T-Minus 5 Days

Hey all! Since I'm the first person to leave a post I'll try to make it sort of introductory...

This is the blog that will chronicle the story of the (15 ish?) students on the University of Maryland Alternative Winter Break 2010 trip to Gaston, North Carolina to examine rural education and charter schools. For ten days in January we will be working at the KIPP school in Gaston, tutoring students, helping to set up bulletin boards, grading papers, or whatever else teachers need done.

My name is Sophie, I am a senior at UMD, majoring in Geography with a minor in math. This will be my third time going to KIPP:GCP, once leading the trip last year and again in the summer with the two amazing trip leaders for this year, Clare and Elma. I will actually be going down a few days before the rest of the group to interview for a teaching position at the school for next year. I'm excited and nervous, but that is to be expected I guess. It will be great to see the teachers I met last year, and for some of them in particular to see how their second year of teaching is going.

KIPP: GCP is a great school and I can't wait for everyone else going on the trip to fall in love with it like I did!

Keep reading the blog over the next two weeks to see how the trip is going and what everyone is learning!

Sophie