Hotel Information

Since it is less than one week to departure, I'm posting the contact info for our hotels here. For security reasons, however, I'm not listing the dates for each one. If you would like a copy of the full info (with dates), please email me and I will send it to you.

I will also have copies of this available at departure (2 per traveler: one for you, one for your emergency contact).

Venice Hotel:

Hotel Bolivar
Via Verdi 70
Lido di Jesolo 30017
Italy
Phone: +39 0 421 97 16 28

Florence Hotel:

Hotel Meridiana
Via Don Minzoni 25
Florence 50129
Italy
Phone: +39 055 576 552

Rome Hotel:

Hotel Blanc e Noir
Via Scanscano 8/10
Rome 00149
Italy
Phone: +39 06 65 97 49

Sorrento Hotel (extension only):

Hotel Giosue al Mare
Via Caruso, 2
Meta di Sorrento (NA), IT
80062
Italy
Phone: +39 0 818 78 66 85

Rome Hotel (extension only):

Hotel la Pergola
Via Dei Prati Fiscali, 55
Rome 00141
Italy
Phone: +39 06 81 072 50

URGENT: General Fund Balances PAST DUE

Greetings, all.

I hate to sound alarmist about this, but I have a number of travelers (7, at last count) that still owe a balance toward the General Fund. As you recall, this is the amount per traveler that is needed to cover our shuttle/busing expenses to and from Minneapolis, as well as our obligatory tips to the tour director and guides.

I was expecting that travelers would make any final payments at our last meeting, but that did not completely happen.

If your balance sheet contained any amount in the middle column (General Fund Balance), please get a check to me in that amount, made out to Chi-Hi. I must be able to order the check (from our school account) next week for the amount we owe, and it takes a few days for this process to happen, because of the signatures involved. If I don't have those funds by next week Tuesday, I will be in serious danger of not being able to get the funds we need, as the school offices are not open/personnel are not always present once summer hours begin.

Reminder: FINAL Pre-Travel Meeting May 23rd!

Greetings, Travelers!

With less than one month to go before we depart, it is time for our last pre-travel meeting!

As discussed previously, we will meet at 6:00 PM, May 23rd (Sunday) in my room (136). We will be discussing final departure details, packing, money and all that good stuff. Travelers who still have an obligation for tips & busing (general fund) will pay for it at that time.

I'll confess that the end of the school year has me in quite a whirlwind of last-minute obligations, so I'll be lucky to have everything ready to go for Sunday. Grading, my own assignments to get finished for my grad classes, trip planning, and the last "push" to finals are really sucking up all of my spare time, so I apologize if it takes me a while to get back to you over the next couple of weeks.

It's a hectic time, but necessary if we want to finish strong, right? I'll see you Sunday. And good luck with your end-of-year projects, as well.

Butter Braid Order Delivery: 3:45 PM May 3rd!

Just a reminder...

If you sold Butter Braids they will be available for pick up after school tomorrow (May 3) in the Chi-Hi cafeteria. Please make plans to pick them up immediately after school, as the product is frozen and needs to stay cold.

Be prepared to deliver them ASAP or get them home to a freezer until delivery can be made.

Good luck!

Flight Information Has Arrived!!!

Much excitement! Our flight schedules have arrived! We will be discussing these at tomorrow's Lunch & Learn Meeting with students.

Before you look at the documents below...brace yourself. It looks like both groups have a pretty grueling flight schedule for departure and return. So begin preparing yourself for some long travel days. Bring a book!

Base Tour Flight Schedule

Extension Group Flight Schedule

At our next large group meeting (our last pre-departure get-together), we will be discussing packing restrictions and general rules of airline travel. It's getting real, folks!

Culver's Night - May 10th

Our final "Culver's Night" fundraiser will take place Monday, May 10th!

Just like last time, students will be receiving "coupons" to hand out to anyone and everyone who might come to support us that evening. The Culver's restaurant in Lake Hallie (by Wal-Mart) is generously donating 10% of the sales receipts from those who present coupons anytime during that day. These proceeds will benefit our "general fund" for tips and busing.

Since our next Lunch & Learn Meeting is May 3rd, students can pick up their coupons at that time.

Oh, and don't forget, May 3rd is also the day that our Butter braids come in for pick up (after school).

Butter Braid Orders Due April 12

Our Butter Braid sale kicked off last week on March 29th, when forms were distributed at our Lunch meeting.

Be sure to gather orders from friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors, and anyone you can think of! This was a very good fundraiser for us last year, and I'm hoping for good results this time around as well, given that we may have some "repeat" customers.

Order forms and payments are due to Mrs. Welle by April 12th. Don't miss out on this last chance to raise money for your general fund (tips & busing) obligations!

Also, please note that you (or a representative) must be able to pick up any orders after school on May 3rd. They need to be delivered (or placed in a freezer) immediately, as they will arrive frozen).

Current Plans for Concessions Stand

We still have some planning to finish for our concessions stand at Southview Elementary School on April 10th. When we met on the 29th of March, this was the work schedule/donations list we came up with. Note the need for donations of Pepsi products from anyone and everyone.

Since I last meet with students, some good news:

• Pepsi has agreed to donate use of a concessions trailer (eliminating the need for us to find a tent/tables)
• Pepsi will handle the drop-off/pick up of the trailer, so that's one less thing we have to arrange for. (though drop-off time is still TBD at the time of this posting).

However, this still leaves some unanswered questions that we will need to discuss at our last planning meeting Wednesday at Lunch. Such as:

1. Can anyone (student or parent) be present at Southview on the evening of the 9th to get keys/instructions, to help set it up and collect donated items? I will be picking up the bun order in Eau Claire and will need to drop it off at the site...I can help with anything after that, but I can't be there right after school.
2. We will need confirmations on all donations of time and supplies. We need to make sure everything we need will actually be/get there when we need it.
3. Anything we need to add to the menu? It may be a bit sparse at this point...
4. We need to set prices for concessions items & make signs

Departure Date and Tour Confirmed!!! Flight Info Soon to Follow...

Great news! Yesterday after school I received a call from our tour consultant concerning our much anticipated departure date. I got the best news I possibly could have from him:

We were granted our selected departure date - June 17th - AND our first choice tour WITH the extension for those who signed up for it. Yippee!

So that means, for sure, we will be departing on June 17th. We're still waiting for specific flight information, though I should have that available by the time we meet on April 11th.

P.S. I'm still making some phone calls about the April 10th fundraiser, but it is certainly a "go". I'll post all our planning information from yesterday's meeting later today, hopefully.

Parent Volunteers Needed for April 10

Travelers and parents, I'm hoping you can help me out. Last weekend I found out that I was accepted to a masters program (which I had been hoping for) and further discovered that I am able to start with the Spring cohort (April 2010). This is great news for me, as I had been thinking I wouldn't be able to start until the next cohort (July).

On the down side, what this means is I will not be available to supervise the April 10 brat stand as I begin my coursework that day. And, unfortunately, Mr. Kinville and Ms. Hill have prior obligations as well. So we will need parents present during the event to assist and supervise students.

Mr. Kinville, Ms. Hill and I will continue to help with the pre-event planning, and we will have directions available for workers that day, but all the details will have to be in place beforehand so it goes off without a hitch.

If you (or your parent) is available to work that Saturday, please email me and let me know what hours you are available. I likely be contacting you as the event approaches to work out some details about getting supplies and equipment in place.

I will still be available for the April 11th evening meeting, however, so that will not be affected.

Mark Your Calendar - Brat Stand April 10th

I was recently contacted by a parent-coordinator at Southview Elementary. The school is doing a craft sale for the first time this year and was wondering if our group would be willing to run a concessions/brat stand in coordination with the event.

The sale would run from 9-3 on Saturday, April 10. After talking with students today it seems as though there is considerable interest in this fundraiser, so I will be contacting Southview to let them know we're available.

At our next student meeting on March 29, we will divide up work shifts and needed donations. Our general feeling at the meeting today was that the more we can provide through donated supplies, the better (as it would increase our profits). So, we'll be looking for travelers and families to provide many of the ingredients and supplies.

Strawberry Delivery Date - Thursday March 11

Travelers who took orders for Strawberries can pick up their produce on Thursday, March 11. They will be delivered to my classroom sometime that morning, and you are free to come get them anytime after that, though I imagine most people will want to pick them up after school.

If you plan on picking them up during the day, please let me know what time so I can minimize any distruption to my classes that day.

The Verdict

After hearing from the majority of the extension travelers, it looks like the 11-Day tour will not be able to run. About 1/2 of the enrolled participants indicated they would not be interested in paying more to make the extension a "private" tour. Thus, for any remaining travelers who did want to pay, the cost would be considerably more than $145 (probably at least double), on top of the already higher program fees.

It's a bummer, but I think we'll still have a great trip for a couple of reasons:

• The most frequently cited reason for travelers who wanted to go on the extension was an interest in Pompeii. Luckily, this is still an "optional excursion" even on the regular tour, it just comes at the expense of a "free day" in Rome. So if you want to see Pompeii, you still should be able to do so. :)
• Our second choice tour (if we cannot get the one we requested due to numbers) also includes Pompeii and is one day longer. Should we have to switch to that itinerary, those now signed up for the extension would probably already have the cost covered based on what they had previously paid.
• Anyone currently signed up for the extension will have the extra cost refunded. You can request a check in the amount of the overpayment, though I would wait on that until we have our tour confirmed (in case there are changes in cost due to a switch to the 2nd choice tour) or until we're able to enroll you on the Pompeii excursion.

I appreciate your patience and flexibility as we go through these planning stages. It's always a bummer when things don't work out as we hope, but I think this change will still allow everyone a great tour.

Decision Time: Tour Extension

I have some potentially sad news to report. I received an email yesterday from our tour consultant that affects all those currently signed up for the extended (11-day) tour. He tells me that the chances of us being consolidated with another group also choosing an extension are quite slim...so it's looking like the extension will not have enough participants to run (20-22 are needed...we have 13).

HOWEVER...if travelers still wish to go, we could elect to pay the extra costs involved to make the extension a "private" tour. If all 13 travelers elected to do this, it would be an additional $145 per person.

I realize that $145 is a considerable cost, so I'm leaving it up to you guys. I need to get back to the tour consultant by Friday with our decision, so please let me know ASAP what you would like to do. Essentially your two choices are this:

• Pay an extra $145 to go on the extension we had planned OR
• the extension would be cancelled and the extra fees you already paid would be refunded.
  

Instructions for Strawberry Sale

Order forms for our strawberry sale are now available. Here are the pertinenet details:


Orders will be due February 18th.

3 sizes are available to customers (flat, 1/2 flat and quart); they will be listed on your order form along with pricing information.

Payments should be collected from customers at the time the order is placed. Checks can be made payable to Chi-Hi.

Orders will arrive the week of March 7 (specific date to be determined). It extremely important that you are able to pick up the order the day of arrival, as the strawberries are very perishable and need to be delivered to customers ASAP.

Sunday's Meeting Time Has Changed!

As discussed at this week's Lunch & Learn meeting, we're changing the start time for Sunday's mandatory meeting.

When I scheduled this meeting over a year ago, I did not realize it would be Super Bowl Sunday... which will likely be a conflict for many football fans.

In talking with the students, it was decided to move the meeting time up to 1:00 PM. That way we'll be finished long before kick-off!

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by the time change. I realize no time is ideal for everyone, but I'm hoping this new time will cause the least conflict.

Note: Shift in Potential Departure Dates!!!

Greetings, Travelers! I just wanted to keep you informed about potential departure dates for the Italy trip. As you are aware, we may not know our actual departure/travel dates for some time yet, because our group will be consolidated with others to get a "full" tour.

In speaking with our tour consultant today, he encouraged me to expand the range of available dates for departure, as it means we will be more likely to get our "first choice" tour. (I think most of the students are aware of this, but upon creating our group tour I have to choose a couple "backup" tours in case we cannot get enough travelers to make it run. Since I assume most people want the tour we have talked about to date, I felt that was a priority).

Because I have conflicts with moving the departure dates earlier (and students do, too, at least until the end of the school year), I expanded the date range through the end of June. We'll talk about this at the Feb 7 meeting, but it essentially means you should be prepared to potentially depart anywhere from June 17-30. At the meeting, I would like to hear if anyone has conflicts with those dates and what they are, because I can adjust it further if need be (to some degree). EF needs at least 9 days of flexibility for departure.

We will have our firm departure date no later than early April, so we will know plenty of time in advance of departure. But please be aware that at this time that our travel dates are not firm. It will say a departure date on your online account (June 17), but this is merely our requested date, we are not guaranteed to leave that day.

Strawberry Sale Planned

As discussed at our last meeting, we are planning to team up with Chi-Hi's FFA Chapter for a Strawberry Sale. Students will collect orders for fresh strawberries that will arrive from Florida in early March. This is a great collaboration because in order to get shipments the total order has to be large...which is difficult for one organization to do alone.

Ms. Hasselquist informed me today that order collection will run from February 1 - 18. More details to follow (including delivery dates) next week.

Raffle Tickets Available for Sellers

Our raffle tickets arrived on Tuesday as scheduled, so stop by rm 136 to pick up as many as you would like to sell. (You can always get more if you run out, though, so perhaps start conservatively).

Tickets are sold for $2 a piece or 3 for $5, and money (plus ticket stubs and any unsold tickets) must be returned to me by the date of the drawing, February 20th.

I'll be adding to this post the files for an informational flyer and other important directions for sellers, but as I'm writing this at home and the files are at school, you'll have to be patient with me. Sorry!

Anyway, if there are events at which you would like to sell tickets (e.g. basketball games), let me know and I'll get the approval process rolling. I need to know at least 5 days in advance to get permission & a table arranged for you, but this would be an easy way to get some sales. Last year our group raised almost $1500 with this fundraiser, so take advantage of it!

(At left: second place prize: 30" x 30" wall hanging).