Friday, March 16, 2018

Day 6

it is hard to believe but today was our last day in NYC and we are currently back in New Jersey and heading back west. Before we get to far I think a recap is in order. We started the day by checkout out of the hotel. It took a little while as a few other large groups have moved in and everyone seemed to want to leave around 8. Once we were all settled we headed to Rockefeller center for the morning. Group split up and did a variety of things. Some hit up The Nintendo store and got a video game fix, some got free tickets to the top of the Rockefeller towers. Some took
The opportunity to go see Trump Tower, and most found some time to check out the stores and Starbucks. From there we headed to the Madison Ave Atrium. It was a really cool area and the band sounded great. The video is in the twitter feed if you would like to hear it and I will post our performances when we get home. From there we headed back up the street to Rockafeller where we got lunch before our tour of Radio City Music Hall. We took the backstage tour which actually  showed us about all of the theater. We learned about the effort to make this building a work of art. We got to sit in the worlds largest auditorium where lots of stars had sat, the original stage lift machinery, the costume shop, and we got to meet a Rockettet. It was an interesting tour, and our guide at least, was quite funny. Most of the girls thought the ladies lounge was pretty great. Our time in NYC ended with each chaperone group doing their own thing around Rockefeller Center and Time Square. And now we are heading our way back to Ackley so I'll leave it here for tonight. I don't have a ton of pictures but here are a few.



Thursday, March 15, 2018

Day 5

Day 5
 It is hard to believe that we are already finishing day 5 of our trip, it has flown by. Today the band got to finally have their first performance. We headed into the city this morning and right to the Air and Space Museum on the Intrepid. The kids got to spend the morning looking through the exhibits. Many of them were hands on and helped show how all the airplanes and ships worked. They got to see the small amount of space a person gets on a submarine, Use space gloves to manipulate different objects, and look at the different instruments that helped navigate the ships. The biggest hit of the morning was the flight simulator. A number of kids gave it a try and everyone else waited outside and watched them. (They had a camera on in the cockpit so everyone on the outside could see the kids inside.) It was a pretty funny thing to see. (See twitter for a live stream of Tori and Whitanie in the simulator.) Around noon the band kids prepared for their performance and then braved the wind and weather to provide their military and remembrance themed set. It was great to see people stop and listen as well as take selfies. It was really windy and pretty cold but the band did a wonderful job. I will post the full video (with hopefully more band sound then wind) once we get home. After the concert we took a group picture at the Intrepid and gave them a little more time to look at things. After we left the Air and Space Museum we headed to the MET, Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a huge building and due to traffic we didn't get a lot of time there. Even so, kids got to see some historic/ unique instruments (like a combination Tuba/Baritone.), George Washington Crossing the Delaware, as well as a number of Monets and Van Goghs. From there we headed to Hard Rock Cafe. We had Cheeseburgers, Mac and Cheese and Pulled Pork among others. The kids took advantage of a shopping experience, and we also got them to sing Happy Birthday to Christie. We then we to Aladdin the musical. It was fantastic, the kids really really loved it. Finally we braved the masses and headed to Time Square at night. It was CRAZY but we all got them without an incident. We took a group picture and then headed back to the hotel. Its been a good week and it is so hard to believe it is nearly over. Our kids have been great. Look for the live stream of the band's final performance tomorrow on twitter. Have a good night. 

















Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Day 3 and 4

So as it turns out we have had a coule long days and because it was really late Tuesday night when we got in and we had a really early wake up call Uni didn't get the blog done so tonight will be a recap and pictures from day 3 and 4.

Day 3 started with a change of plans as woke up to blowing snow. After a good night sleep on a real bed, We decided that Central Park would be no fun in the cold. Instead we decided to check out Time Square. The kids got to check out the Disney Store, M&M store amd the iconic Macy's on 34th  Street. From there we headed to Grand Central Station for lunch. It is a beautiful building and we got to learn more about it as we listened to our step on tour guide. These guides were with us for the afternoon and showed us all around the city. The highlight of our Grand Central Station was the whispering wall. It is a hallway in the station where you can talk in one corner and the tile helps sends the sound across the hall the kids were amazed it actually worked. Then we got to ride the subway. For most of our kids it was the first time they had ever done so. We made it on and off with  out loosing anyone so that let me breath a sigh of relief. Next we walked to Central Park. We saw Alice in Wonderland statue, the Bethesda Fountain, the Mall and Strawberry Fields. The kids in Bus 2 were also obsessed with the tv show Friends. They ran like Phoebe, and took pictures at a fountain like their credits.  Next we hopped on the bus to tour some more. We saw Lincoln Center, Harlem, Columbia University, The Cathedral of Saint John the a Divine, and the Plaza Hotel. Our tour guides were really great and we enjoyed their commentary. We finished our night at Carnegie Hall with an orchestral concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Senior Hannah said the music was captivating, entertaining and made the trip exciting. Senior Kristen said that the acoustics in the Hall were amazing, and Senior Lily said that being in the iconic hall was amazing. See some pictures from Time Square,  Grand Central Station, and Central Park.

Day 4 started thankfully without snow or rain. We headed into NYC to have the first of two choir performances today. We traveled to The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine for the choir to sing. We found out that the Cathedral is the largest cathedral in the world and is so tall that the Statue of Liberty could walk down the length as long as she put down the torch. It had beautiful stain glass windows and wonderful acoustics. The choir then gave their first performance and did a really great job. We did video it (and our  performance later in the day; I will post it when I get home) We took a little while to look around and then headed back to Grand Central Station for lunch. In the afternoon we headed to the United Nations to take a tour and for the choir to have their second performance of the day. This performance went really well too and we had quite a big audience which was really exciting for the students. People were even recording us and taking selfies (which the kids also thought was pretty cool) I even had a lady from either Australia or New Zealand stop and talk about us and our performance. I was very proud of our kids! Then we took a tour of the building. We got to see the general assembly hall as well as one of the council rooms. It was very educational as many of us, myself included, didn't know much about the UN. From there we headed to the iconic Empire State Building. It was really really windy up there today, so it was hard to spend much time outside but everyone got to see the city and its beautiful lobby. We finished our day at Swing 46, which I think most kids thought was really cool. Swing 46 is a Jazz Club that invites HS groups in. They had a live big band who was great along with a Jazz singer. They serenaded us as we ate our supper. (Which was also very tasty!) Then they offered us Swing Dance lessons. I was surprised that probaby a third of the group went up and tried to learn some dance steps. (Although I am not sure the dance instructor was use to teaching 20 HS kids!) Check out some of the video on Twitter, its great. With that we come to the end of Day 4. It is hard to believe we are half done with this trip. Tomorrow the band gets in on the action and has their own first performance. Check back in tomorrow night!








Monday, March 12, 2018

Monday Day 2

Welcome to NYC. Today was a very busy day touring New York. We started our day in New Jersey with a 6:00 am diner breakfast. We enjoyed the real food, but not the early wake up or sleeping on the bus. After about another hour in the bus we arrived at Liberty Park to ride the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We saw the original torch and climbed a lot of stairs to the top of her pedestal. There we could see just how tall she was and had a good view of the NYC skyline. Many of us also hit up the gift shop ( the first of many trips to a gift shop) From there we got back on the ferry and headed to Ellis Island, and another gift shop. Then we took 1 more ferry ride to Battery Park and lower Manhattan. We walked between the park and the 9/11 museum. It may have only been a few blocks but there was a lot to see. Groups saw Bowling Green an original meeting place in New York, The Charging Bull and the fearless girl,  Federal hall where Washington was inaugurated, and Trinity Church. Next we spent a few hours in the 9/11 museum. It was sobering and really well done. After that it was time for dinner at Puglai's. We ate spaghetti, chicken parmigiana, and lasagna. The food we good, especially the chicken. There was also a si


ng along. It got especially exciting when he had us standing on the chairs waving our napkins. It seemed to reenergize the kids. They then got to try out their haggling skills at the shops in Chinatown. We have a lot more NYC gear now. We then FINALLY checked into our hotel where we could shower and more importantly sleep in a real bed! Some of the kids also took advantage of the pool and hot tub as it is the only night we get to do so. Now it's late and I should call it a night. Check out a few pictures below and check in tomorrow for another update. Have a good night.


Sunday, March 11, 2018

Day One

I admit that I haven't been vetted good at updating this blog during the lead up to this trip but that changes today. We are finally on our way to NYC. We are a group of 74 including 53 students and 21 adults. This morning started as we swatted the school at 9 am. We've spent the day traveling through four states. We are about to stop for our final stop for the night and the we hit NYC tomorrow. Check back in for a much more ingesting report tomorrow evening.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

December Update

Hello Everyone,
 I realize it has been quite a while since our last update, so I will squeeze one in before Christmas. The trip planning continues to move right along. Yesterday we received our semi final itinerary from the company. All 4 of our program's performances have been approved. The band will be performing at the Intrepid Sea, Air, Space Museum as well as the Madison Ave Sculpture Garden Atrium. The performance at the Sea Air Space Museum will be out on the deck of the Intrepid, the ship that houses the museum. The Madison Ave Sculpture Garden Atrium is an indoor venue that looks to be a really cool place to play. From the pictures it is a large glassed in area with trees and numerous sculptures. The choir will be performing at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and at the United Nations. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine boasts an incredible acoustic venue unlike anything our students have sung in before. At the United Nations our students will get to sing before an international audience before touring the building. We are hoping to stream these performances live, but will post them here (and probably in other places too) as soon as possible. We also have tickets to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall as well as the musical Aladdin. I am pretty sure that as of now, our tickets to dinner and a jazz set at the Jazz Club Swing 46 have also been confirmed. As you can see we have a lot of music events happening during our 5 day excursion to NYC. We are excited to bring these exciting opportunities to our students.

On the business end of this trip, We have 2 more payments left before we go. I will include the current amounts below. I am hoping to have our final confirmed total soon so the Feb. payment is still subject to change. We are also planning a final informational meeting hopefully on Feb. 6, 2018 so be on the lookout for information via mail and email.

As always continue to follow our trip here on the blog (I am going to try and post more often now that we are in the final stretch) as well as on twitter (@agwrsmusicdept). We have also started a K-12 department website so you can find us there too. https://sites.google.com/agwsr.org/agwsrmusic/home

Thanks for stopping in and seeing what we have going on, till next time.....

Students payments                 Chaperone Payments                          Traveling Parents
Jan. $250                                 Jan. None                                            $300

Feb. $275                                Feb. $150                                            $352

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

November Update

130 Days and Counting....

Time for our monthly update on everything to do with the trip!


* Butterbraids will be in Thursday Nov. 2 at 2:30 in the Band Room. Please make arrangements to pick up your braids and get them delivered. We did an incredible job and sold over 900 braids this year. Thank you to everyone who bought and supported the music program.

* The November payment is due by the end of the week. If you need to know how much you owe for the trip you can contact Mr. Idler or Miss Medick. You can also check out the New York Payment form on the Google Classroom for the trip. There is no payment due in December. We are getting there everybody!

* We received an updated version of our itinerary. The big news is that we now have our tickets to ALADDIN! More of our events have been confirmed as well.