Centennial Olympic Park Atlanta GA

Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta Georgia: A Visit to Georgia Aquarium for Student Travel Groups

by Student Educational Tours of Atlanta

 

Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta is a hub of educational and historical information for student travel groups. It was originally built for the 1996 Centennial Olympics. After the Olympics the park was closed and redesigned for public use. It reopened in 1998. Student travel groups will want to take a walking tour of Centennial Olympic Park. A lush Great Lawn in the center of the park is surrounded by commemorative quilts from the Olympic bombings, the Quilt of Nations, and The Fountain of Rings. If time allows, student groups will also want to visit one of the attractions surrounding it. The Georgia Aquarium, World of Coke, or CNN Center will be of interest to student travel groups.
The challenge for an educator is to decide which destination is most desirable and educational. The choice will depend upon the student travel group and the curriculum they’re following. With proper scheduling, groups may be able to visit all three. Or, if a custom itinerary requires only one of these venues, a tour of Centennial Olympic Park along with a trip to the Georgia Aquarium may be the best choice.
Some Background on the Georgia Aquarium
In this blog, I will give more details about the Georgia Aquarium. In future blogs I will highlight the World of Coke and CNN Center Tour. Georgia Aquarium is a great choice for an educational group because a visit here engages students by providing a glimpse into marine life. Students who do not live anywhere near a body of water such as an ocean or a bay will gain a great deal from the visit because they can witness aquatic life up close and personal. The Georgia Aquarium is the world’s largest and most engaging aquarium.
Lesson Plans for Teachers and Aquatic Fact Sheets
Georgia Aquarium has excellent educational programs in place for student travel groups. The organization supplies teachers with Aquatic Fact Sheets that give an overview of information about the Georgia Aquarium and the exhibits. Lesson Plans are also available for grades K-12.
Learning Loop Educational Experience
This student tour is designed to help students to understand aquatic systems and their make-up. An environmental educator, on staff with the Georgia Aquarium, provides students with a tour that describes the exhibits and the animal husbandry and the roles they play in tending the marine life. In order to replicate actual aquatic ecosystems, a great deal of work goes into exhibits for the upkeep of marine life. The Learning Loop Educational Experience is a great way to help students appreciate this work, and understand its importance in the science of marine biology.
Aqua Adventure
For teachers who wish to be the guide on their student tour of the Georgia Aquarium, Aqua Adventures may be the tour to select. An educator may download a teacher guide for the appropriate grade level in advance of the tour. Then the educator takes students on a tour through the main aquarium. There are plenty of interactive activities on Aqua Adventures, as well as age appropriate questions for students to answer. For a small additional fee per student, groups have the option of adding the Titantic Aquatic program (through May 2009). Actual artifacts from the wreck of the Titantic as well as narratives of survivors are incorporated into this exhibit.
Centennial Olympic Park is filled with an assortment of excellent choices in destinations for student travel groups. This overview of the Georgia Aquarium highlights educational aspects and is by no means a complete picture of what it has to offer the public. Call us today 888-320-1115  Student Educational Tours of Atlanta

A Happy Student

Montreal was a really interesting experience. It was quite stressful at first because we didn't have any access to internet - but were trying to meet up with friends in the city. It took a while but eventually we managed to use free wi-fi on a bus to meet up with a local Montreal study who is also going on exchange to Warsaw! Our university in Warsaw has made a Facebook group for incoming winter semester exchange students, so a lot of us have already added each other and hence why I was in contact with him. We were absolutellyyyy spoilt again as the guy, David, spent hours and hours and hours walking around Montreal with us showing us the wonderful city! Even though he recently sustained an injury to his foot! We got to see two of the big universities in the city, McGill and Concordia, as well as the Old Montreal Town, Old Port and a vast amount of the CBD. One of the most interesting parts about being in Montreal was that everything was in French. Matt has been in countries where the main language is not English, but I haven't! So it was quite bizarre seeing a different language everywhere. Despite having studied French for ages, I was too rusty to actually use any of it :( but luckily everyone can speak good English too which was helpful.

Old Montreal was a really cool place. And it was big too - lots of little streets, an old port, open spaces around churches and so on. We also went to "Five Guys, Burgers and Fries" (for those who don't know, it's a yummy burger place we found in the U.S.). It was funny because in Montreal the whole menu was in French and the title of the place was "Five Guys, Hamburgers et frites", so it obviously didn't have the same rhyme… In Montreal we found a lot of cool arty things as well, such as multi-coloured fountains and big modern sculptures - a lot of which were amongst the old buildings, so that was a cool contrast.

We also coincidentally hung out with a family friend of Matt who was on exchange from Otago and studying in McGill. She had just arrived in Montreal and saw that we were in the U.S. and asked if we were coming anywhere near Canada. We told her that we were arriving in Montreal the next day! Haha. So we also hung out with her for a bit and went for a burger, looked around the city, etc. It was nice seeing her and speaking with another kiwi about impressions of the city!

So we did Montreal quite quickly, but that's ok since we feel like we saw most of what you would go to see as a tourist. We caught a bus at 1030pm-ish. If you guys didn't know already, we are ABSOLUTELY exhausted at this moment - as we've had barely any sleep in the past few days - especially with only about three hours on the bus ride into Montreal!

New York

We got to the U.S. border at about 1am - we had to get off the bus whilst they searched our bags and we had to check in with immigration. It was pretty frustrating because we knew we had very limited time to get any sleep whilst we were on the bus since we were expected to arrive in New York around 6:30am. We actually arrived about half an hour early -_- We spent a while sitting in the bus station because we were a bit disoriented about what to do and where to go. So we sat around for a while, grabbed some breakfasts, freshened up then walked to our hostel - the New York Budget Inn. Unfortunately because it was only like 7am we couldn't check in to our room yet, so we dumped our stuff in the luggage room and decided to go exploring. We ended up buying this 72 hour hop-on hop-off bus tour pass which is been REALLY good value for money. It also includes a four different tour routes in NY, such as downtown and Brooklyn, a night bus tour, a boat cruise around the statue of liberty, and a discount card for food and activities in various locations throughout New York! If anyone of you come to New York - we got our pass with the New York City Sights company (usually see them in yellow shirts, blue buses). It was supposed to cost like $99, so make sure you bargain with them because they drop the price quickly if you moan about being poor and say no. We ended up getting it for $59 which is definitely worth 72 hours of entertainment as well as quick transport around New York.

Our first tour was of the downtown area - which included Times Square, the Financial District (Wall Street), China Town, Ground Zero, and so on. It's really good because we had great tour guides speaking the whole time, telling us what things are, pointing out cool architecture, celebrity gossip and lots of joking along the way.

After this tour we hung around in Times Square for a bit longer. There was a massive Samsung Galaxy stage and heaps of people wearing blue or white caps saying Samsung'" on it. Matt and I hung around for a while to see what was going on and before we knew it, we were wearing the hats too and listening to them unveiling the new Samsung smart phone watch as well as a live concert - right in the middle of Times Square!!!

It gets crazier though. We also won tickets to be in the audience of the Late Show with David Letterman whilst we were just walking along the street. The problem is we couldn't take our backpacks, so we quickly ate lunch at Olive Garden (yam) and pretty much ran home, checked in, changed our clothes and got back JUST in time to make the show. It was really great watching it all and being a part of it! We need to get hold of the episode because we will be in it clapping away haha. However there was a very strict rule that no photos were allowed to be taken while the show was being recorded, which was a shame because we could have taken some really cool shots.

We carried on our sightseeing after the show finished. WE headed down to Grand Central Station and the Public Library. Both had absolutely beautiful architecture - in fact we've noticed that most of Manhattan Island does - there's either very old looking buildings with crazy designs or super sleek, modern buildings. After this we decided to sit down in Bryant Park for a while to relax and rest our feet.

We decided to do the night tour with our hop on hop off pass which was impressive too. We did all of the downtown area again but in the dark, and also went over Manhattan Bridge and throughout Brooklyn - including the coast of Brooklyn which gave us an AMAZING view of Manhattan Island. We are definitely going to go back to take some better photos because it was really stunning.

So we are now going to enjoy a good sleep for the first time in a while. Last night we only got about three hours after a poor attempt to sleep on the bus, and the night before was about three hours too with our late flight from the west coast to the east. We have also been walking an average of nine hour days for the past four days so we are really pushing our boundaries at the moment!

We're not sure what the plan for tomorrow will be. Most likely we will do the boat cruise to see the statue of liberty, and then do the bus tours around central park and the upper east side of Manhattan (where GOSSIP GIRL IS SET)… We also managed to bargain with a guy selling comedy show tickets so tomorrow night we are going to go and watch some stand-up comedy for a mere $10 each. So I'm sure there will be a lot to write about again.

Teachers Take advanage Now

Good Day from Atlanta,


Student Educational Tours of Atlanta would like the opportunity to be your schools travel company of choice. Please visit us at http://www.studenteducationaltoursofatlanta.com/ or call us 888-320-1115 and lets build long lasting memories together.

Ask About our: "Teachers Travel Free Program"
                            "$500.00 Gift Card"

Student Educational Tours of Atlanta
888-320-1115
Leonard Frank G.
Learning Through Travel
http://www.studenteducationaltoursoftlanta.com
Twitter:  @studentedutours
Blog:  Studentedutours.blogspot.com

Teachers the time to Book is Now

Student Educational Tours of Atlanta would like the opportunity to be your schools travel company of choice. Please visit us at http://www.studenteducationaltoursofatlanta.com/ or call us 888-320-1115 and lets build long lasting memories together.

Ask About our: "Teachers Travel Free Program"
                            "$500.00 Gift Card"

Student Educational Tours of Atlanta
888-320-1115
Leonard Frank G.
Learning Through Travel
http://www.studenteducationaltoursoftlanta.com
Twitter:  @studentedutours
Blog:  Studentedutours.blogspot.com

Airline Rates

The airfare rates for Travel Companies http://www.studenteducationaltoursoftlanta.com  is out and this year 2013-2014 rates are Great!  Of course this is driven due the fact that when groups travel 47 to 57 at a time the rate improves.

Good Day from Atlanta,

Student Educational Tours of Atlanta would like the opportunity to be your schools travel company of choice. Please visit us at http://www.studenteducationaltoursofatlanta.com/ or call us 888-320-1115 and lets build long lasting memories together.

Ask About our: "Teachers Travel Free Program"
                            "$500.00 Gift Card"

Student Educational Tours of Atlanta
888-320-1115
Leonard Frank G.
Learning Through Travel
http://www.studenteducationaltoursoftlanta.com
Twitter:  @studentedutours
Blog:  Studentedutours.blogspot.com

New York Harlem

Student Educational Tours of Atlanta

"Drop Me Off in Harlem," went the 1933 Duke Ellington song, but there's no better time to go than this summer, for The Classical Theatre of Harlem's July performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in August, and Art Crawl Harlem tours. Kate Donnelly stops in for a visit.
HARLEM – Harlem maintains an old-world, New York feel, blending cool street hustle and sophistication with distinct architecture. Its rich cultural background began with Dutch origins and was enhanced by Italian and Jewish immigrants who sauntered into the haven of the legendary Harlem Renaissance. The result is a mix of Latin, Italian, and Southern Caribbean influences.
Move down 125th Street, and you'll find savvily dressed preachers, fedora hats, Kangol berets, pick-up chess games, sneaker shops for miles, CD peddlers, and local artists selling Harlem ware. In the morning before the stores open, the roll-down metal gates are the canvases for Franco the Great's dazzling murals of such figures as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Mr. T and jubilant scenes from Harlem's jazz clubs and fabled halls.

June 2013

The avenues are wide and sprawling, with low-rise buildings giving way to an unobstructed expanse of sky. The broad, tree-lined blocks are filled with beautiful, stately brownstones. The churches, barbershops, wig shops, and African braiding shops have terrific old signage. Conversations and cat-calling on the street are unrivaled. Outside, young kids rebound basketballs on gated storefronts, while summer-ready women strut with sheer confidence. It's a magic beat, a blend of the modern with homages to a culturally fabled past.

WHERE TO EAT

Harlem's cultural diversity includes culinary options from around the globe.

First things first: Don't miss Red Rooster.http://www.studenteducationaltoursofatlanta.com The great lunchtime $25 prix-fix menu provides generous portions of carrot-ginger soup and honey-mustard salmon (see photo) washed down with a cold bottle of Haitian Prestige beer. Other crowd pleasers include Helga's meatballs and the infamous fried yardbird. Happy hour on Friday is all the rage. A seat at the bar makes for stellar people watching: a mix of scholarly, professorial bow-ties, fashion-forward locals, and blue-collar patrons. Order a plate of spicy wings or Rooster nuts and nurse the spicy Obama-tini with crushed pepper-infused aqauvit, pineapple, lime, grapefruit, and Angostura bitters. If you're on the nocturnal beat, Ginny's Superclub downstairs kicks up its heels with rhythm and late night dancing.
French mainstay Chez Lucienne is a great place for lunch. Ask for an outside patio seat and watch the Lenox Street passerbys. Cedric Bistro is a charming, laid-back corner spot for mussels, burgers, and sauteed jerk chicken.
Jado Sushi churns out fresh, authentic Japanese fare, with special mentions to fried oysters with panko and glazed short ribs, while the small storefront Jin Ramen is a prized treat of Tokyo-style fare. Kick everything off with the pork buns, then move to fresh, delicious noodles paired with a flat wooden spoon. Get your ramen on — char sou pork melts in your mouth, and everything washes nicely with a cold Sapporo.

Throw down at a communal table at Bier and sip a pint of Bronx Pale Ale coupled with a Bavarian pretzel and sausage, either smoked kielbasa or chicken and ouille sausage. Their hand-cut fries are also winners. Harlem Public is a perfect spot for watching a Yankees game or meeting up with pals for a relaxed brunch of sloppy joes, fish tacos, and a wide range of craft brews.
Harlem Shake is a relative newbie, a throwback diner with tin ceilings and a celebrity wall of fame. They serve steak burgers, hot dogs, and old-fashioned shakes for kids and adults. And although Sylvia may still be the Queen of Harlem, Amy Ruth's is the stop for soul food. The dish they call the Rev. Al Sharpton is a full-on culinary assault of waffles and dark meat chicken.
Lenox Coffee is a low-lit, cozy spot which brews Stumptow, plays great music, and allows laptops. Il Cafe Latte is a smaller joint for caffeinated sips. Add something sweet, like fresh and yummy cookies, from Levain Bakery.
For late-night spirits, head to the dimly lit, velvet-curtained, speakeasy-esque 67 Orange Street for hand-crafted cocktails shaken by dapper men.

WHAT TO DO

The Studio Museum Harlem showcases emerging and established African-American artists and has an extensive archive from the Harlem Renaissance photographer James VanDerZee. Don't miss the bookstore for its stellar selection of local and historic postcards and books like the spectacular photobooks Harlem: A Century in Images and Gordon Parks: A Harlem Family. Art Crawl Harlem's amazing tours through local galleries may be the best way to see art uptown. LeRone Wilson is one to watch.
Marcus Garvey Park is home to basketball courts, spray showers, playgrounds, and culture. There's always something good at Harlem Stage, which features visionary artists of color in music, dance, performance, film, and education.
From July 13-30, The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is presenting performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park. From August 23-25, the park's outdoor Amphitheater hosts the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.

A row of 1885 Italianate brownstones between West 122nd and West 123rd Streets.

Strivers' Row is a masterpiece of the architectural glory: three rows of townhouses on West 138th and 139th Streets (between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. and Frederick Douglass Blvd.). This elegant development quickly became associated with great affluence. The Neo-Italian and Georgian influences resemble a West Village-like setup with stately homes and beautiful trees. Many of the gates still bear original late 1800s signage: "Private Road, Walk Your Horses."
Harlem has an impressive and abundant number of churches and worship houses, many of which were converted from old movie houses. Churchgoing women are dressed to the nines and always in lovely hats. Roam past the cool architectural exteriors of Absynninian Church, All Saints Church, Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, and The Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, an African-American synagogue that occupies an 1890 neo-Renaissance building. Greater Refuge Temple is a pastel-colored, mid-century wonder in a former cinema. If you want to attend a Sunday gospel choir service (a regular Harlem tourist attraction), go to Abyssinian Baptist Church, New Mount Zion Baptist Church, Mount Neboh Baptist Church, or Greater Refuge Temple. (Here's a Harlem church directory.)

Mt. Olive Church

The ghosts of jazz past are everywhere in Harlem. Breeze by the old haunts, like the famous Apollo Theatre. Check out free music at Showman's Jazz Club and add yourself to the list of jazz aficionados awaiting the revival of Minton's Playhouse, where Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Count Basie once played. Stroll past the homes of Langston Hughes at 20 East 127th Street; Billie Holiday at 108 West 139th Street; and Duke Ellington, Joe Louis, and Lena Horne at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.

WHERE TO STAY

There are not many charming and boutiquey hotel options around, but these are the good ones:
Aloft Harlem Hotel – The little sister of the W Hotels brand.Sugar Hill Harlem Inn – A green bed-and-breakfast on West 141st Street with two rooms, two studios, and one suite all named for prominent Harlem artists. They also have a four-bedroom Victorian townhouse a few blocks away.The Harlem Renaissance House – Three suites that blend modern and traditional styles in a Stanford White-designed townhouse along Strivers' Row.Harlem Grand B&B – Lovely and old-fashioned in a classic brownstone on West 122nd St.The Harlem Flophouse – Four bedrooms with in-room sinks but no private bathrooms.

FOR YOUR BEDSIDE TABLE

Brush up on your history by starting at the beginning with Jonathan Gill's Harlem. American Gangster is Hollywood's gritty-glam look at Frank Lucas and 1970's Harlem. Jazz: A film by Ken Burns is a crash course for the beginner to the aficionado. Yes, Chef is Marcus Samuelson's love letter to growing pains, moving on, and food. The refined and informative Harlem Bespoke keeps locals up on current openings and events.

School Fund Raising Ideas by Student Educational Tours OF Atlanta

By:   Student Educational Tours of Atlanta     http://www.studenteducationaltoursofatlanta.com  

                    888-320-1115

The St. Mary-St. Michael School HSA in Derby, Conn., held a “duck race” along with a duck-decorating contest. Leaders sold more than 2,000 10-inch rubber ducks, which buyers could choose to include in the river race downstream or decorate for a contest at a local art gallery. In the weeks leading up to the event, parent leaders donned bright yellow Duck Patrol T-shirts as they marched in the town’s Memorial Day parade; children and parents riding on the school float handed out flyers promoting the upcoming race. A $3,000 profit from the events gave the HSA plenty to quack about.

Profiting on Pork Bellies

Chances are you’re not going to leave hungry when you come to the annual Sausage Supper fundraiser put on each November by the New Douglas PTO in Highland, Ill. A community tradition for more than 30 years, the supper includes homemade pork sausages, mashed potatoes and milk gravy (made with sausage), sauerkraut (with ham and sausage), green beans, applesauce, bread, pie, and plenty to drink. Says principal Carla Grapperhaus, “The secret recipe used is from the local farmer that began the fundraiser.” On average, some 240 PTO and community volunteers serve 2,000-plus attendees, who eat about 8,000 to 13,000 pounds of pork (approximately 40 to 65 hogs). The first year, the group took in $321; in recent years, the sausage supper typically raises about $10,000.

Hit It With Your Best Shot

Here’s a smashing idea from the Berlin (Pa.) Brothersvalley High School that you can try at your next carnival. To raise funds for activities at the school, club organizers planned a “car smash”: A junk car, with fluids and glass removed, is set up in the school’s parking lot; smashers pay $5 for a ticket that allows them one minute to hit the car. Weapons of choice include a sledgehammer, aluminum baseball bat, crow bar, or ax. Rules are spelled out in advance: Participants must wear a safety helmet with a face shield, heavy-duty gloves, and a welding-style coat for protection. Only one patron at a time is permitted inside the zone. For an extra splash, contact your local rescue squad to see whether they would be willing to give a Jaws of Life demonstration.

Winging It

The PTO at the Holy Mother of Sorrows church in Dupont, Pa., holds an annual Super Bowl chicken wing fundraiser each year. Orders are called in before the event and can be picked up on the day of the big game, with menu offerings including mild, hot, BBQ, honey mustard, and plain versions.