P.S. I meant to spell Alberta like that!

ONCE UPON A TIME…..

Long, long ago, actually not that long ago, probably about a month. There was a class of 17 grade 9s and their three teachers on a bus for what felt like a billion hours to the magical land of Alberta. It wasn’t really too far from there home of BC, but they went to learn about how this new land as well as their own has impacted Canada and who we are.

I am here, to tell you about the journey these children went on through the eyes of the teenager who runs this blog, Jordyn. The highlights and lowlights, some pictures and videos, some of the work they did (aka video making!!), and Beakerhead, which you have no idea about… yet, are some examples of what we will be discussing today. Anyways, back to the story.

 

EVERYDAY…..

The children (who were actually super hero fairies who breathed fire, but let’s keep it simple and pretend they aren’t for the purpose of this story) would make stops at scenic places, educational museums and of course places to eat. Those were the best stops if I, the narrator, am being honest, the people that were actually on the trip would probably have a different opinion, you never know though.They went to places like Triple O’s, Peter’s Drive In,  and Red Lobster which were all delicious from what I’ve heard. 

They also stayed at a variety of different hotels, motels, and hostels along the way, Jordyn’s favorite being the Three Valley Lake Chateau located in a ghost town with a titanic themed pool, I know sounds pretty cool right? 

Though that wasn’t the reason why they were in Alberta, they were there to learn about the history of Canada and who they are. They were also there to learn about video making! They learned how to make all kinds of different movies, fairytales, ghost movies, and even a movie about dinosaurs. As well as that, they also had to learn how to pre plan and use things like storyboards. So let’s take a look at the first one, being Ghost Town. Jordyn was in a group with Jackson, Taylor, Caleb, and Jason and here is the storyboard they made:

Following that storyboard, they made a stop at the three valley gap ghost town and filmed a movie there. **WARNING** it may be a little bit spoooookkkyyyy (totally joking, it’s not at all).

The next movie every one had to make individually. When they were at the Royal Tyrell Museum, which is the museum of paleontology and dinosaurs, they had to choose one artifact and make a short video about it, so here is Jordyn’s:

The last video they made was on the last day of the journey as they were driving throug the Enchanted Forest. They were to create some kind of fairytale using several little houses in the magical forest, and three of the little sculptures. Jordyn was in a group with Sam, Emerson, and Amelia, so here it is!

BUT ONE DAY……

They made a stop at Rogers Pass. 

Rogers Pass is a high mountain pass that was used for trains on the CPR. Now keep in mind that the biggest project they worked on through out the trip was a video about how the land and where you live impacts your identity. I know, it’s a confusing topic so if you want to learn more about it check out the blog post called The Mountains Make Us.

 At this point in the trip, Jordyn was still a bit……. well, lost about the idea of Identity and she didn’t know where to start on her video. After watching a movie and interviewing a Park’s Canada worker, it hit Jordyn. She finally understood that because of the climate and geography of Rogers Pass was the way it was, the men who were building the railway would have different relationships with snow than we would. That was a very important part of the trip for Jordyn and many other students that I thought I should mention before moving on.

 

BECAUSE OF THAT….

Every place they went after that was even more amazing because they understood what the meaning of identity was. And they went to a lot of places and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT!! They stopped at places all the way from Vancouver and Calgary so I think that’s around… 20 stops not including meals. So instead of doing one paragraph per stop, here is a book that Jordyn made showing most of them minus a few because they aren’t as significant as others:

 Even though I didn’t explain every stop, I will tell you a few highlights. One night everyone was out for dinner at Red Lobster. They were having a dandy old time, chatting away until…… the shrimp came. That night at Red Lobster, it was Endless Shrimp. The rules of Endless Shrimp are never stop ordering food even if you are done, give your order to someone else. That’s about it, other than that just don’t stop eating. So, Jordyn was on a roll, eating popcorn shrimp and garlic shrimp, stacking up the plates as she was competing with Jackson who thought he was gonna beat her but no. Jackson dropped out at 55 and she was still going. After a few breaks and probably too much shrimp, Jordyn dropped out at 80 WHOLE SHRIMP!! That was a good and bad time I guess because she didn’t feel so well after buuuuut, she also beat Jackson which was awesome!

BECAUSE OF THAT…..

Another really cool experience she had was at the Columbia Icefields. 

They got to ride up a glacier in this awesome ice bus/tractor thing with windows on the roof. When they got out of the vehicle they would have been standing on a whole lot of ice, probably the most Jordyn has ever stood on. But other than the amazing views and the fact that they were standing on a glacier that has been around for thousand of years, one of the best parts was interviewing their guide, Rex. He talked to them about how he came from Halifax, how different it was from here, that he had climbed every mountain peak surrounding the glacier except for one which he had attempted twice.

 Rex and the Columbia icefields were so cool, they reminded Jordyn of being up on the peak of her favorite mountain, Whistler. 

UNTIL FINALLY….

After a long 8 days of travelling, it was time to head home for these super hero, fire breathing fairies, actually just joking, they are normal children. *wink wink*(sarcastic tone) But it wasn’t over just yet, they made a pit stop at the….. PIPE!! 

Now you are probably asking yourself, what’s The Pipe, well, I am here to tell you that The Pipe is the most amazing roller coaster thingy that most of these students had ever been on, located in Revelstoke. It whipped you around corners, 90 degrees down hills, at speeds of 42km down a 1.4km track. 

The last thing I’m going to talk about is Beakerhead. Beakerhead is like an exhibition that takes place through out the city of Calgary, it is where art and science meet to create beacons, installations made by artists, engineers and scientists to bring communities together creatively. One of the best parts by far was beakernight where there were fashion shows, giant tesla coils, and bicycles that powered lights and music.

 It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

AND EVER SINCE THEN…

Ok, I think it’s time for, I, your narrator to hand it over to Jordyn to conclude this post. Hi guys, so from what you read up there, you probably understand that our trip to Alberta was rad. All the fun things we did like the pipe, Endless shrimp, and really, Beakerhead as well, were just side things to why we were actually there. We were there to learn about the history of canada, the railway, and how it’s geography impacts people. And I think most of us found that out. It was an amazing bonding experience for students and teachers and I am so glad I got to be part of it. On this trip, I discovered that our home of BC and our neighbours, Alberta, are what make up part of Canada, what make up us. All of it’s history, stories, and amazing geography changes who we are and how we live our lives.

~Jordyn 😁

THE END!!!