Thanks to Mistal and Mike, and TJ’s magic, Phoenix kids are the only school group, ever, to get to go to the island’s back side. Into the SUVs we scramble, and up, up, around the winding switchbacks and over the top of the ridge we go. As we descend to the other side...

Tonight we swim with the plankton that, hopefully, will sparkle and glow for us. First, however, we must see who are to be our swim partners this evening (our planktonic ones, that is). In the Plankton Lab we observe phytoplankton and zooplankton under microscopes....

Silly Californians, they think it’s chilly. We love the 85 degree days and 65 degree nights. It’s a perfect morning for snorkeling. We are so excited! It’s our orientation snorkel. I wonder why we have to have an orientation because we have been practicing with Mike...

This is the time of year when my students begin pestering me for “real” word problems. They love solving problems that include names of their classmates which provides a collaborative experience where they can bounce ideas off each other as they work through some...