Egg Station by Alek M. (Heifer Field Trip)

During the Heifer field trip we took some time to look at a store bought egg and an Overlook Farm egg (laid right there by a chicken) crack them, and compare the differences. The major differences between the Overlook egg and the store bought egg is that the Overlook egg white is more see-through than the store bought one. In the yolk of the Overlook egg there was this white spot call the embryos which means the egg is still able to produce a chick. The egg yolk from Overlook is also darker. A fun fact about eggs is that you can tell what color the eggshell will be by looking at the chicken’s ears. The Overlook eggs were white and blue, while the store bought one was just plain brown.

Peru by Lucy A. (Heifer Field Trip)

At the station based on Peru, there were guinea pigs, llamas and alpacas which is what Heifer donates to the people in Peru. Our guide told us that in Peru they eat guinea pigs and got milk, money, muscle, more and motivation from the alpacas and llamas because they’re big and strong so they can carry stuff for people. They can also milk them and with an alpaca and llama, they can have babies and the owner and can sell them to someone else so they can benefit from the llamas and alpacas as much as they do. They can also sell the milk to people and they can have more substantial meals than what they used to have. These animals can also motivate the owners to live and eat
better.

In the surroundings for Peru, there was a small house that looked like it was made of dried mud or sand stone and twigs from dead trees as coverage. They also had a hutch for the guinea pigs and a small field for the alpacas and llamas.

Mrs. DiLeo Interview by Lucy A.

Last week, I sat down and interviewed Mrs. DiLeo, who is a very nice person that is the seventh grade guidance counselor for Oak Middle School. I asked a few questions about her job as a guidance counselor. She helps students through tough times by listening to them and then giving them advice on how to get through this issue by themselves. She said that the biggest issue at this school that she got talked to about the most was cyber bullying. It is ongoing and mainly on Instagram, oovoo and Facebook where people say hurtful and mean comments to another person. She enjoys helping people and its one of her favorite things to do.

I then asked Ms. DiLeo her what her favorite things to do were other than guidance counseling. She said she also enjoyed sailing, going to the beach and taking walks. When she was a kid she wanted to be a gym teacher which she was for four years but after a while realized she was giving advice, which she liked giving out so she went and became a guidance counselor. I then asked her if she could be anything what would she be? She said she’d like to be a pop star, but not at all like Miley Cyrus.

I then asked her questions about her life and where she’s been. I asked her if she’d grown up in Shrewsbury and went to Sherwood and Oak as well as what college she went to. And she had lived in Shrewsbury! She’d gone to Oak when they were building the old Sherwood and when they were just starting the foreign language classes. She also went to UMASS and two colleges in Worcester. She has two brothers and one of them has passed away unfortunately. She is also retiring after this year and she is very sad but she likes hanging out with older people and would also like to help people to speak English if they don’t already. She wants to travel more because she’s only been to Mexico three times and Bermuda.

The Oak Middle School Gym by Ethan W.

The Oak Middle School gym is used for many different activities. It was originally built in 1950. Some interesting features of the gym include the dividing wall, weight rooms and a giant equipment closet. The building was a high school once so 7th to 8th graders can experience the high school facility. Overall most kids really enjoy gym class but there are some important rules that you need to follow such as reporting to attendance lines on time, not touching equipment until told to, no chewing gum or candy, dress appropriately, wear sneakers, be safe, and treat others the way you want to be treated. There are 6 gym classes a day – three 7th grade classes and three 8th grade classes. The gym is not just used for classes; it is also used for many other activities such as assemblies, fundraisers, spirit week, and after school activities. The gym teacher coach LaRose has been working there for thirteen years. Maintenance includes daily sweeping and floor washing periodically. In addition the school will resurface the floor to make it nice and shiny. There are variety of exercises you would do in PE to work on muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility.

Milking a Goat by Liam L. (Heifer Field Trip)

Milking a goat is kind of weird and cool at the same time. It has an awkward warm sensation.Before milking a goat everybody  bleached their hands because it would keep the goat from getting infected and if someone on accident touched the milk it wouldn’t go bad. While milking it the goat chews on some sweet oats with molasses in them. The goat was in Guatemala. (I’m focused on the goats but Casey will give you the rest on the Chapin country.) Milking a goat or even having goats can help people because goats can get milk, money, motivation, and meat. They can also reproduce (more babies) and give material.

The Garden by Rosemary S. (Heifer Field Trip)

Going to Overlook Farm was very different from the average, boring, museum field trip. My article isn’t going to be about Overlook Farm in general. It’s about dragging bright colors out of the ground. Thanks to Heifer International, we got to pick carrots fresh out of the ground! With a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, picking the carrots was definitely one of my favorite parts. But before that, I need to talk about the garden that they had. They have about an acre of over 25 different fruits and vegetables from strawberries to dry beans and butternut squash. They raise the cropbeds beside walking paths so the dirt doesn’t get ruined.

So, my group walked in a single file line to the middle of the beds and the tour guide loosened the dirt as we all pulled at the skinny base of the carrot tops and revealed purple, orange, white, and yellow unusual vegetables. Some of the carrots were entwined together, some of them were thick cylinders, there was even some where two carrots joined together at the base. Walking into the kitchen, the chef began talking to us about how they preserve different fruits and vegetables, like pickling and drying. The kids got to try different preserved vegetables with dip and even dried cherry tomatoes. We placed the carrot tops in a large bowl to be fed to the rabbits on the farm. Some students even got to feed the rabbits themselves.

Guatemala by Casey J. (Heifer Field Trip)

The Guatemalan station at the Heifer international farm was a wonderful experience.  The  station included multiple chickens and an abundance of rabbits. Guatemala also included a goat milking station. (You can read Liam’s article to learn more  about that fantastic experience.)  Although we cooked meals at many of the  stations, Guatemala was not one that provided food. I learned that culture in Guatemala is very different from our own culture. The Heifer experience was one of the most fun trips I’ve ever been on and I hope many agree.

The Bus Ride by Lucas D. (Heifer Field Trip)

When the whole team was going to Heifer we needed 2 buses because there was 121 kids in total. I’m not going to lie; the bus ride was awesome. the reasons it was a lot of fun on the bus was because so much of my friends were there and it was so much fun. At the end of the field trip the teacher call groups 1 through 4 and I was group 9 so then I went to the wrong bus but when they were doing the attendance they found out that I was on the wrong bus. Many when we were coming back to the school it was more fun because we had more stuff to talk about. The bus ride was only 40 minutes so we didn’t get to talk as much. At the beginning of the ride everyone was singing because we couldn’t use iPods or iPhones to listen to music. Overall the bus ride was probably the best part of the field trip.

Tibet by Ethan W. (Heifer Field Trip)

Tibet is a old nomadic society. They would live in small stone houses eating barley and zumba and drinking tea. They ate barley because they were poor and could not get a lot of food. Sometimes it was the only meal for the day. The religion for them is Buddhism. They have colored  flags symbolizing their beliefs and nation. These flags are red for fire, blue for the sky, white for the spirit, and yellow for the earth. They hung the flags next to the house at Heifer.

They had yaks for animals and would shave them for material. Yaks can give one pound of fur a year and with 200 pounds of fur you could make a yak tent. Yak tents were used as summer homes for nomads. They would camp in it then pack it up and move on because the tent was mobile.

Señora Pierce Interview by Aleksa M.

Señora Pierce is one of the Spanish teachers here at Oak Middle School. Her favorite color is dark blue and she was born and raised in Michigan. Her childhood dream was to be an archeologist or Egyptologist. She never thought she would be a Spanish teacher in Shrewsbury, but she loves teaching. In between classes she finishes things with the last class, sets up for the next class especially if there are lesson plan changes like the transition between 7th grade class and 8th grade class. In her free time she runs, cares for her own cats, works with a cat rescue, is a member of committees, works on her yard or house, and spends time with friends. She doesn’t have any kids. She went to three different colleges. When she went to small college in Michigan called ALMA, she studied Spanish and political science. She studied Spanish literature at Vanderbilt University. She studied Spanish and education at Worcester State College (WSC). Her favorite movie is “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (though she also loves the original “Star Wars”). Her favorite TV show is “Rizzoli and Isles”. If she could be at one place in the world right now it would be Santiago, Chile, because it is one of the places where Spanish is established in South America and has become the most prosperous and democratic place. She would like to be there for a long visit. Outside of North America she has been to Spain twice, England, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala. If she could have one job (not a teacher) she would be some kind of scientist, possibly meteorologist or neurologist.

At the animal shelter, she cleans, helps out around the center, helps with fundraisers and gets the reward of helping animals without homes. She loves cats but she also loves dogs and used to have them. It is a small rescue organization started by lady who lives in Uxbridge. All of the cats are rescued locally; they are fostered  and are able to be adopted at an adoption day at PetSmart in Blackstone Valley. Link for rescue organization:

http://www.willyskittyangels.org/index.htm