Here's what we covered at this morning's meeting:

Check In: If you know you are going to miss a meeting, please make sure you speak to me directly sometime before the meeting. Some people missed this meeting without speaking to me before hand. That is not good.

ISIC Card: I still need photo copies of ISIC cards from Jessica, Bobby, Alex R., Josh, Ava, and Aretha. Disciplinary Referrals will be turned in to Mrs. Choiniere's office today at 3:30pm for anyone who has not given me a photo copy of their ISIC cards by that time.

Names Quiz: Great job everyone! Our class average is now up to 87%. Our last three averages were 84%, 70%, and 66%. Remember that our goal is 100%!

Fundraising Update: We are doing a great job at pulling in funds! Raffle ticket sales are going well. Dr. Sayarath is working on the Variety Show. Our Variety Day is scheduled for January. We will be selling raffle tickets today at lunch and every day the week we get back from Thanksgiving break (11/29, 11/30, 12/1, 12/2, 12/3). In a group effort, we came up with the idea of selling Laotian food (spring rolls) at lunch. If you're interested in helping this idea come to life, speak to Dr. Sayarath. Also remember that we are continuing to look for laptops. So far we have collected two. We would like to collect at least two more.

Presentations: We heard from Mary, Erin, Abbey, and Rachel about Laos. You can view the presentation online right here. Here are the rest of the presentation assignments:

Angkor Wat - 12/16: Jessica, Bobby, Ave, Emma

Cambodia - 12/16: Aretha, Alejandro, Bill, Sarah

Siem Riep - 12/16: Heather, Cameron, Haley, Thomas

Vangvien - 12/16: Max, Melanie, Marc

Remember that your presentations need to be 5-7 minutes in length and that you must email me your presentation by 8pm on 12/15.

As for our Montreal trip....

Photos and video from the trip are now online! The password for the video will be emailed out.

We took off at 8am sharp and after a quick drive to Newport, we cruised through customs. On the way to Newport I found out that even though there are only three turns necessary, it's quite easy to miss an exit on rt. 2. At customs we also discovered that the border agents don't like it very much when you get back in line after they have checked your passports.

On the next leg of the trip we got more and more excited as we noticed that the weather was going to be amazing. Without the need to stop for gas, it was smooth sailing right into Montreal -- well, except for the random construction that we quickly found our way around.

We parked close to Notre Dame and after some quick money changing, we decided to go into Notre Dame since we had 30 minutes of extra time. Hooray for arriving early! In the Basilica we admired the main area as well as the rear chapel.

Next we made our way up to St. Catherine St. where we walked for several blocks to Laser Quest. On the way I found out that some kids are fantastic about staying together and others like to get their picture taken with random people standing outside business with "SALE" signs.

At Laser Quest we stored our gear and then lined up for registration which included coming up with code names. A few minutes later we were ushered into the holding room where the rules of the game were explained (free for all!). We then migrated into the next room where we put on our suites.... and then it was game time. We all had an amazing time in the Star Wars themed environment! An absolute chaos of students reigned supreme. The 20 minutes of game time flew by. We had so much fun we may need to go back to Montreal as a group to play another round or two! Noah ended up coming out on top... but he lost his good-karma points later. Ms. Wilbur and I also scored in the top 4 with Dr. Sayarath not far behind. During the game we also found out how loud some of our trip participants really can be!

After counting off on the street, we headed back up St. Catherine and down into the underground where we set a rally point. The kids then had 30 minutes for lunch. After lunch everyone met up on time and we walked in the underground mall to the subway station where I purchased lots of tickets and we traveled several stops north.

Out on the street we walked another 5 blocks in the gorgeous afternoon to St. Joseph's Oratory. We took some group pictures at the base of the steps then made the big climb to the Cathedral. Inside we admired the modern architecture. Outside on the upper patio area we took in the sunset and snapped a few more group pictures.

The subway ride back to St. Catherine St. was smooth. I then took the group to our evening meet up point before giving them an hour of free time. At our next check in things were going well until 3 boys had trouble finding out check in spot, despite the fact that it was across the street from a 50 x 50 foot red neon sign. I learned that I need to give more specific directions.

We then walked 10 minutes to St. Laurent St. where the kids were given 45 minutes to eat dinner at one of the many Vietnamese restaurants. I had a fabulous curry vegetable dinner and then showed up at the meeting point early. While waiting with the kids I heard a wonderful tale of our amazing universal ambassador, Max, in action (Watch the video).

Soon after we were bussed up and heading back to St. Johnsbury. We made a quick stop for gas and food and then cruised the rest of the way. Our trip through customs was very fast (LOTS of agents!) and we made it back to St. Johnsbury on schedule.

Overall we had a fantastic time! We all look forward to even more time together!