I'm Addicted.

The slide into addiction is a solitary journey through a tunnel dark and dreary. It begins with a taste. Just a taste in a fraction of time that, given any other circumstance, would be forgotten once lived. Suddenly a mysterious world you’ve only read about is unveiled before you. Like Alice, you step lightly through the Looking Glass.
I’m between worlds, looking back into what I know, and with a turn of the head, look into the mist both tempting and beaconing. I hear the song of the Siren captivating the sense of sound. Like a spreading cancer, the sound develops taste. Colors from a crystal rain accompany the melody. I find myself moving, inch by inch, into this new world and yet, memories acting like an anchor, refuse to yield my foundation in the old. It is epic.
My journey began at the start of the week. I was on the Voyager’s Bridge speaking to a teacher I've known since our days together teaching hieroglyphics to the Pharaohs children.
“What’s the hardest part of your job?” he questioned.
“The repetition is challenging but there is a close second,” I said, realizing the top ten list of why running a Space Education Center is hard has items so close it is hard to list them from most to least.
“Is it the kids,” he asked, attempting a guess.
“No, it is the ever nagging fear we will lose a piece of equipment that would force me to cancel a field trip. That's a disaster for a teacher . Your class is all ready to go to the Space Center and suddenly it is canceled because such and such broke and can’t be fixed in time. Imagine said teacher facing his class with that kind of news? There would be a modern day tar and feathering of spit wads and pencil shavings. It haunts me.”
“Well, that can’t be avoided,” my friend said to bring reason to the discussion.
“We try,” I replied. “We have duplicate equipment for most things so if something breaks we drop in the spare. That makes running this Center expensive. That takes me to the third item in my ‘stress’ factor list for running a Space Education Center.”
“Have you ever had to send a school back because of a break down,” was the next question.
“Never, we’ve been lucky. This year has been very good. Our equipment has been trustworthy,” I said with a feathering of pride.
Suddenly I realized boasting of good fortune may cause Fortuna, the Goddess of Fortune, to abandon you to the Fates. I quickly found the nearest piece of furniture and touched it to ground any misfortune.
The mission started. We were running “Intolerance”. Toward the end of the mission I heard Metta at the other end of the Control Room. She was saying something about our primary DVD player. The Primary DVD Player is used to play the story DVD. These are the DVD players impossible to find today. They have an option to cancel the on-screen display of the play and pause feature.
“What’s wrong?” I said in a pause in the action.
“The DVD player won’t play the DVD. It keeps switching off when I put the DVD in. The other DVD players won’t pause.”
I knew we were in a small crisis but nothing professionals couldn't handle. I had to continue the mission. We all know the show must go on. My faith in Metta’s ability to perform miracles would be put to the test. I watched with fascination as she skillfully used the reverse feature on the working DVD player to prep the upcoming scene. Her timing was perfect. Just as I said the key words her hands began moving like the hands of an organist playing a five keyboard instrument. She switched from the science screens to the effects just as the play display disappeared and switched back at the end of the scene. Then, back to the reverse - backing the DVD to a point where it would play up to the next scene just as I called for it.
Metta earned her Space Center Purple Heart for what I saw that day.
The school went home. I sat at my desk watching an approaching storm of epic proportions. Panasonic doesn’t make the S29 or S35 model. The only current DVD player with our required features is the S97 model and they are several hundred dollars each. I turned to my computer to make the necessary keystrokes to spend money I regretted to spend. I felt the tempest about to break down my defenses.
I was about to be carried away by a situation. A situation was in control instead of me controlling the situation - as I prefer to run things. I am a proactive manager - I anticipate the worst. I believe you should prepare for the worst and then expect the best. I felt myself being pulled off my chair into the mouth of a swirling vortex braced by bolts of white lightening. Suddenly - a word entered my mind. It was inspiration. I was saved.
“EBAY!” I shouted. The room settled into quiet. The hurricane was gone replaced by the shocked look of the staff sitting around me. I ignored their looks and began the process of joining this mysterious club of bargain hunters connected together in the world of Cyberspace. In a few minutes I found seven used DVD players with the proper sequence of letter and number: S29. S35. S97.
Within one hour I navigated the uncharted waters of Ebay and Paypal. I earned my captain’s hat. I saved hundreds of dollars. I was dumbstruck.
That was this addict’s first taste of the forbidden fruit. Later that day when my defenses were at their lowest, I stepped through the Looking Glass by searching for other things I needed at home and at the Space Center. As if by magic the items were there - pictured with full descriptions. The prices were perfect. I wanted to stop but there was always something else I knew we needed. Buying cheap is the enticement of Ebay but the addiction comes from the bidding. On some of the DVD players I was locked into a bidding war with other Ebay warriors. It was mortal combat and I’m a competitor. I would crush all who dared to challenge the supremacy of the new player in town: CMSEC.
Several days have passed. I won my bids and two of the players arrived. One is safely in the Voyager working perfectly. The other, a spare, was installed in the Phoenix on Saturday when their effects DVD player went on the fritz.
This week I look forward to taking mental inventory of the Center. I’ll be looking for other equipment I’ve hesitated to buy because of cost. Now, as a member of Ebay, I no longer fear the dark.

So, Im addicted to Ebay. Is there an Ebay Anonymous? I’m only into this addiction one week. I can beat it. I’ve got determination to use Ebay responsibly, but ........... Christmas is coming. Think of the gifts I could buy cheap. No one needs to know my gifts were ‘broken in’ by someone else. It would be our little secret.
Well troops, keep me in your thoughts. Staff and volunteers, check on me when you come in to work. If you see me on Ebay you have permission to fill one of the custodian’s buckets with ice cold drinking fountain water and douse the fires of bargain passion.
OK, enough of this. I have two sisters in California that need a little something for Christmas from their suddenly generous big brother. I’ll see you all in the trenches. Have a great week.

Mr. Williamson

Can We CoExist?

This Blog is a place where I record things for our collective memory - good, bad, and annoying.
Speaking of annoying - how about the Odyssey's close proximity to the school's library? We've been working with Central School’s Librarians ever since the Odyssey opened to find ways to stem the flow of bleeding sound from the simulator into the Library. Every year it comes to a head and then resolved. That tradition was continued last week with a note in my mail box from our librarian. The note was written politely. It said the noise was excessive and correction was needed. The note was to the point. Do you get a mental picture of a school librarian in plaid skirt, white blouse with glasses hanging around neck and hair up in a bun writing that note? Now add a sledge hammer in her hands. Do you see her taking massive swings, sending the iron top of the hammer into the shared cinder block wall between the Odyssey and library? The sparks and chips would provide the urgency in her note.

In addition to the noise her note complained that her repeated knocks on the Odyssey’s door, her way to tell you to turn the sound down, were ignored. She asked me to intercede for her sanity’s sake. I should of taken the matter into hand earlier in the year. Instead, I let it slip. The science of procrastination teaches that unpleasant tasks are best left to another day. That failed philosophy has Janet at the point of no return. If success isn’t achieved soon Dr. Carter will be drawn in for mediation. Our principal has enough on her plate so we needed to step up to the plate and do the right thing.
One solution would present a new challenge - running a mission with no sound. I suppose we could do everything through headphones or all of us could learn American Sign Language. That would also required the teaching of the language to our campers as part of their mission training. Training time would be increased from 30 minutes to several months or more for a private two and one half hour mission. Costly and not practical but you all know me - I always consider all alternatives before a course of action is taken.
Emily Perry, Odyssey’s Set Director, offered another promising solution. She suggested we clip the vocal chords of BJ Warner, our Decibel DJ and master violator of the peace. It was funny to imagine, but discarded in the end. BJ hopes to have a career on stage - as a actor, not a mime.
My final solution was both novel and imaginative. I ordered the sound turned down. Our librarian is satisfied. Making her happy would involve C4 explosives but she saw the need for compromise. She can be seen wandering the school with a noticeable smile. The nervous twitching around her eyes has stopped. The Odyssey Flight Directors, on the other hand, feel I’ve abandoned my principles. They describe me as having a bright yellow streak running down my back. I have two new nicknames. The more educated call me Chamberlain while others are fond of Benedict Arnold.
The Odyssey Flight Directors will adjust to flying with whisper technology and should be more relaxed knowing that the Odyssey and library will peacefully coexist.

Now I go to my room and sit quietly,
Mr. Williamson

Attendance Records Shattered

Hello Troops,
The Space Education Center celebrated its 18th anniversary last Saturday, November 8, 2008. This post is our yearly attendance report. Remember, a Space Center year runs November 8 to November 8.
Total Attendance for the year: 18, 682 A NEW RECORD!
Last year’s record: 18,526.
Total Number of Missions: 2,104 A NEW RECORD!
Last year’s record: 1,914.

Mission numbers ship by ship:

• Voyager 2008: 542. Last Year’s Record: 490
• Odyssey 2008: 656. Last Year’s Record: 624
• Galileo 2008: 247. Last Year’s Record: 188.
• Magellan 2008: 219. Last Year’s Record: 212
• Phoenix 2008: 440. Last Year’s Record: 400

This is a breakdown of the total number of missions over the last five years:

2004: 1,458
2005: 1,465
2006: 1,791
2007: 1,914
2008: 2,104

Every record was shattered this year.
Congratulations to the Volunteers and Staff of the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center for a job well done. All have given their time and talents to achieve these numbers. Thank you.

Mr. Williamson

Do You Need A Chuckle? Read On.

Hello Troops,
Below you'll find the wisdom of the ages condensed into short, semi-digestable morsels.
Enjoy your time in this post.
After reading them I added another item to my growing wish list for my 51st birthday party candle blow out. I wish I could someday be clever enough to write observations like this.
Now I close with an old Irish proverb, "May the Ground rise up to meet you". I haven't a clue what that means but I'm beginning to think it was written under the influence of a couple pints of Guiness in a country pub fifty miles outside of Dublin.

Soberly Yours,
Mr. Williamson

The Wisdom of the Ages

• A day without sunshine is like… night.
• On the other hand, you have different fingers.
• I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
• 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
• 99.5% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
• I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
• Honk if you love peace and quiet.
• Remember, half the people you know are below average.
• He who laughs last thinks slowest.
• Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
• The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
• I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
• Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
• Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life.
• A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
• Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
• Get a new car for your spouse. It'll be a great trade!
• Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
• Always try to be modest, and be proud of it!
• If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
• "How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand..."
• OK, so what's the speed of dark?
• How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
• If everything seems to be going well, you obviously have overlooked something.
• When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
• Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
• Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have enough film.
• If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
• Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
• What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
• I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.
• I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
• Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
• Inside every older person is a younger person wondering "What happened?!"

Play, Imagination and School

I’ve come to realize that the word ‘play’ has been included in the four letter word category by many educational policy makers. Have we as a nation drifted so far off balance that play, the rich soil imagination springs from, has no educational value for those that make education policy? There are many in that community who believe play should be given a scarlet letter and put in the stocks for public scorn?

When I started teaching in 1983 America was reacting to a report called “A Nation at Risk”. The report said America needed to toughen its educational standards so our children could compete with their peers in other industrialized nations. It was a call to arms. The states began reviewing curriculum. Standards were set and high stakes testing became the flavor of the end of the 19th century. I was a believer in the change. I felt American education needed reform. I raised expectations in my classroom. I asked my students to reach higher.

Then, as we’ve done so many times in the past, the educational community carried standards and testing to the extreme. We sped past balance taking students to the opposite side of the scale. Today we see the resutls of those policies. Our schools are fast becoming testing factories. We have inputs and outputs and, like any kitchen gadget, we believe we can analyze that output with a set scale to determine success or failure.

We are where Japan was in the 1980’s. I remember all to well hearing and reading reports on the Japanese industrial education system. To be successfull, Japanese children attended school six days a week. Intense testing was paired with intense pressure to achieve. I remember reading that the suicide rate of Japanese teens was one of the highest in the world. My educator friends and I became concerned that our school’s would follow that model. We haven’t gotten there yet but we easily could if we are not careful.

I believe American schools should foster the qualities that made America great. Our ancestors came to this country to make a better life for themselves and their families. They were extraordinary risk takers. They saw opportunities and took action. They dreamed big. They had powerful imaginations. They had an intense desire to take control of their lives. No longer would they be puppets to unbearable circumstances . They were pioneers in every sense of the word. They wondered what was on the other side of the mountain. That wonder was matched with effort. They put on the backpack, reached for the walking stick, and set out on voyages of discovery.

Are we fostering that spirit of discovery and independence in our schools? Are we teaching our children to take responsibility for their learning? Are we teaching them the joy and sometimes heartache of making decisions and living with the outcomes? Are we teaching them to dream the impossible? Are we teaching them to imagine what can be and make it happen?

Are our schools ships of discovery? Are the ships at sea exploring strange new worlds and facing fierce billowing storms or are they still in port never leaving the safety of the harbor? Is education structured so our students test well but cannot stand on their own feet in the real world because their intellectual foundation didn’t prepare them to think and reason? Are our students up in the rigging setting the sails? Are they scrubbing the deck and polishing the brass? Are they on the midnight watch? Are they partners in their education or are we creating performing monkeys?

America needs its pioneers. America needs its free thinkers. America needs the risk takers who ask “Why Not?” and then forge ahead. We must be careful as we prepare the next generation. Let us foster imagination. Let us foster individuality. Let us be careful not try to force the square block through the round hole.

I urge America to be careful with standardization and teaching to the test. It has a part to play in education but should it be the primary driving force of American schools? I say no.

Would it hurt to let a student out of the corral? Would it hurt to spend a fraction of the school day on meaningful play and imagination? Would it destroy children’s futures if we let them hear music again? Would all be lost if students painted a picture or sang a song? Would the world stop turning if stuents were given time to be children again and play?

Space Center students, get involved in your education. Get up in the rigging and let the sails down. Take learning out of the harbor and into the unpredictable seas. Your journeys may be difficult but I promise they will be unforgettable. Do you feel the wind? Out there is your future. As an American teacher I say, “Let’s discover your future together”.

Space News Update. Phoenix Clinging to Life on Mars.

Taken from Space.com

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is clinging to life and communicating daily with mission controllers though its power supply is quickly diminishing. Phoenix has communicated with mission scientists everyday since Oct. 30, when the spacecraft suddenly went quiet after a drop in available power sent it into an inactive "safe mode." The spacecraft is now in its sixth month on the Martian surface - double its initial mission - since landing on the red planet's arctic plains on May 25. Phoenix has been scooping up samples of Martian dirt and the rock-hard, subsurface layer of water ice at its landing site and analyzing them for signs of past potential habitability.

Phoenix is nearing the end of its mission as the fraction of the day the sun spends above the horizon shrinks at its arctic landing site. Dust raised by a storm last week, which contributed to Phoenix's shutdown, continues to block some of the little sunlight reaching the spacecraft. Information received by NASA over the past weekend shows that Phoenix is running out of power each afternoon or evening, but reawakening after its solar arrays catch morning sunlight.

"This is exactly the scenario we expected for the mission's final phase, though the dust storm brought it a couple weeks sooner than we had hoped," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "We will be trying to gain some additional science during however many days we have left. Any day could be our last."

"Weather observations are our top priority now," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith. "If there's enough energy, we will try to get readings from the conductivity probe that has been inserted into the soil, and possibly some images to assess frost buildup."

An Overnight Camp for our Frequent Flyers!

Hello Frequent Flyers!
We have reserved a special Overnight Camp just for our Frequent Flyers. It will be held on November 21st starting at 7:00 P.M. and ending Saturday morning at 10:00 A.M. The cost is $35.00 per person, a $5.00 savings off the normal price. It is open to any Frequent Flyer (age 10 to 14 of course). If you are not a Frequent Flyer and would like to be please have one of your parents send the Space Education Center an email requesting to be added to the Frequent Flyer list. The email should include a parent's name, your name, and the email address you'd like us to use.
We are running the following missions for the November 21st Overnight Camp:

Voyager: Greenpeace (The Corridor)
Magellan: Defender
Odyssey: Heir to the Empire
Phoenix: Intolerance
Galileo: Maximus (or Scorpion Relay)

This special overnight camp's purpose is to allow our Frequent Flyers to go on any mission they haven't done yet this year. If there is a mission you haven't done on this list then you may enroll. To enroll please send me an email with the following information:

Your Name:
Your Address:
Your Phone Number:
Your Age:
What Mission(s) would you like to do?
First Choice:
Second Choice:
Third Choice:

Be sure to list only missions you haven't done! If we can't put you in your first choice you'll get your second or third. If we don't get enough people for the simulator
it won't be run for the camp.
We will enroll you in the camp and pre-assign you to a simulator. We will send a return email confirmation with your Parent Permission Form attached. We will collect checks from you when you arrive on November 21 at 7:00 P.M.
Frequent Flyers are given opportunties to test new missions and fill overnight slots at a discount if school's do not fill their allocated positions. They are also given first notice of new missions and camps. Frequent Flyers are allowed to attend the Space Education Center's free Voyager Club to earn class hours for their rank.

Regards,
Mr. Williamson

The First Voyager Club Meeting!

The first Voyager Club (Alpha Group) meeting was held on Tuesday Oct. 28th. The first meeting was a success. Students planned future club meetings, club leadership, classes, possible simulations, and heard about exciting new technologies coming to the Space Center. All the students left excited for their next meeting on November 20th at 4:30 P.M.

In order to accommodate students schedules we are now offering two opportunities to attend. The Voyager Club's Beta Group will have their first meeting on Thursday November 6th at 7:00 PM and end at 8:30 PM.

The Alpha Club will always meet at 4:30 P.M. for those that have afternoons free. The Beta Club will always meet in the evenings at 7:00 P.M. for those with evenings free. The date of each club meeting will be announced at least 2 weeks in advance.

The Voyager Club is open to students who love attending Space Center camps – classes and want to earn higher Space Center Rank. Club meetings, activities and educational programs will focus on space science, aviation, communication, team building, leadership and science fiction. Other details about the Voyager Club listed below:

1. There is no charge for attending
2. Class hours are awarded at the end of each meeting for attendance. Extra class hours are awarded at the end of each term to members that have no grades lower than a C.
3. The Club meets twice each month. Meeting dates and times are announced two weeks in advance on this blog and through the Frequent Flyer email list.
4. You are allowed to attend ONCE a month. Lesson topics and objectives will change each month.
5. Lesson topics and objectives may or may not be announced ahead of time.
6. You must wear your Space Center T-Shirt to attend. If you don't have a shirt you may purchase one at the Center for $10.00.
7. You must register for each meeting ahead of time. This is done only by email. If your name is not on the register you may be asked to leave. The lesson is taught in the Space Center's Discovery Room, which can only handle occupancy of 30 max. That is why you must pre-register to attend.
8. The instructors are Center employees. There may be occasional special speakers.
9. These meetings are not merit badge classes.
10. Simulators may be used in class sessions, but not promised and not on a regular basis.
    

Your best behavior is expected. Students will be asked to leave and not return if their behavior becomes a distraction to the instructor and / or other students around them.
Once again, we are looking for students with an interest in learning and increasing your rank at the Space Center.

If you'd like to attend the Beta Club meeting in November please send an email to the Space Center through the web site's "Contact Us" section. An email 'Ticket' will be emailed back to you.

We look forward to having you in attendance!

Mr. Williamson

The Term is Ending

We are nearing the end of the first term of school. Report cards will be issued. Some will be weeping and wailing when you see the results of your efforts. Others will be satisfied having met your goals. There are some I worry about that don't really care.

A note to our student staff and volunteers: I need to see your grades. Working at the Space Education Center, in any capacity, requires grades no lower than a C. Please bring those report cards the next time you come to work.

My challenge to staff, volunteers, and campers is to set goals to get the grades you need to achieve your goals. Nothing is impossible if you're willing to pay the price. Your future is being written now with every decision you make to achieve, just get by, or give up. Make good choices. ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS. IT IS WITHIN YOUR POWER.

A Salute to the Center's One Day Weekenders!

When I left the Space Center on Saturday evening I said, "Enjoy your Only!" to Emily and Stacy. They wondered what I meant. I explained that most of us that work at the Center get one day off a week. We call our weekends our 'Onlys". I want to use this post to give Three Cheers and a hip hip hooray to all of us that toil six days a week! We work Monday to Saturday in our simulators, classrooms, junior and senior high schools or universities.

What does Friday mean to many in the workforce? It means the weekend is coming like a brilliant sunrise after a long dark workweek. What does Friday mean to us at the Center? It means the long dark night! Friday is our longest work day because it spills far into Saturday.

I'm writing this post to share my weekend schedule with our newer staff and volunteers. This will help you understand why I'm a bit focused and tired during camps. I want to impress one thing on your mind. Don't be afraid of hard work. I have always worked hard. Did you think the Space Center just appeared out of thin air? If you want something in life you need to set goals and then WORK for it. If your lucky enough to get a full weekend then Great! If you are like me and get an Only instead, then consider the fact that you're in good company with most of us that work at the Space Center.

My Friday begins at 7:00 A.M. when I leave my home for Wal Mart. There you'll find me, along with the other members of the Early Risers Club, wandering around the store pushing our metal supports with wheels. We pass each other at least twice in our elongated laps. As we pass we nod as a greeting and an acknowledgment - the unspoken club sign given to recognize the fact that at that hour of the day you always get to the checkout and forget something you were to buy.

I fill my cart with the overnight camp necessities. I feel I can do it in my sleep. I fall asleep as I approach the bakery and awaken at the check stand with a cart full of supplies. Its kind of like driving down the road and listening to the radio. When you arrive at your destination you realize you don't remember passing anything along the way. You just got there. It is like your brain drives the car in autopilot while your conscious self is carried away in a stupor.

At 7:40 A.M. I'm unpacking the groceries at the school. This is the worst part of Friday! I hate unpacking groceries. At 8:00 A.M. I’m starting up the simulators and inflating the Starlab. At 8:15 A.M. I can sit down for a few minutes and answer phone calls and emails. At 8:45 A.M. I'm heading outside wearing my bright orange hunting vest. I walk to my designated cross guarding station ready and waiting to hurl myself into the path of any oncoming car that fails to yield to our crossing students. I'm the first school employee they see so I wear my "friendliest guy in the world" face and greet them each as they cross. Staff and volunteers, I know you're wondering why you don't get to see that overly friendly face when you come to work the overnighters - right? Well, by the time you arrive that face's `sell by date' has expired and you get to see the real foundation beneath it. Frightening isn't it?

At 9:00 A.M. I leave the fresh air and advance into the Discovery Room where my Pre-Algebra class is waiting with books out and eager faces telling me they are expecting another awesome `Victor Williamson Math Extravaganza!" My heart skips a beat when I realize I had forgotten to even look at the lesson for the day but they will never know. I'm a professional teacher. If I can't waffle out a great lesson once in awhile at a glance then I'm not worth my paycheck.

At 9:45 A.M. Mrs. Houston takes over for me so I can start the field trip. At 9:50 A.M. I’m standing on the Bridge of the Voyager greeting the Field Trip crew as they ascend the stairs carrying their boarding passes. I greet each one with what is left of my "friendliest guy in the world" face. I'm well into the Voyager's first mission of the day.

At 11:30 A.M. my first mission ends and the NASCAR race begins. I slip on my racing jacket covered with advertising stickers and race around the bridge doing lap after lab getting the ship ready for the next crew. Its 11:45 A.M. and the afternoon crew is ascending the spiral staircase onto the bridge. I'm standing there collecting their boarding passes wearing my "I haven't had a chance to recharge since 7:00 A.M." face. The entire flight process starts again.
At 1:40 P.M. the field trip pulls away in their bus. We shut the ship down.
I have until 4:00 to:

1. Do the weekly deposit.
2. Answer phone calls.
3. Answer nearly 20 emails - all needing a response.
4. Create the work schedule for the next week - daily staff and student staff.
5. Update the YahooGroup databases.
6. Give everyone that comes in to talk to me the time they need. That can take hours of my time each week but that’s OK. I'm in the people business. In this business I need to be available to people when they want want to say hello or have a question or need advice. Staff and volunteers are always welcome to come bend my ear. My other work can always be done another time.
7. Write a letter of recommendation or two.
8. Buy needed supplies on the internet.
9. Update the Center's books and accounts.
10. Set up the trash cans and tables in the cafeteria and gym.
11. Answer the mail and do the registrations that come in.

This work load can go up or down depending on what Mrs. Clegg was able to do during her office time. Aleta is my office assistant. Her help has freed me up to do many other things I’d never be able to do otherwise.

At 4:00 P.M. I’m greeting the private mission groups as they arrive. At 4:15 P.M. I can go home to get ready for the overnight camp. It is 5:30 P.M. and I'm back at the school getting the overnight camp ready to go. At 6:15 P.M. the staff meeting begins. From that point on I'm:

1. Signing in the campers.
2. Giving my "Welcome to Camp" speech. Then it's dividing the campers into their teams.
3. I work with the staff setting up cots and blowing up air beds in the gym.
   
4. I put the Starlab Planetarium away and make my outside walk checking the school doors
5. I'm back to my desk doing office work until 11:00 P.M.
6. At 10:50 P.M. I'm setting out the ice cream and trying to stay awake.
7. From 11:00 P.M. I'm getting the campers ready for bed and then down for the night.
   

It is 12:30 A.M. I finally get to lay down on my pad on the Briefing Room floor. The campers are in bed and I'm hoping I'll have some kind of a night's sleep. I've been pretty much running around nonstop since 7:00 A.M. That's seventeen hours straight - and the night is still young. During the night I can expect to be woken up by campers needing to use the bathroom. Some campers will want to call home because of head aches or home sickness. Sometimes I’m woken up by campers that have thrown up or had other accidents. It happens and is all part of the business.

It is 6:15 A.M. Saturday morning. I've had five hours of sleep (if I'm lucky). I get to my computer and type up the camper's hour certificates. At 6:45 A.M. I wake up the staff and the morning starts rolling. At 8:45 A.M. the campers finish breakfast and follow their Flight Directors back to their ships. I start work on the cafeteria. I clean the tables and floor. I take out the trash, put the tables up. Back to work at my desk. At 10:00 A.M. the camp ends. I begin tallying up the camp surveys. At 10:30 A.M. the staff meeting begins. We go over the tallied scores from the camper surveys and award the ‘Lord of the Votes’ and ‘Director's Trophy’. At 11:00 A.M. I go into the gym to supervise the staff dodgeball games. At 11:30 A.M. private missions arrive. I’m back at my desk

It is 2:00 P.M. and the 11:30 A.M. missions are leaving. My office work is finished. I close one set of bathrooms and head in with my towels and spray. I clean the bathrooms on the weekends that the custodian cannot. It is important the school has clean bathrooms for Monday morning. The rest of the afternoon I usually work on maintenance or meet with the Programming Guild.

At 5:00 P.M. I'm saying goodbye to our last missions of the day and checking the doors . It is 5:45 P.M. and I'm driving home for good. My one day weekend is starting!

This schedule I described is typical and I'm not the only one. Many of our good staff are putting in time like this. I want to salute all of you that give so much of yourselves to this job and the kids. I'm amazed at your dedication and willingness to sacrifice. I wish I could shower you with money and gifts but my gratitude will have to do. It isn't much but it is from the heart.

My Fellow One Day Weekenders - I Salute You!

Victor