My Thoughts Exactly

A beautiful little short film from the NYC Bicycle Film Festival.

Experimenting with Macro on the Canon SD1200IS

Warning: This is a Geek post.

Lately I've been enjoying my new camera more and more. I am discovering new features and what it is capable of doing. Here's an experiment I did yesterday with a screw on a ping-pong table.

Photo 1: Normal macro mode.
Photo 2: 2.3x Digital zoom + macro mode.
Photo 3: Cropped from Photo 2. Not much pixelization.

Conclusion: Not bad quality out of a camera of its size.

The Legacy of Sally Hefley

This past weekend was not what I expected. Everything will be okay though. Sally will be missed. She did leave behind quite the legacy. The former students who where there on Saturday proved it.

Agata: Class of 2005: fledgling business woman. Her father was killed in a horrific car crash on Monday and will be taking over the business with her mother. Enrique (her father) was a great guy as well.
Ricardo: transferred to the other HS: All around nice guy...not sure what his plans are. I didn't really talk to him much.
Robert: Class of 2007 Sally's "project". Robert is Sally's house keeper's son. From a lower-income home, Robert did not know any English when he was enrolled in ELA as a 5th grader. Since graduation Robert has since worked in the oil industry at the refineries, and on board oil tankers (he didn't like that job). Because of his mastery of English, his options in Venezuela are many.
Andres: Class of 2007 A double major at University of Miami. Art History and something else. He says Art History is really hard. We were surprised with that major. We never took Andres as a student interested in Art.
Emily: Class of 2005 Dental school, learning to be an orthodontist.
Adam: Class of 2009 (had to finish his senior year at our rival high school since Betty destroyed our old school). Adam attended ELA from Kindergarten to the 11th grade. I was his science teacher from 7th grade to 10th grade. I wasn't his science teacher for his 11th grade because Betty made me an elementary teacher (5th/6th graders). Adam will be returning to his native Argentina and study Electro-Mechanical Engineering! Whoooow! This makes me proud. I would like to think that Miguel Rengifo (ELA's math teacher/mechanical engineer) and myself had some influence on him.
CJ: Class of 200(?). CJ moved back to Houston around 2002 or 2003, but his Venezuelan roots brings him back. Not sure what he's doing now...but Sally was definitely a positive influence on him. Probably saved him from a life of crime.

We (the former staff) have other students attending universities around the world, and of course they couldn't be there.

I was proud of each one of them Saturday. Sally would have been.

****
One last note on this matter: I got word that "Betty" and "Randal" (Betty's husband) were livid this morning, from our triple play. ;-) They have a problem: 1.) it shows how intolerant and how little they are. 2.)Their self-esteem must be near zero.

Ultimate score: Their legacy is zero. They accomplished nothing other than negative. They have not left a positive mark in the local community, the country of Venezuela, or the international education community. I hope to God that they never darken the hallways of an education institution ever again. Good riddance!

Sally

Sally Hefley passed away on the morning of June 6, 2009. She died as she lived; at peace, surrounded by people whose lives she touched, both Venezuelan and ex-patriot Americans. She is survived by her sons Daniel Hefley, granddaughter Dania, both of Lecheria, Venezuela, David Hefley of Omaha, Nebraska, and her stepdaughters…, and her whole extended ELA family (more on that later).

She was born August 3, 1938, in Houston, TX. She was a graduate of Lamar H.S., and later Wellesley College.

The adventurous part of her life began when she married the-love-of-her-life, Riley Hefley in 1963. Riley had three daughters from a previous marriage, and they raised two sons of their own.

In 1966 Riley and Sally immigrated to Venezuela where they farmed and raised cattle on the western llanos. When they first arrived, they lived in an adobe mud hut, where they heated their bathwater on the exhaust manifold of their gasoline-powered electric generator. Living the romantic life on the Venezuelan plains, husband Riley would return from supply runs to Barinas with fresh lettuce, cheese, and ice. These where moments of celebration…fresh salad and cold drinks!

After a few years, Riley got a job in the Venezuelan oil industry in Anaco and Maracaibo where Sally followed. They enjoyed life in the oil camps but farming was still Riley’s first love according to Sally, so they returned to the farm on the llanos of Barinas.

They eventually returned to Texas where they had a goat farm in Wharton. It was there, Sally worked as a high school math teacher and she found her calling as an educator. It was a profession where she could use her altruistic nature to help nurture the potential in others.

Eventually it was decided to return to Venezuela with their two sons where Riley once again worked in the petroleum business in eastern Venezuela. Of course they also had a farm, so when they weren’t in the oil fields, they were in their own fields growing a variety vegetables and mangos for market.

It was at this time, while in Anaco, Sally once again became involved in education. She was on the advisory board at Escuela Anaco, an international school.

After relocating to Barcelona in the early/mid-1990s, she saw the potential and the need for an international school in the Caribbean city of Puerto la Cruz. Partnering up with Dr. William McWhorter, who already had founded schools in the cities El Tigre and Maturin, she co-founded and co-owned Escuela de las Americas-PLC, in Puerto la Cruz. It opened its doors in 1997 with 10 students in an unused section of an old hotel.

By 2000, ELA-PLC had grown to nearly 100 students, ranging from prekindergarten to 12^th grade, both from the local Venezuelan community as well as the global ex-patriot community. They moved into a new building in the satellite community of Lecheria.

It was also about this time when Sally tragically lost the-love-of-her-life, Riley, who was unjustly killed in a dispute at their farm. Instead of giving up, Sally put forth 100 percent of her energy into the school. She gathered the “dream-team” in teachers, and enrollment continued to grow.

At ELA, she gave students who would not normally be able to afford a high-caliber education, the opportunity to attend. She emphasized the family of ELA. All students, teachers, and staff, where part of the ELA family.

The first half of her adult life was dedicated to her husband Riley, whom she helped 110 percent. She and Riley were partners for life and in life. After Riley’s death, she channeled that same dedication into her family at Escuela de las Americas.

Because of her guidance and generosity, and forthright personality, she allowed many people to rise beyond their own expectations. Through tough love, and understanding, she brought the best out of people. Sally Hefley was a great woman and mom to everyone. She was the momma bear.

Today, the global education community has lost a great leader.

Box and Whiskers

Two characters I came up with today when teaching box and whiskers plots for data analysis to 8th graders. I probably confused them even more.

Mousetrap Car Pics

We had our mousetrap car event on Friday. It was a success. All the cars moved at least. The D-Beast went the farthest, about 9 meters...not bad for being made from bamboo skewers, pencils, popcicle sticks, and rubber washers for wheel bearings.

Forensics Competition (Final Results)

I am proud of our students. For a small school/team, we did really well. Our Reader's Theater girls finished 2nd.

Our Debate team got 3rd place almost winning an upset in the semi-finals. They lost by only a single point. Our rookies, went against a seasoned team with several years of debate experience.

Our Impromptu Speaking participant was in the finals and scored 4th place. But my biggest disappointment was in our Original Oratory participant. I feel her topic was much stronger and her presentation was better than most of the other finalists. I was expecting a medal for her but unfortunately she came up empty.

Overall, they have a lot to be proud of and I am proud of them!

Forensics Competition (Day 1, Round 1)

Got up at 5:00 AM to head here to CIPLC. We finally got rolling around 6:20AM and pulled in front of the school right at 9:00AM. Traffic was hell coming through Barcelona.

Everyone of our secondary student is participating and seem to be enjoying themselves. Our team is doing okay. We will probably have some podium finishers.

******

Other note: The strange thing about coming to this school is seeing so many of my old ELA students. Its kind of sad. Many have come up to say hi. It is amazing to see how they have grown and changed after only one year.

My Wind Tunnel (updated)

Science Fair is on Friday. My students are frantically finishing up their projects. Most of my science plans have been put on hold until next week.

I have a 7th grade student who is really interested in airplanes and flight. This gives me an opportunity to dust off my classroom wind tunnel and let this particular student gather some data on various wing designs for his science fair project.

I built my first classroom wind tunnel in 2003, the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother's flight at Kitty Hawk. A travel version model of the first generation wind tunnel was presented at the 2005 NSTA national convention in Dallas, TX. It was there I met Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and I was able to give him a private presentation of some of my projects. He liked what he saw. He liked the idea and the design. He encouraged me to build a second generation.

This wind tunnel was built around late 2005 or 2006 by me and one of my high school students. This second generation wind tunnel has a couple neat features like the external lever system and separate test chamber. The main body and test chamber is made from sheets of polystyrene, but unlike the first tunnel, the suspension system, as mentioned above, is external and made from balsa wood. The models inside are attached to the suspension via PVC plastic drinking straws.

It works pretty good but of course there is always room for improvement. Right now it only measures lift, and I still want to build a system to measure the drag force on the model. I've made prototype models of a drag system that I think will work pretty well, but just need to get around making it from balsa.

Some day I'll get around to making a 3rd generation.