The Journey: March 2018

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Our Skype Family

Another video of our Skype Family

Check it out!! I love the before and after family photos.

Click on the Link Video #2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G7AraBlQJkFflHoFdlvTCNz_XqbLnr7h/view?usp=sharing

Mexico City: Cultural Sharing!!

Mexico City
Cultural Sharing
Posted by Monique Garza

What an amazing group of children!! We are so impressed with how organized, well spoken, polite, talented and creative they all are!! Thank you for sharing your culture with us!!! The language, food, dress and music was amazing!! Kalinka Ito you are amazing!! Thank You!!!

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Our Video

Click on the Link to Watch our Video

I left my camera out for kids to take whatever pictures they wanted and this is what they did.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DncsPWUtCTiqhb3mwHNib9R-UcWVib6M

Around the World in 24 Hours

I spent my entire life dreaming of travelling the world, experiencing different cultures, and learning about life in different parts of the world, so when Garza mentioned the Skype-a-thon I was more than excited!! My excitement continued to grow as weeks went by. By the time it was March 7th and I was suppose to be sleeping, my mind was racing and I felt like a kid waiting on Christmas. I arrived on campus about 8:30 am on March 8, ready to prep for the kids and event!

Once the kids showed up, I could see they were just as excited as I was! We gathered with our families, and began preparing for the next 24 hours with each other. We prepared for some of our talks, found a spot for all of our stuff, went over the rules, took some selfies, and did our first confession video! My family included 8 awesome kiddos: Van H, Rabby, Ruda, Zai, Siang, Van V, Ngun, and Ring!

We started our Skypes, and seeing the kids talk to people all around the world was an amazing experience! They did a wonderful job taking turns talking, speaking loud and clear, and asking some great questions! The first few hours were easy, but after a while, the tiredness started creeping in! I knew I needed to keep energy high to keep the kids going! We sang songs, had a plank challenge, tried to eat Oreos off our faces with using our hands, played just dance, played Wii, and spent some time running around in the gym.

The kids did a great job staying up! A few of the kids gave into sleep late into the night (early in morning actually!), but Van H, Ngun, and Ring (minus a cat nap in the morning around 8 ish) and I made it ALL NIGHT LONG! For me, the night was easy to get through, I just kept moving, but the next day was rough! I think I had more caffeine in my veins than blood!

I learned so much through this experience! I cannot thank Garza enough for allowing me this opportunity. I will never forget this experience, and I have made some lasting memories and friendships (with both students and teachers!). I hope next year is just as great!!

We did it guys! I don't know how, but we made it through!!

-Selz

Aka Mom to DMS Chinos

Castillo - Reflection

It is 7:48 AM, March 10th. I am alive, and semi still a zombie. I went to bed finally at 6 PM March 9 and didn't wake up until now. I thought I would post a reflection of what was the most fun, longest night, I would totally do again, DeLay's 24 hour Skype-a-thon!

I went into the Skype-a-thon really excited and totally sure that everyone was going to hate me by the end of the 24 hours. I had to be at school at 9 AM on the March 7th to help Garza with all the things. I of course didn't get enough sleep because of my excitement, so I went into the morning a little scared. We were totally prepared, had all the food, and all the library set up for our adventure.

My little family was so excited!! They are a bunch of really outgoing and adventurous kiddos (Seth, Yahir, Luis, Brandon, Cristofer, and Kenia). I knew they were ready and I knew they were going to be awesome. We did several group skype calls and even ran our first call.

At about 9:30, I was starting to get tired and so was Kenia. We moved into the hall for some rest. The boys colored and Kenia and I catnapped. By 10:30 the boys were ready to blow off some steam. We got about an hour of gym play time in and the kids loved it. After, that it was skype call after skype call and by 1:30 AM in the middle of a call I was beginning to lose it. I couldn't keep my head up and didn't want to be rude. I moved myself under the table to try to keep it together. My boys were so sweet and covered me with a blanket to make sure I was good.

After that call I knew I needed a nap. Kenia and I set up a pallet and a few of my boys did the same and we passed out. I set an alarm for 2 hours. I was not going to miss a lot of stuff and wanted to make sure I would be good after that.

I will say that 2 hour napped changed my night. I totally needed that. I definitely felt like a truck hit me, but I was ready to take on the rest of the skype calls. I found that I had about 4 kids (Seth, Brandon, Yahir and Luis) still rolling at 4 AM. They hadn't slept!!! We lost Seth and Brandon to sleep shortly after that.

Luis, Yahir and I starting preparing for the next skype calls we were in charge of. I will tell you we were dumb and had most of our calls during the day on Friday. (We learned our lesson). Cristofer woke up around then and joined us. We made our calls into the Friday morning and man I could tell my all nighters, Luis and Yahir, were fading fast. At about 9 AM they went down and man were they out.

All and all everyone was delirious, the teachers especially. We made a ton of I'm sure hilarious confessional videos. I took hilarious selfies with the sleepers and Selz and I kept our "Cartwheel Time" still going strong. We skyped all over the world in 24 hours and I would totally do it all over again. I wish I could say I remember every part of it, but my zombie brain was pretty much mush at a certain point. I went out into the halls to see some of my kiddos/other teachers and what I heard was pretty much what you would expect, "Man, you look tired," "Dang Miss you look pale and I've never seen you without makeup on," or my favorite, to a child asking me a million questions, "Dude, don't talk to her right now she's had 2 hours of sleep and she may kill you!" It's like they know me so well.

All and all it was a great night! I got to spend the night with some of the greatest kids DeLay has right now, with my amazing teaching friends, with my 8th grade basketball coach, and it was all doing what I love to do. Garza is just about as crazy as I am and I'm so glad I went along with her on this journey. I know I was apart of something that these kiddos will NEVER forget.

Until next year...

-Castillo

Friday, March 9, 2018

We did it!!- M. Garza

As each hour passed, I could see my students trying to hang on for dear life. Their eyes became smaller and smaller and some fell into a deep sleep. However, our den mothers and their families filled in for those who needed sleep and took additional calls. At 7:15 am they all had to wake again to try and finish the day strong.

Honestly, I couldn't imagine working with a more amazing group of kids and teachers.

My Skype Family-- Thank you!! Thank you for deciding to fill out the application!! Thank you for wanting to try something new!! Thank you for being you!! You all are the first group of DeLay kids to ever participate in the 24 Hour World Journey. As the first, you taught me so much!!

I hope you all know how special you are!! I watched you go from whispering to talking so loud and being so funny!! Your willingness to try something new paid off. Your growth in one evening was astronomical!! You should all be proud. Thank you for finishing strong!! I know by the end all you wanted to do was sleep. Believe me, so did I but you finished the race!! You finished strong!!

In life, we need to remember to finish strong even when every fiber in our body says to stop or to quit!! You did, and I am eternally grateful and proud of you.

Den Mom's (Castillo, Selz, Shaw, Williamson and Burke)-- you learned to tweet and blogging all in one night and helped the kids learn these skills. Thank you for agreeing to help me. Thank you for being the nicest people even when you wanted to do nothing more than pass out. Thank you for going on this wild ride. Thank you for helping me give our kids hope that they can see and travel the world as well as do great things!! Thank you for helping me show our kids the world in one day. I don't have the words to show my gratitude but I truly am grateful!!

Castillo thank you for partnering up with me during my advisory, your selfie skills are impeccable!! and so is your positivity. I appreciate you letting me randomly bounce ideas off you and helping me when I double booked myself to confirm all 28 calls.

Angela and Jayne, thank you!! Thank you for the endless meetings, for keeping me on track, and organized. Thank you, for answering my every annoying email and helping me stay sane.

We did it!! We survived, we grew, we learned, we were annoyed, we were tired but we did it!!

Skype 28: The Grand Finale!!

All LISD schools come together to celebrate our successful 24-Hour Skype-a-thon. Way to go Briarhill MS, Lamar MS, Flower Mound 9, and Marcus 9!

Skype 27: Peter DiSimone, Maritime Museum of San Diego

Peter talks to us about maritime life in the 1600s on a replica Spanish galleon.

Skype 25: Washington, DC

Nancy Lewin, Executive Director non-profit ALAS
(Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents) talks to our girls about women in
leadership and being an advocate for people who want to be successful.

Skype 26: LHS Harmon in Lewisville, TX

Principal Tony Fontana and AP Rachel Flanders talk with future high schoolers about life at Harmon.

Las Chicas

I feel so proud of the ladies I had the privilege to work with during 24 hours.
Thank you, Eymy, Mirley, Emily, Elizabeth, Nayeli, and Kayla! You are the best!
Gracias CHICAS!!!

Ms. Williamson

Skype 24A Spain, Madrid with Veronica Lalueza and 24B LHS Killough, Lewisville, TX

Spain, Madrid
Veronica Lalueza
Edited by Monique Garza

Thank you, Veronica, for playing Mystery Skype with us. One day we all hope to visit Spain and watch a soccer game!!

Principal Pam Flores and student leaders talk about life in high school.

Fun Adventures Being Explored

Today and yesterday was so much fun being with our team mates, and I talking to other people around the world. I've learned that meeting people from different areas isn't as bad as you think it is. It is just meaning to get along with others and not being afraid. Today we just barely ended the call from Hearst Castle, and I was so amazed from the tour!! The castle was supposed to be a house, but it just looks like a castle. The man who built that house, did it for the people, and he wanted to share it with others, not keeping it to himself. The woman who showed us a free tour said that they only bought the huge house for a dollar! That made me feel amazed after she had said that. A house so big but for a dollar. So, that is what I learned today and yesterday.
Kayla Gomez

Skype 23: Dr. Bart Tkaczyk in Warsaw, Poland

Dr. Bart Tkaczyk in Warsaw, Poland talked to the students about leadership skills.

Skype 22: Hearst Castle in California

Erin Gates, who works for California State Parks, explains why William Randolph Hearst built his castle in the retreat of La Cuesta Encantada, or Enchanted Hill, near San Simeon, California.

The Castle!

Super fabulous artwork all in and around the Hearst Castle in Cali!! 3000 year old Egyptian sculpture and mermaids on the wall and stars in the pool....

Monkey fun!

The call with Brazil was so much fun, and very interesting as well. Celine Cousteau showed us two videos. One was about a huge anaconda, I personally didn't like that one because I have a Ophidiophobia which is a snake phobia. The second video Celine showed us, was about monkeys. She showed us two monkeys, honestly I don't remember the name of the first monkey on the video, but the one that I was most interested in was the spider monkey. I really liked the spider monkey because it was very very cute, and from what I know about spider monkey's they have very long arms, legs, and tail, and I thought that was really cool.

Nayeli

Skype 21: Yellowstone National Park

The park ranger from Yellowstone talks to us about the natural landforms such as hot springs and geysers. We also learned about species like bison, elk, and bears. Did you know that baby bison are nicknamed red dogs by the rangers because they resemble big dogs?

Skype 20: Students in Mexico City

DeLay students enjoyed speaking Spanish and sharing the Chin culture with students from Mexico City.

Skype 19: Celine Cousteau in New York

Celine Cousteau was nine when she first navigated the Amazon River with her grandfather, Jacques Cousteau. She learned to love the rain forest and became dedicated to preserving indigenous tribes’ way of life. We learned more about her project, Tribes on the Edge: /tribesontheedge.com/blog/80-2/

The Amazon Rainforest

Celine Cousteau shared with us her experience with the indigenous people of the Amazon Rainforest. It is so sad to hear how our modern culture affects the life of the tribes that have a very close relationship with nature.
We should understand that nature does not belong to us; on the contrary, we are responsible of keeping its natural balance.

The Cousteau Family

Friday, March 9, 8:30, we are about to talk to Celine Cousteau, granddaughter of the incredible Jacques Cousteau. I grew up watching his documentaries on TV. We are blessed to have this opportunity in DeLay MS.
Rebeca Williamson

Skype 18: Students from Denmark

We played Mystery Skype with students in Højby, Denmark. They guessed our location first.
They are ending their school day while we are just starting ours.

24 Hours NO SLEEP!! Journey ._.

The night began at 4:15, March 8. At first it seemed easy, but the longer I went, the harder it got. I started seeing the sleep monster around 12:00 am. I ignored him at first and kept on talking to new people and learning new things that blew my mind. As time went on, he seemed to get bigger and bigger. Now, as I'm typing this letter, he has slowly began to consume me, molecule by molecule.

At first, I thought I would pass out before we reached 12:00 am, but I actually managed to stay up all night. It was really hard and only .00012% of my brain is working, but I'll manage. As the night went on, I occupied myself with the Wii and beat everyone in all the games, it helped me stay up longer than I would've without it. I also Skyped for people who were asleep didn't. I really enjoyed talking to them. Although I was 3/4 asleep, I listened to what they had to say and found it really interesting. Staying up was worth it.

Ring A.