  
Ashland,
Wisconsin
"Aren't
you afraid the coral will eat you?" Ethan became concerned
about his teacher, Ms. Martinez, when he first learned
about her trek down to Grand Cayman Island. Melissa Martinez
will be traveling to Grand Cayman to send live classes
to her third grade marine biologists. "So much has
happened since that first day!", remembers Ms. Martinez.
At first, all my students were nervous about me traveling
to another country, about me going underwater, about everything.
Now, I cannot get them to think about anything else. "This
bake sale was their idea, they want to do anything they
can to help."
"Today
we are going to make cookies for tomorrow's bake sale
at Associated Bank." The kids erupted into a roar. "Can
we send some of the cookies to our friends in Cayman?" They
are already anticipating the friendships they will
build with their Caymanian pen pals, explains Ms. Martinez.
The
third grade class at Lake
Superior Intermediate School decided to sponsor
a bake sale to raise funds for their upcoming classroom
project, The Cayman Underwater Classroom live from
Grand Cayman Island .
"Since
we started this program, I am able to hold student
attention for much longer. The kids cannot wait to
learn more. Even the parents are getting involved.
People cannot do enough. One parent told me that these
programs always happen at other schools. She is so
proud her daughter is being given this opportunity!
We
all dedicated ourselves to this bake sale. This is
one way we can get closer to our goal - a virtual
dream, that will transport students to a different
country and open many potential doors to education,
friendships and the wonders of the underwater world.
Melissa
revealed the secret behind her family cookie recipe
and her eager students were quick to help. Did more
flour end up in the cookies or on the students?
"Students
who always sit in the back of the class, are now staying
after school to ask more questions. One student asked
me if she could do more homework."
When
we finally finished the baking, we divvied up the cookies,
settled on a price and stowed our cookies in a top
secret, safe spot in anticipation of the next day's
sale.
On
Saturday the parents joined their children. They
worked side by side at the bake sale. Success was
the only option. Everyone had fun AND raised money
to help defray the costs of the January expedition.
Associated Bank generously allowed the children to
set up the sale in their lobby during Saturday morning
business hours.
 While
patrons stopped at the bake sale to inspect the sweets,
conversations quickly turned to the upcoming January
Expedition. The childrens' excitement was clear.
They giggled and proudly bragged about how their
teacher was going underwater while SCUBA diving and
she was going to teach them all the way from the
Caribbean."And I know where that is", one
of the students chimed in. Indeed, Ms. Martinez's
class knows all about Grand Cayman Island.The excitement
is carrying them through other lessons that are usually
difficult to sell to third graders. Ms. Martinez
said,"I had a map class and I started teaching
basic map skills using a map of Iowa. Half the class
was not paying attention and the other half was bored.
I decided to switch to a map of Cayman Island and,
voila! The entire class was back and focused. Everyone
scored an 'A' on the lesson plan."
And
everyone scored an A+ for the bake sale. The students
raised over $232 in sales and monetary donations. Even
more important, students were happy that our community
members stopped by to show they care about education
and want to learn more about this wonderful program.
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