The first place Flat Samantha and I visited was the Visitors Information Center. They were so nice to us! They gave us really cool Blue Angels' posters, a map of the island upon which we marked the location of Aunt DJ's house, a tiny bag of sugar-white Pensacola Beach sand, and other brochures and goodies to share with her class when Flat Sami goes back home to Texas!
Next we drove a couple of miles down the island and stopped by the Pensacola Beach Elementary School, even though it was closed for Spring Break. Flat Samantha looked so cute balancing on the PBES school sign, just like in her gymnastics class.
In the report we explained that Pensacola Beach celebrates Mardi Gras and that our Elementary School has their own special krewe called the Krewe of Kids who elect a new King, Queen, Prince and Princess every year. We even included a cover of the island newspaper, Island Times, with the Krewe's royal court on the cover!
The Krewe of Kids also have a yummy annual Royal Donut Breakfast and their very own parade around Casino Beach, throwing beads to people who attend, so we packed lots of beads to send back to Flat Samantha's class in Texas!
It is was a beautiful, sunny and warm weekend, so Flat Samantha and I went to the beach to take photos and enjoy our sugar white sand. We picked up a bag of small shells to send back to Samantha's class. I bet they'll want to visit here when they see what a great time we had!
Since it is Spring Break time, there are many families visiting and Flat Samantha made friends with Sam and Cody who were playing on the beach that afternoon. Aren't they the cutest!!! And so sweet to take time to play with Flat Sami!
I was sad to send Flat Samantha back home to Texas. We had a wonderful time exploring Pensacola Beach and I hope Mrs. Hull's second grade class at Willie Brown Elementary School in Mansfield, Texas has half as much fun reading about our adventures as I did on this project.
Bye-bye, Flat Samantha!
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3 comments:
A few years ago I took a Flat Stanley around town. We hit the beaches, the historic area, the forts and the Aviation Museum. I thought it would be cool to get a picture of Flat Stanley with the Blue Angels so I drove over to the parking lot next to their hanger/headquarters. While I didn't get to meet the Blues I did meet their PR officer. He provided one of the autographed photos you see hanging around town made out to my son along with a patch. Both of those became part of the presentation.
That's a great story, Tony. I had fun with the project, but embarrassed that I had never heard about it.
Hopefully the second graders in Mrs. Hull's class at Willie Brown Elementary School in Mansfield, Texas will get a kick from all the posters, pictures, mardi gras beads, sea shells and sand! :-)
DJ
That's fabulous!! Flat Stanley (or in this case Flat Samantha) is a great way for kids to learn about other people and places, and your pics from the beach are super! When I taught in Irving, my 2nd graders loved sending their Flat Stanley's out to interesting new locations -- especially since many of them had never been outside their home-state before. Way to keep the tradition going!
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