Hawk Mountain Raptor Sanctuary

Five of us Einstein Fellows took a trip to Pennsylvania north of Gettysburg to the Hawk Mountain Raptor Sanctuary.  I drove my car and Geraldine was my navigator.  It was a nice three hour drive and felt good to get out on the road and away from the city.  The Education Specialist, Jeremy Scheivert invited us to give some teacher ideas for the education outreach program.  We had some great brain storming and idea sharing.  The two of the most abundant migrating raptors at the sanctuary are the turkey vulture and the black vulture.

Mark Supal, me, Geraldine Robbins, DaNel Hogan, and Dave Overbillig

The view of the surrounding valley was wonderful from the top of Hawk Mountain.

Volunteer giving a presentation with falcon.

My good friend, Geraldine.  She is from Florida and was a little nervous with the heights.  No mountains in Florida.

This black vulture landed about 20 feet below us and put on a little show for us as he enjoyed the warm sun.

Easter at Marc's

I road the train to Marcus and Heidi's home in New York state to spend Easter with them.  I really enjoyed my visit.  I did not use my cell phone and did not check email more that a couple of times.  Marcus kept me busy hiking, going to the gym, and playing lacrosse with the girls.  We all went to church together on Easter.  Heidi directed the choir for a special musical number.  She did such a good job.  The choir sounded beautiful and she directed them like a pro.  I get to share the girl's room and bathroom.  I love that they like their grandma and want to hang out with me.  They all beat me at Othello. I got a little grumpy at losing, but they forgave me and still let me play.  Morgan showed me how she has learned to ride her bike and we did a little bike riding around the neighborhood.  Hope I can get back there again before I leave DC in July.

Marc put on a tie and jacket for Easter.  I do not know why Ashlyn is not in this picture?

Morgan and I stop for a rest before we hike to the top of a very steep climb.  Morgan hiked circles around Marc and me.

Look at her ride.  Their house is in the background.

Finally a picture with Ashlyn in it!

DC National Arboretum

Last week I decided to visit the National Arboretum.  I decided to walk.  It is in northeast DC, I live in southeast.  It turned out to be a lot farther than I anticipated, so I was tired before I even reached the Arboretum.  Established by Congress in 1927, it covers 446 acres and has a budget of $12,000,000.

My new favorite flowers are azaleas.  I wonder if they grow well in Idaho?  My favorite tree, right now, is the dogwood.

DC FIRST Robotics Competition

Friday was the opening of the DC regional FIRST Robotics Competition.  I had not been to a FIRST competition before.  The students are in high school.  Six weeks ago, each team received a kit from which they are to make their robots.  The robots play a form of basketball.

During the first 20 seconds, the robots autonomous.  They must find the basket and shot two balls into the basket without any input from a human.  They have sensors that can "see" the backboard of the hoop.

The robots are then under remote control of the student teams.  They try to make baskets and must "pick up" the balls and shoot.  The high basket is 3 points, the middle basket is 2 points and the low basket is 1 basket.  The most points are if two opposing team robots can get on and balance on the  balance board for 45 seconds without moving.

The kids have a lot of fun with it and many of them dress up in all kind of fun ways.  It was really fun to see and to talk with the students and their mentors.  This is a great program that kids can really get excited about while learning.

ASCD (Administrator Supervisor Curriculum Development)

Christ Church

Last week I was in Philadelphia for the ASCD Conference.  It sounds like a conference for administrators, but it is also a great conference for teachers.  Almost half of the attendees were K-12 teachers.

One interesting session I listened to was titled, Tired or Retiring: Prepare to Enter the Arena of Active Retirement.  The speaker was 70 years old and a retired principle that was starting his second charter school since retirement.  One of his suggestions was to spend 6 months to a year living on what you will have for income during retirement so you can see if it will be enough to have the life style that you are anticipating during retirement.

My hotel was 10 blocks from the conference center so I walked a lot and got to see many historic areas of Philadelphia. Of course, I had to eat a Philly Steak and Cheese.  It is humungous.  Lasted for two meals.

Big city streets.

Independence Hall

Betsy Ross House

Spring in DC

It is spring here!  DC in the springtime is one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  I walked this afternoon to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms.  I am sharing them with you.

The Week of March 6, 2012

Interesting week here in DC.  I am on a committee that writes and publishes a bimonthly newsletter, called CS Bits and Bytes, for teachers and students about computer science.  One of our future editions will feature Artificial Intelligence, so we were very excited to learn that Dr. David Ferrucci, from IBM, was coming to NSF.  Dr. Ferrucci's team created Watson, the super computer that played the champions of Jeopardy and won.  We were able to meet with him before he gave his presentation to NSF.  We also video taped an interview with him and a local high school student.

Yesterday was the Intel Science Talent Search Gala.  Many of the Einstein Fellows were invited. What an evening.  It is a black tie affair, so we get to dress up.  40 of the top high school science fair winners are brought to DC.  They spend a week here and are treated like royalty.  They get to meet the President and then on the last day they showcase their projects at the Gala and the top ten are announced and receive a cash prize ranging from $10,000 for number ten and increasing to $100,000 for number one.  These kids are amazing.

The 40 best science fair students from across the US.

A full sit down dinner with a waiter in a tuxedo waiting at each table to serve wine to each guest.

Me, all dressed up.

Finally, today our office celebrated Pi Day, March 14, with lots and lots of pie. My division is a great place to work with some really nice people.

My office mates, Einstein Fellows Michael Picconi and Ann Drobnis.