March 27, 2009

Since we've been back on campus for more than a week since our winter expedition, RMS XXII has fallen back into the swing of things here at HMI. Each morning we get up and head to AMX, which has been quite eventful this week. On Wednesday we were given the treat of learning to salsa dance for AMX. It was difficult for some of us to get into the Latino groove, but with encouragement from Chewie, almost all of us had at least the basic steps down by the end of the thirty minutes. The next day was certainly a milestone for AMX since we ran the anticipated six-mile loop for the first time. With the wind blowing and fresh, powdery snow on the ground, the loop was a challenge we met head-on. Victory certainly was sweet when we returned to a delicious breakfast of eggs and fruit.

Along with AMX, we have been reacquainted with our cook crews and the pattern of preparing meals and cleaning dishes. Cook crews can be heard throughout Who's Hall whenever the kitchen door swings open to reveal the music and dancing that often accompanies dinner preparation. RMS XXII has gotten really into cooking, and, we always have a great time picking table order at dinner. 

Classes have been crazy here since our return to campus. Parents weekend is upon us and we are preparing in all of our classes. In English this week we are creating parents weekend poems about our experiences and how we have changed. We will read these poems aloud during English class on Saturday. In history we are preparing a short presentation on various topics we have studied throughout the semester. In the pre-calculus classes we are wrapping up topics on trigonometry and the calculus classes are beginning preparations for the AP calculus test. The end of this week has been crammed full of tests and quizzes, but we all know that spring break is close.

This week involved much time investment for the students revolving around science class. We had a science project in groups where we took an animal that can be found in Colorado and did a research project on it, for which we had to list all of the animal's winter adaptations and other information about it. We all created posters on our animals.  Additionally, some groups chose to do skits or make powerpoint presentations and videos. Some of the animals selected were the gray wolf, the snapping turtle, the black bear, and the mountain lion. Some of the videos were pretty hilarious. In one group's video, they crawled on top of the quigloo to display the natural habitat of the mountain lion, and they actually crushed it and fell through the roof (don't worry, they were okay). We also had a science lab to do on animal tracks. Last Thursday we took a trip to the nearby fish hatchery, where tons of trout have hatched. There are woods close by, and we found and identified different animal tracks.

In addition to classes and prepping for Parent's Weekend, the students of RMS XXII have started something new: the HMI musical. We are taking songs from some of our favorite musicals or Disney movies and changing up the lyrics to relate to HMI. Most of the preparation for the musical will be taking place over spring break, which starts this week after Parent's Weekend.  We will likely perform the musical during the last week of the semester.

We are all looking forward to Parent's Weekend, and spring break!

By: Syd Graetz, Clara Bicher & Sam Fields 

P.S. I, Sam Fields, am sorry that this weekly update is extremely late, but I am just enjoying my time here at HMI and find little time on a computer, especially considering mine is broken.