THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9604300122
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
There were happy reunions and tired smiles and hugs all around as 13 students from Azalea, Rosemont and Ruffner middle schools, and eight others who accompanied them, returned from a four-day visit to Reykjavik, Iceland, last Thursday.
``It was wonderful,'' said a weary David Shirk, a guidance counselor at Rosemont who made the trip. ``They found so many things different: the agriculture, terrain, the schools. There's no crime. It's wonderful.''
Sheena Mann, an eighth-grader at Rosemont who had turned 14 two days before leaving for the trip on April 22, got to ride horses on the Icelandic tundra, as she had hoped to do.
``I was nervous at first,'' Sheena said. ``My horse was stubborn. I had to learn to steer it. The stirrup was loose.''
Sheena, who said she bought ``a bunch of T-shirts,'' recalled it was cold during the visit, especially by the waterfalls. The group saw snow and volcanoes, she said.
Before leaving, Sheena had said that her older sisters, Latonya, 17, and Rebecca, 15, were jealous of her international journey. But as she walked down the airport concourse last Thursday, her sisters held a computer-generated banner welcoming her back to Norfolk.
``It was great,'' said seventh-grader Stephanie Arnold, 12, of her first trip abroad, adding, ``I'm very tired.''
Between the excitement and the four-hour time difference, she wasn't alone. Stephanie said several in the group had fallen asleep during a volcano show they attended their last morning in Iceland.
In addition to Stephanie's mother and 12-year-old sister, a retired guidance counselor and her granddaughter, and a guidance counselor from each of the schools went with the students. Two of the guidance counselors brought their daughters along.
Shirk took his camcorder. All said they took plenty of pictures.
``They have about 15 rolls of film,'' said Ruth Arnold, pointing to her daughters, ``plus three rolls of my own.''
Much of Iceland has an alien look about it, having been formed by volcanoes eons ago. Geothermal energy is plentiful; geysers are common. American astronauts were taken there, Shirk said, to get an idea of what the moon would be like. While in Iceland, he said, he stood between two tectonic plates, the rafts upon which earth's continents ``float.'' One supports North America, the other Europe.
Temperatures were in the 40- to 60-degree range, Shirk said. It snowed in the mountains one morning while they were there.
``This is an excursion,'' Dr. Melanie Yules, Rosemont's principal, explainedas the group assembled to leave. ``It's more than a field trip. It prepares our kids for more real world interaction. When we talk about authentic teaching, these are the kinds of experiences we wish we could offer every student.''
The program that made the trip possible traces its origins to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, which requires students to achieve a score of 97 percent or higher on a major component of a standardized test. The Norfolk Public Schools, Shirk says, have broadened the program to include those students working up to their ability and scoring approximately 90 percent. The Johns Hopkins program accepted a score from any component of a standardized test; the Norfolk version looks at math and communications skills.
Previous trips have taken students to destinations ranging from New York City to Russia and China.
``We try to do something every year,'' said Shirk, who refers to the adventures as motivational field trips. ``We also take them on college trips. We took them to Washington, D.C., this year, to Howard, George Washington and American universities.''
The college tours are subsidized by the gifted and talented program but not the international travel. All the travelers were required to pay their own way.
Flying out of Norfolk to Baltimore, there they caught an Icelandair Boeing 757 that took them to Keflavik, where international flights to Iceland arrive. The bus ride to the Esja Hotel, where they stayed in Reykjavik, afforded them a good glimpse of their temporary home before they even unpacked their bags.
While in Reykjavik, the group found time to visit the Hard Rock Cafe and a Pizza Hut.
The transatlantic portion of their journey, both going and coming, took 5 1/2 to six hours. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
From left, students Stephanie Arnold and Sheena Mann traveled to
Iceland with David Shirk, guidance counselor at Rosemont Middle
School.
by CNB