Rock World

Dear Chaperones,

We would like to extend our extreme gratitude in advance for volunteering your time! With this letter, you will receive a rooming list, an itinerary, a packing list, a photo of assigned students, and a list of any special instructions/health concerns. If you should have any questions or concerns,

please contact one of us before our departure on Wednesday. Remember that all food and attraction admissions for chaperones are covered by Summer Academy. If you would like to leave a vehicle at the Summer Academy site, please park in the parking lot across 49th Avenue (across from the high school). Summer Academy cannot guarantee that the lot will be monitored outside of Academy hours, but we haven't had any issues in previous years.

Information about the Comfort Inn:

Due to the arrangement of the hotel rooms, chaperones (unless otherwise noted) will be sleeping on a rollaway, with a few lucky chaperones sleeping on a cot. If you are one on a cot, you will need to bring your own bedding, as the hotel cannot provide extras for us. Those chaperones that have been assigned to a suite will be sleeping on a pullout sofa with his/her child. Chaperones in a suite or on a rollaway will not need to bring bedding. The hotel does have a swimming pool. However due to liability, we ask that the students DO NOT go into the pool area. Phones in the rooms will be shut off to outside calls, but there is a lobby phone, which students can use to call home (using a phone card or calling collect) before bedtime. In the past, some students bring a cell phone provided by their family to call home. Finally, at no time should student(s) be alone in the hotel rooms.

Information about the itinerary:

We have provided our planned schedule and times. Please note that all times are subject to change based on the needs of our group. Consideration has been given for traffic, length of trip and possible delays, such as road construction. Because of extensive road construction in and around Duluth, Thursday's schedule is especially tight. We appreciate your help to make sure we stay on time. We would like students to be settled in with lights out by 10 PM at night. You can determine the wake up time with consideration for the breakfast time listed on the itinerary. We have booked the conference room to eat breakfast in so as to not crowd the hotel's breakfast area. Departure times from the hotel are critical to our schedule, so please be on time with your group.

Information about the students:

All students will need to wear their nametags at all times on both Wednesday and Thursday. You also will be given a nametag (color will correspond with your group's nametags) and a bright orange vest to wear while on our excursions as this helps students to find adults in our group. Students have indicated their food choice for all of our meals (except breakfasts) and, at mealtimes, you'll need to pick up your group's orders. We'll bring a list of your students' orders with us. Students with any medication or health concerns will be under the care of the doctor that travels with us. You are to not administer any medication for kids in your group, unless the child is your own.

General Guidelines:

While on the trip, please

• Help students focus attention at attractions and on tour guides/speakers
• Provide supervision (not money) while at gift shops. Time at shops is limited, so please plan accordingly.
• When you return to your room on Wednesday night, please settle students in to journal in their SA notebooks for 20-30 minutes. Students should record what things we did that day and plan for their geology book pages.
• Please initial their notes when finished, as you do for your own child daily.
• While loading buses at any site, count your group and report to us when all are present.
• Please let Sarah or Maira know if there are situations that need our attention. We would like to tend to these things ASAP. We will let you know our room number when we arrive at the hotel.

Again, we thank you for your time and willingness to participate in this great experience. If you have questions or concerns prior to our departure, please contact either of us.

Maira Simonson 651-353-2441 (home) Sarah Olson 651-631-2216 (home)

(All times subject to change as needed)

• Long pants
• Sweatshirt Shirts (if you have Summer Academy t-shirts from current and/or previous years, we encourage you to wear them during the field trip!)
• Shorts
• Underwear
• Socks
• Pajamas
• Raingear
• Warmer fall-like jackets for Tower/Soudan Mine
• Tennis Shoes
• Hat (if wanted)
• Sunglasses
• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.)
• Camera
• Money for Gift Shop
• Book/Video Games/Music Player* (optional and please see note below)
• Water Bottle Bag or container for collecting rocks
• Lunch for Wednesday
• A pencil for taking notes in your Rock World Notebook

We will be gone for two days. The weather in the past has been chilly at times, wet at times, and often very nice (we are keeping our fingers crossed for this one!) I would pack your child so that layers are available for what the weather has in store for us. It is very cool (a refreshing 55 degrees) down in the mine so I would send warm clothes for the day we go "under." Also, the dirt in the mine is red, so you may want to consider bringing older clothes that you don't mind getting dirt on (which often does not wash out). We will bring sunscreen, bug spray and first aid items.

A Note about Electronic Devices: Students are allowed, but not required, to bring electronic devices for the bus rides and while in the hotel rooms (i.e. CD/MP3 players, IPods, Gameboys, Nintendo DS, etc.). However, we are not liable for such items. Students are responsible for these possessions at all times. Devices must be accompanied by headphones or have the ability to be used with the sound off. Devices can only be used while on the bus or in the hotel rooms, not while at a site or with a guest speaker. If a student is caught using items while at a site, course instructors will take away the item until the end of the three-day field trip.

A Note about Rock World Notebooks: Students will receive their notebooks when they arrive on Wednesday. Students are encouraged to take notes while at the sites, but we understand that they can be cumbersome. At night, students will be expected to write down notes from the day's activities. Chaperones will initial the notes, just as is the routine daily for our course.

Dear Parents and Students in the Summer Academy Rock World Class:

Our extended Rock World Class Field Trip plans for Wednesday, June 23rd - Thursday, June 24th are set! Provided for you in this letter is our itinerary and contact phone numbers in case you would need to reach us. We have also included a suggested packing list and items your child will need for our adventure together. We will depart from the Summer Academy on Wednesday the 23rd at 7:15 am. We will begin packing the bus at 7:00 am. Your child can bring one suitcase to put in the luggage compartment and one carry-on bag to bring on the bus. For the first day, your child should have a lunch with beverage packed in his/her carry-on bag. Remember, we provide two snacks a day of granola/cereal bars with juice both Wednesday and Thursday.

First Day Excursions:

We will go to the Tower/Soudan Mine to visit the historical underground mine. We will be underground about 11⁄2 hours. Before and after our underground experience we will visit the Rock Museum and some rock sites surrounding the mine. We will also learn about the mining industry and the elevator that takes us up and down the site.

Contact Number: 218-753-2245

We will wrap our first day in Duluth by seeing a film at the Duluth Omnimax Theater.

Contact Number: 218-737-0022

Second Day Excursions:

Early Thursday morning we will depart to Gooseberry Falls State Park to tour the great geologic landscape of the area and meet with a park naturalist. He/she will introduce the students to the natural features of the park and Minnesota's gemstone, the agate. Gooseberry Falls State Park is known for its spectacular waterfalls, river gorge, Lake Superior shoreline, Civilian Conservation Corps log and stone structures, and north woods wildlife.

Contact Number: 218-834-3855

We will also visit Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton. We will meet with a park naturalist. He/she will lead on us a tour of the unique geologic features of the area's landscape. Consider this a wonderful outdoor classroom experience!

Contact Number: 218-384-4610

A stop at Moose Lake State Park's Agate Center: The park ranger will give us a tour of the parks' 4,500-square-foot center that includes interpretive displays, a multi-purpose classroom, Nature Store gift shop and exhibition hall that showcases Minnesota's gemstone, the agate.

Contact Number: 218-485-5420

Our Sleeping and Food Plans During the Trip:

We will be staying at the Comfort Inn in Duluth on Wednesday night. Comfort Inn will be providing breakfast on Thursday morning. We will be ordering pizza for dinner on Wednesday. We will order lunch from Subway and dinner from McDonald's on Thursday. You have already placed your food orders last week.

Comfort Inn is providing 13 rooms for our group. Each standard room contains two double beds that will sleep 4 students. One chaperone will be assigned to a standard room and will sleep on a rollaway. The suites contain two double beds and a pullout sofa. These rooms will sleep 5 students and one chaperone. The chaperone and his/her child will share the pullout sofa.

Phone contact number: 218-628-1464

Our Contacting Plans:

On Wednesday night, we will touch base with Mary Carlson Pap (Interim Director) and report in on how we are doing. If an emergency should arise, you would hear from Mary. You will not hear anything from her unless something goes amiss. If you need to get a hold of us during the field trip, you have the contact numbers of all our stops. You can also call Mary to relay a message to us. As to not overload the hotel staff, we ask that you not call the hotel rooms in the evenings. Students will have access to a phone in the lobby. In the past years, students have called home using the phone (with a calling card or calling collect) or a family provided cell phone to say their goodnights. Mary's contact numbers are as follows:

Home: 651-797-3383
Work with voicemail: 651-604-3749
Summer Academy: 763-528-4621

Ten parent chaperones will be joining us on the trip, as well as our Teaching assistant. A doctor will also accompany us on our trip to administer all medications and provide first aid if needed. In all, 55 students and chaperones will make up the Rock World Field trip. Please call us if you have any questions or concerns prior to our departure.

Sincerely,

Maira Simonson 651-353-2441 (home)
Sarah Olson 651-631-2216 (home)

Class on Friday, June 25th:

Because of our extended field trip, Rock World students will not have class on Friday, June 26th. Class will resume on Monday, June 28th. Please note that all other Summer Academy classes have class on Friday.