Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Chap Skit Cliffhanger

Back in the conference room Wednesday evening Mrs. D and mother Allison put Marshall on the spot, to tell the story of the wild turkey-vulture struck by a car. Allison stopped to care for the felled foul. Afraid, the bird used its unique creation feature: when in danger, the turkey vulture provides alternative food for the enemy…by throwing up its most recent meal (in this case a possum). To help, the rest of the flock did likewise. Stinky!

Marshall had to hold the bird on the way to the Nature Center. He wisely left out a detail: Allison’s finger was bloodily pecked by the bird’s beak. In the next few years Marshall will be a great teaching resource at Living Science.

More Who What Where…
…Group One: Einstein searching for buried treasure at QuickTrip.
…Group Two: Mrs. Landrum’s class, on a roller coaster.

Christy beat JT in the Retreat Rock-Paper-Scissors Championship.
Part Two of an interesting Creation vs. Evolution video, pointing out Evolution’s pitiful attempts to fool the public, without real evidence as backup.

During dinner Mrs. Hanson provided the insider info…her buddy DJ told her the chaperones were doing Who What Where. We “decided” to pick our own…
WHO: The Living Science CaravanWHAT: Searching for wildlife.WHERE: Bio Lab Road.

I hastily jotted notes and recruited the cast. With only minutes of prep time, I thought we did an admirable job. Mr. Mason played Mr. D, since he was least likely to get into trouble. Mrs. Hanson NEEDED to get into trouble, so she played Mrs. D. She wore one of her Mrs. Delenick-style hats she’d brought to color coordinate with the T-shirt of the day (thought I didn’t notice, Denise? HA!).

The “D’s” called out increasingly wilder wildlife, culminating with lions, tigers, and bears. Those in the back of the “caravan” called “Where? Where?” Mona V stole the show in this role. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. McPherson donned hilarious wigs and played students hanging from cars. Mrs. McPherson squeaked the toy gator, setting up Mr. Pherson (Gerald)’s line “That’s a B flat!.” Mr. Howell shot wildlife with a gun. Mr. D ran into a huge spider.

Mrs. Taylor: “Look, a Bald Eagle!”
Mrs. D: “No, it’s a Belted Kingfisher.”

Mr. D: “Where’s Mr. McKenzie’s car?”
Mr. McKenzie (from the back of the room) “Back here! I ran out of gas! Help!”

Mrs. Howell played herself, snapping photos left and right. Mr. Taylor played a great alligator, tucking his hands up into his short sleeves. He looked like Patrick the Starfish. To the delight of the students, he then crawled across the floor and crabbed Mrs. Howell. Who would save her?

Krypto, of course. Kyle ran up from the back of the room, in full superhero costume. “I am Krypto!” To Mrs. Howell he said “I have come to save you from the alligator!” To the crowd he said “And save you from bad skits!” He attacked Mr. Taylor, using his fish hat. Then the usually reserved Mrs. Howell shocked us all: “My hero!” she loudly ad-libbed, giving Kyle a huge hug. “Let me take YOUR picture!” Kyle blushed, and the crowd roared.

Little did we know, life would soon imitate “art” in a very real, and harrowing way.

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