The First Days

The first day has come and gone and what an amazing day it was. All the staff spent the morning getting everything in place and ready for the students to arrive.

Everything was ready as the students and their parents/families began to arrive... even early :) The students are a really wonderful and diverse bunch. They got settled in and unpacked... and then played some innebandy (well an outdoor version of it anyway).

For the first dinner the parents joined the staff and students for a meal out. After our founders spoke and our head of school. One of the students brought a special treat to celebrate the start of something new. As we left the parents to walk back to the hostel, the students were talking and chatting.

Today, we had a wonderful Swedish style breakfast and then the iPhones were rolled out. Other schools give out textbooks, we give out iPhones which must be on the students at all times. :)  I love it!!

Listening to Mike help them set-up their iPhones

Lunch was out at an all you can eat Asian buffet. I sat with some of the boys and it was great to see them talk to each other and joke around. Some have been in touch via Skype before they arrived, but everyone is open to each other. They were exchanging info and texting and sharing their favorite apps all through the meal.  We also each received a wonderful little gift from Joann of a handmade bracelet made from these wonderful globe-like beads.

This afternoon the girls had meetings to determine their personal learning preferences to help them help themselves as we begin this wonderful journey together. Dinner was a fun and yummy meal prepared by Brad with help from the students... minestrone soup over bread with rosemary margarine. YUM!!! I decided to head out with some other TGS staffers while they had dinner to hang out. I came back and jumped into a webinar introducing Wolfram Alpha which is an awesome tool that we will use here at TGS along with other very cool tools.

Every moment I am with this group, I feel blessed to be a part of this magical journey. :)