As the history teacher on campus one of my responsibilities was to go on the New England Trip each fall..
The NE trip was a History/English trip...
It was a 10 day trip...
On a coach bus...
With 40 teenagers...
about 5ish adults...
We packed our food in the bottom of the bus and had to feed them each day...
We slept many nights on gym floors...
We would plan the trip so that at least every other night we would have a shower...hopefully...
When we were really lucky we were at a boarding school with extra beds...
I remember the year we pulled into Greater New York Academy...
It is in the Bronx...
It has/had a chain link fence with barbed wire on top surrounding a parking lot with two smallish buildings...
one building was the gym...
one was the office building...
I remembering thinking as we disembarked "we're not in Georgia anymore kids!"
Turns out the classrooms and the cafeteria where UNDERGROUND!
Can you imagine?
So needless to say NE trips were adventures!
We toured Wa DC. climbed the Statue of Liberty and saw the view from the top of the Trade Towers, we walked the streets of Manhattan and hiked around Walden Pond. We walked through Louisa May Alcott's home and climbed the many stairs of the House of Seven Gables, We walked the many miles of the Freedom Trail through Boston and visited Paul Revere's grave and sat in the Old North Church.
We walked the beaches of Maine and visited the battle field where the "shot heard around the world" was fired. We reenacted Pickets Charge at Gettysburg and were amazed by Monticello.
All of this and more (river cruises and tours of Mt. Vernon, Whale watching trip from Boston, Dinner theater in DC) was planned by Ora Mae Kirk...
I wish I had a picture of her.
Picture your grandmother...
If you grandmother has the beautiful white hair and up do look goin on...
If your grandmother has a beautiful face lined with years of smiles, worry and living...
and 5'2" with the hair 5'4"...
Thank goodness all the responsibility of planning this trip did not fall upon me...
In fact I really didn't do any of the planning...
Ms. Kirk had been planning and leading out in that trip for about 17 years before I even showed up
I was thrilled! As you know I love to travel. What an opportunity to spend two weeks every fall in NE! Even if it was with a bunch of rowdy kids
Even if I was sleeping on the gym floor
Even if I was sick of riding on the bus for hours
What amazed me then, and amazes me more even now, is that Ms. Kirk did it all!
I don't know how old she was then...
In all of my 24 years of wisdom I judged her then to be in her 70s
I realize now she was probably more like mid 60s
She climbed the Statue of Liberty with us...
She ate cold cereal out of the bottom of the bus with us...
She gave the bus drive instructions as we drove through Manhattan...
She slept on the gym floor with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Physically and mentally this was a tough trip!
By the end of each trip I was tired and cranky..
I would look at her and wonder "how on earth does this old lady do this year after year?"
(I know "old lady" not very nice..)
Sadly, I learned this morning that Ora Mae Kirk has died...
Her former students are on FB morning her and remembering her
Jamie posted her most famous quote, one I have adopted and used several times...
"Count it a day lost in which you do not learn something new"
She said this all the time to the kids. They remember...
I also remember learning the word "asinine"
When Ms. Kirks feather's got ruffled, and they would at times, she would pull out the word
Asinine
As in "that's the most asinine thing ever done!"
She was such a blessing to me...
As a new teacher I needed mentoring...
She was inspiring...
She was tough...
She left her mark...
It was those years of experience at GCA and with Ms. Kirk that I learned how to travel with kids. I learned how to interact with kids. I learned what a commitment to learning looks like...
Her services are this Sat in Georgia
I wish I could go...
But I will definitely look her up in Heaven!
Frychik
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