funny:

All in all, High Tech High was really fun! I still keep in contact with Nova, and we have great discussions on how we live in -5 degrees and she lives in 34 degrees (celsius. Fahrenheit is too confusing for this blog). I really wish we could go back, and I hope to keep in contact with Nova.

Some good things I experienced at HTH:

– Girl Scout Cookies. Seriously, if you get the chance, eat Samoas. Beautiful.

– They don’t have smarties? Well, they do, but it’s this:

Imposters. And, yes, I can call them imposters. Ours were here first

That’s all

Read ya later

Sincerely, Me

This year, as a class, we went to California! Please, as you listen to this, search up a California related song.

So, we are currently working on a unit about disruption. Disruption has, well, disrupted everything in our life, from technology, to history. It’s what makes us move forward. And what’s a better place to talk about disruption than Silicon Valley? Silicon Valley is where so many big companies started, like Apple and Google. Naturally, we had to go.

Let me do a day-by-day run through for you, to get you all up to speed.

Day One:

We got up at 3:00 am, in order to be at YVR for 4:30. Let’s just say, I needed a lot of coffee. We did a quick stop in Seattle, Robbie almost lost his wallet, and then we were off to San Diego.

We had lunch, and then headed to Torrey Pines Natural Reserve, where we went on a nice walk. Then we headed to dinner, and had some really good food. Then it was off to bed.

Day 2

We went to a safari park! It was really cool, and I wound up making a podcast there… no spoilers. We spent the whole day there, and we got to see a cheetah run at full speed!

We spent the whole day, and I lost my sunglasses 🙁

Day 3

So, next day was the USS Midway. The midway used to be a ship that they used in battle, but is now retired and became a museum. It was really big, and really awesome! We spent the whole day there as well, and still didn’t get to see everything.

Fun Fact: the amount of money it takes to feed everyone on a ship like the midway for a week could send over 40 students to college for 4 years. That’s a lot of money.

Day 4-5

We went to High Tech High! If you’d like to read more about my experiences here, I’ve written another post. Go check that out here!

Day 6

After we flew to San Jose, we got up the next morning and went to google! It was really cool, and also vaguely scary because we were technically just sneaking around the campus. We had lunch, and then headed to Apple Park

We only got to go to the visitors center, but it was still really cool!

After that, we headed to the Intel Museum, which had a history of Intel (shocker).

Day 7

This day, we went to the computer history museum. It was very interesting, as it had a whole rundown of computers. Willa and I got to play pong, and I learned about WoW (World of Warcraft). I’d definetly go there again!

After this, we went to Stanford! Not actually attending classes, because we’re all a bit young for that, but we got a tour by a guy named Chase! Very awesome, though I don’t think I’m gonna go to Stanford.

Day 8

We did a lot of transportation this day. We got in a car, then on a train, then on another train, then on a cable car. And we were in San Francisco! I actually was there over the summer, but we did different things this time.

We went to Twitter Headquarters, and took some stupid pictures

Went To Twitter!

We then headed to the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was really nice! There were sea lions in the water, and it was sunset so we got a nice view.

Day 9

Our last full day was eventful, to say the least. We got a walking tour in the morning from Wild Wes, who was from s company called Wild SF Walking Tours

The afternoon we spent at Alcatraz, which I found to be one of the best parts of the trip. I watched Escape From Alcatraz before this, so it helped put it into context.

We had a cable car adventure…. we hit a car with our cable car. Well, the car hit us by serving infront of it.

And then we headed home

But that’s not where this blog posts ends! No, I made a book! *gasp*

And that’s all I have for you!

Read you later

Sincerely, Me