~Costa Rican Dinner~

I just wanted to inform all of you that the Costa Rica class will be hosting a Costa Rican dinner at our school, Robert J. Lister Academy. This school is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We will be hosting this dinner on Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 6:30 pm. If you plan on attending this dinner, leave a comment saying that you will be attending and how many others you will be bringing if any. By the way we have seven days until we leave for Costa Rica. Thank you for everyones help. We couldn't do it without all of you. P.S. If you would like to support me, our efforts, and/or our class, please visit our Facebook page or send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio - 35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801 or you can visit our PayPal account and donate there

~Even more Information on my Topic~

I have changed my research project, yet again. Now I am researching the differences between Stonyfield Yogurt in New Hampshire to the Moteverde Cheese Factory in Costa Rica. I will be learning about how they make their products and the history behind these two factories. I will be visiting both the Monteverde Cheese Factory and Stonyfield Yogurt to recieve the information as well as looking these two places up online. This is all I know abouut my research project but I will keep you updated. P.S. If you would like to support me, our efforts, and/or our class, please visit our Facebook page or send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio - 35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801 or you can visit our PayPal account and donate there

My Plans for the Research Project

My topic for the research project is the difference between how people eat here, in New Hampshire versus there, in Costa Rica. As part of this I will look at the grocery stores, homes, and restaurants. I honestly don't know how to turn it into a final project afterwards but I will keep you posted on any new information I recieve or create.

P.S. If you would like to support me, our efforts, and/or our class, please visit our Facebook page or send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio - 35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801 or you can visit our PayPal account and donate there

Some plans for our trip!!!

Recently, our class has started talking about our plans for our Costa Rica trip. We have just bought our plane tickets so we now know that we are definitely going to Costa Rica. This is making me feel very excited and anxious though because I want to go to Costa Rica but I've never left my family for this long.

Another thing we have talked about is what we will be doing while we arrive to Costa Rica. Some things we want to do is go horseback riding, zip-lining, and kayaking. Some things we plan on doing is going to the beaches in Costa Rica and staying in Monteverde with my teacher's friend, Rena.

P.S. If you would like to support me, our efforts, and/ or our class, please visit our FaceBook or send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio-35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801 or you can visit our PayPal account and donate there.

UPDATE!

I would just like to start this entry off by saying thank you to everyone who has supported us so far on this journey we are trying to accomplish. We couldn't have done it without the support and donations we have received from all of you.

I would just like to apologize for not blogging recently. We have been so busy raking houses that we haven't had much time to do anything else. We have been spending in school and out of school time with raking and it has even taking up weekends for some especially for our teacher Bryan. So I bet you are wondering how many houses we have raked and how much money we have made on raking these houses. We have raked twenty-five houses and made roughly $3,800.

P.S. If you would like to support me, our efforts, and/ or our class, please visit our Facebook page or send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio - 35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801 or you can visit our PayPal account and donate there.

Costa Rica Transportation Which is a Form of my Entertainment

What are your needs versus your wants? Well, if I had the choice to compare Costa Rica and the United States I could tell you that their wants and needs for transportation are completely different. In Costa Rica, they have all different forms of transportation that they need like ATV's, Motorcycles, etc. that we as United States citizens use for entertainment purposes.

In the book Walking with Wolf, it was stated that "Since the 1990s, motorcycles, ATVs and four-wheel-drive vehicles have taken over the roadways, but walking always was and still remains an important form of transportation." In the United States this statement would be the complete oppostite.

For example, in the state of Maine they're doing a project right now called rails-to-trails. It started in 1987 in down-east Maine, when the Maine Department of Transportation wanted to preserve this railroad track for further use. Now the community is deciding that they want to destroy it in order to make it accessible to ATV'ers, Motorcyclists, bicyclers, hikers, snowmobilers, walkers and cross-country skiers. This community wanted to have this project completed by September 2010 and on September 21, 2010 it was completed and ready for opening.

Personally, I use ATVs and motorcycles for entertainment purposes. I have never needed them to get me anywhere or do anything for me. I know people in the United States that need them for transportation purposes and for hunting. Compared to Costa Rica, the United States has a very low ratio of people that need ATV’s and motorcycles as necessities.

When I arrive in Costa Rica I won't be able to wait to see their forms of transportation. I will be so excited because I love being around and on ATVs and Motorcycles. It will be such a great experience to live the life of a Costa Rican, or Tico, for ten days.

P.S. If you would like to support me, our efforts, and/or our class, please send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio - 35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801

Square Dancing

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100929-NEWS-9290375 Thank you to Jennifer Feals from the Portsmouth Herald for putting us on the front page of the newspaper and getting the community excited about what we are doing.

What is a sense of community? A sense of community is an emotional attachment you get when you feel important in a group. What do you gain from having a sense of community? If you are someone like me that has never felt like she was part of a community then you gain a lot from it. What have I gained from having a sense of community? Well, I have gained three things from having a sense of community. I have gained the feeling of acceptance and how to accept others for who they are, I have gained happiness, and I have gained the act of how to be respectful.

I recently had the opportunity to interview the principal of Robert J. Lister Academy, Nancy Roy, and asked her What do you think makes this school a community? "I think that strong emphasis on relationship requires an environment that allows students to practice the skills necessary to be a healthy member of a community or relationship". I agree with Nancy because I feel like I am part of this community.

Square dancing is a community event because the same people attend it. In chapter four of the book Walking with Wolf, Wolf and his wife, Lucky, were involved in a community gathering and that's when they shared square dancing with everyone. Soon after, they started a square dancing class at the school they founded, the Monteverde Friends School. Even though square dancing was brought about many years ago, it is still being taught and used in today's world.

Brittney's Mission Statement

Hello. My name is Brittney. I am a seventeen-year old student attending the Robert J. Lister Academy. When my teacher, Bryan, introduced this Costa Rica class to us I was very excited and wanted to go. Then we got to see how the class would be orientated and it looked very difficult but I still wanted to join the class. Now that I am in the class I am willing to do my hardest with the work we have to accomplish and get my fellow classmates and I to go to Costa Rica. This will be a long and challenging course but I am willing to strive to achieve this goal.

The reasons why this is such a big deal for me is because I've never been out of the United States and I think that it would give me knowledge to other cultures outside of the United States. Another reason this is such a big deal to me is because I get to enjoy the reward of success. I know what kind of hard work it's going to be and when I get on the plane to go to Costa Rica I will have been able to see how much I have accomplished. The last reason why this is such a big deal to me is because I have never had an experience like this where it was with a school that counted as class and I find that to be very appealing on a college or job application that I was able to go out of the country. When I get ready to begin the college application process I want to be seen as someone that is committed to life long learning, exciting experiences and successful future. This is what I think this trip can give me. If you would like to support me, our efforts, or our class, please send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio-35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801