Friday, March 1, 2013

"Please prepare for departure!"

Students, Mr. Emmons, and Dr. Oaks are all scrambling to finish last-minute details and plans as the departure date for DIA quickly approaches. The team has a variety of hurdles to overcome before they meet in the early hours on Sunday morning for their long day of travel from Denver, CO to San Francisco, CA and finally to Tokyo, Japan. The in-air travel time is estimated to be around eleven hours. This travel time does not include the requested three-hours at DIA prior to departure for customs and check in and the lay over in San Francisco.


Before the team meets at 3:15am Sunday morning, a few very important matters need to be accounted for. Part of the team, including Emmons, have been working long hours in the pit for the Littleton Mane Stage. February 28-March 2 marks the show dates for Legally Blonde: The Musical. Other students, including seniors Jesse van der Vorst and Ryan Dinneen, are actors for the performance. These team members have been attending countless rehearsals during the crunch time leading up to both the performance and their departure. Legally Blonde will occupy their time right until the morning of departure: the infamous cast party is scheduled to run until 1am Sunday morning, leaving just over two hours before these students and Emmons will find themselves right back in the LHS parking lot for the group's departure to DIA.

All students have been working hard to stay on top of their schoolwork. They will miss two weeks of class during their participation in the Kizuna Project, which leaves a sizable quantity of anticipated work to do before their departure. Students who are part of LHS's IB program have found themselves completing essential projects and essays for their diploma as well as doing part of their IB exams, such as recorded orals for foreign language. All students are finding that their current workload is manageable and a small price to pay for their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that lurks on the horizon.

Beyond preparation for the musical and anticipated classwork, all members have been investigating the effects of the March 2011 tsunami, including reading about the context of the natural disaster as well as viewing videos and photographs. While the excitement of traveling to another country is unbearably exciting for most members of the team, remembering the reasons and intention of their travel allows students, Oaks, and Emmons to keep their excursion in context.  

With the time ticking before the long awaited departure, the LHS team is well on their way to being ready for their travel abroad.  All they need to do now is turn in their history essay, give a final bow onstage, grab their passport, and zip their toothbrush into their suitcase.

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