Palm Beach Daily News Article

Palm Beach Daily News Photographer Chris Salata has sent us the article that ran on Saturday.

Discovery leaves NASA Kennedy Space Centre

Reading the Standard today, there was an article about the Discovery. Our students were very lucky to have seen the discovery before it left.

We're still collecting pictures from students, we will be sorting them out and putting them together afterwards.

More Coverage from the Local Newspaper

The Saturday edition of Palm Beach Day Academy has more coverage of our study tour.
Check it out with this link:

News: Student musicians from Hong Kong soak in American culture during visit to Day Academy

Photo album: Hong Kong Students Visit Palm Beach Day Academy

If parents are interested to buy a copy of photos taken by the press, you are welcomed to buy them through their online services.

Congratulations!

As jetlag continues to hit both Mr. Cheng and I, I'd like to congratulate the students as well on the completion of this adventure.

I hope that all of you come away from this study tour having made a few new friends, strengthened existing friendships, and forged a powerful memory of our days together.

I must say that I saw many good things from our students(you!) on this trip. Not once did anyone complain about being too tired or not wanting to do something. You were always willing to explore and persevere, even though at times you might have been tired due to all the travelling. Comments from people ranging from flight attendants, passengers on the planes, hotel staff, PBDA teachers and host families were always positive about how well behaved you were. Good Stuff!

I hope that you continue to take away from this experience.
- Learn to enjoy new experiences and not be scared to try something just because you may think it is not exciting or possibly too scary.
- Remember that it is normal to miss home but still enjoy where you are so that you don't miss out on the adventures on your journeys.
- Keep in touch with the new friends you've made. Friendship is not to be taken lightly, remember the love that has been shared with you and learn to love others, care for others as you have been loved and cared for.

We'll continue to update this blog as we get more photos and videos and put them together.

If you would like to share your videos or photos of our adventure with us please bring the memory card (or camera if you don't know how to take it out) to school this next week and I will include it in our files.
If I use your photos, I will make sure that you are credited with taking the picture.

Thanks once again!

-Mr. Wong

We're Back!

We're back!

Thank God for the safe journey home. Our flight was smooth, and we arrived the Hong Kong International Airport at around 7:30p.m. All students felt relieved when they finally saw their parents.

It was a wonderful 12-day study tour! Our mission accomplished! 

Thanks again to our dear parent helpers - Dr Lee, Ms Lai, Ms Yien, Ms Chang, Ms Lee, Ms Tam, Mr & Mrs Poon, and Ms Kan. You gave us great support in taking care of the children and coordinating the concerts. 

Thanks again to Mr Yap and Mr Choy. You have inspired our children (and our US friends) to further develop their musical talent.

Thanks again to our teaching staff, especially Ms Kwan and Mrs Lam for your leadership and coordination. Thanks to Ms Tang and Ms Wong for your hard work in preparing the concerts. Thanks to Mr Wong (and myself) for updating this blog and capturing great memories of this quest.

Have a good night, and see you soon again! ^_^

I guess I'm suffering from jet lag, and that's why he's updating this blog at this hour.

We'll later organize the photos that we've gathered over this trip and distribute them to you. Stay tuned......

Day 10 - PBDA Farewell + Cocoa Beach Fun

Rebecca Choi (6C)

 Today was our last day in Florida. In the morning, Teachers and students of PBDA gave us a farewell ceremony at the school hall. Every one of us from Hong Kong received a present given by he school. I got a beautiful T-shirt.    

After we left West Palm Beach, we went to Cocoa Beach. Some of us collected shells, and some built sand castles. Every one was excited. However, we could only stay there for one hour. Then we went to Disney Quest. There we played lots of video games. All of us had a wonderful time there.
    At last, we went back to the first hotel we had stayed earlier in Orlando. Time flies! Ten days ago, we checked in here to begin our Florida quest, and now we are coming to an end of our journey. I would surely miss the people here.

Day 9 - PBDA Tour & Performance to the community

See PBDA with our students' eyes:

Rebecca Choi (6C)
    This morning, Natalie's mom drove us all to school. We had a lesson with other PBDA students. I had a Maths class and I enjoyed it very much.
    Then we had two performances. We were quite tired after the performances. Then we spent more time with our host family. Natalie had after-school activities today so we followed her. In the pottery class, we used clay to make different objects. All the students there were skillful and they really made beautiful pieces of craftwork.
    At night, we went to a concert. All the musicians there were marvelous! After the concert, weren't back to Natalie's house. We had to pack our luggaes since we would be leaving the next day. I would dearly miss Natalie and my host family.

Cyrus Lee (6A)

     I continued our visit at Palm Beach Day Academy after having breakfast at the home stay family. The first lesson I had at eight was a history class. I thought it boring. At nine o'clock, we took our instruments and gave a public concert. Everyone said we played well and I was proud of myself. After the concert, we ate some snacks. Then we went to see their library. We spent some time there to colour a colouring book newly published by one of the parent from PBDA.

     Then I had lunch with my new friend, Nathanial. We had a burger with chicken and some potato chips. After lunch, we went to the Lower Campus, and our string ensemble gave a concert. The concert went well.

     Then I left with my home stay family. But Nathanial had a competition that he needed to attend, so we watched it and we left school at 4:45. When we went back to Nathanial's home, I played basketball with him. In the evening, we had hamburger for dinner and it was delicious. After dinner, we went bowling.

     I need to leave the home stay family tomorrow, but I do not want to leave. I love to play with Nathanial and live in such a big house. ^_^

Nathaniel (6D)

     I had a very awesome maths class at Palm Beach Day Academy. We used some electronic devices to answer problems. It's cool! We had a picnic lunch at school and I love it. In the afternoon, we went to the lower campus. I became the audience and I found it cool to listen to music played by our APSKT friends. It was unforgettable!

     After school at my host family, I played lacrosse - one of the coolest game in US. While Nathanial was playing lacrosse, I played basketball with some grade eight students - CJ and Stoney. Their skills are good. It was a pleasure to meet them.

Day 8 - We've Got Some New Friends

Many thanks to teachers, parents, and students of Palm Beach Day Academy. They are really hospitable hosts. Our kids really enjoyed their time with their new friends. The host families spent the two evenings with our kids, taking them to various places and doing different interesting things like fishing, surfing, swimming. Our kids would love to spend more time here in US. ^_^


Let our students tell you more about what they saw and did.

Nathaniel Chan (6D)

Diary for Day 8  

     Today I was excited to visit Palm Beach Day Academy. It was really a great opportunity to meet those friendly and kind students. In the morning, we had breakfast at PBDA. There I met my new friend, Nathanial. His name is very similar to mine. How funny! After having breakfast, I took a lesson with Nathanial. It was a music class. We danced with some pop music and we sang 'We are the super star'. I had lots of fun.

     In the afternoon, we took a airboat ride at the Everglades. The airboat was speedy, and I like the drifting experience most. We saw birds and alligators. This trip is so memorable!

     After school, I went to Nathanial's home with his family. We played basketball at his home. It's really fun.

Charmaine Yuen (6B)

    My home stay host, Vanessa, has long hair, blue eyes and small ears. She is very friendly to me. Whenever I needed help, she would help me. She has a sister called Sedly. Although Sedly is older than Vanessa, Vanessa is taller than her. I followed Vanessa to have English lessons. I introduced myself in that lesson.
    After school, Melody and I went to Vanessa and Sedly's home. We played in the backyard. Their backyard was big and beautiful. They had two dogs called Ordo and Loula. I lived them very much. We played champlin, aeroplane, swing and slide in the backyard. I loved their house very much.

Cyrus Lee (6A)
Diary for Day 8
     I visited the Palm Beach Day Academy. When we arrived at the school, we went to the school cafeteria to have breakfast. Then we went to a classroom to have music lesson. We sang songs and danced with the students and teacher there. After the music lesson, we went to the indoor basketball court to perform. Many students came to our concert and they thought we played very well in the concert.
     Then we got on the bus and traveled to a place where we could see many wild animals. We ate lunch there and we had a PBJs - a sandwich with peanut butter and jam/jelly.
     Then we traveled back to school and we followed the host family. We played many games there and we had a good day with the family.

Day 8 - Palm Beach Day Academy

We made it onto the local newspaper!

check out the link. Palm Beach Daily News

The students all met up with their host families and we spent some time knowing them in their classrooms.  They then performed wonderfully. Afterwards we got to meet some alligators in the everglades by riding on an airboat.
The students now are all with their host families, we'll see them tomorrow mornign to see how they are doing. Please pray for their well being and good manners!

Day 7 - Easter Service @Amway Center

Wow, Easter service at the Amway Center, where the NBA team Orlando Magic play! The students were amazed at the sight of such an amazing arena. Then, they experienced a western style of worship through praise songs and prayer.

Next...travelling down to West Palm Beach.

Stories told by our student:
Justin (6B)
    Today we went to Amway Center for an Easter celebration. Many people came to this Easter celebration. It was fun to sing sings to praise God.
    Next we went on a bus ride to our next destination - Palm Beach. I look forward to go to beaches and meet my host family.

Day 6 - NASA Kennedy Space Center

Get ready to take off! Today our students were able to visit the Kennedy Space Center run by NASA. It was definitely an educational experience as the students were able to see an IMAX movie about the International Space Station. During lunch they were even able to meet a real live astronaut. This was followed by a bus tour where students got to visit the hangars and launch pads of the shuttles and rockets. The biggest surprise came when we actually got to enter the Launch Assemble Building where NASA had not opened it to the public in thirty years! It was a tall and spacious building that you would be at awe. There we even saw the real shuttle Discovery up close. We were lucky because the shuttle will be moved to a museum in Washington next week.

Interesting fact: The Launch Assemble Building that the students entered was the one where they filmed Transformers 3!

Oh and we finally got to see lots of Alligators too! (from a safe distance of course.)

Day 5 - Disney [Magic Kingdom]

Have you noticed that Disney World is just so big that we had visited less than a third portion of the whole resort? Here are more stories of our second visit to Disney.

 Ashley (5D)
Today we went to Walt Disney World Resort. I felt very excited. At first we went to Tomorrowland Speedway, where I drove a race car. Luckily we were all taller than 137cm. Otherwise, we would not be able to play this game. I find this game very fun because I could drive the car myself.  Then we played the Barnstormer. It was like a roller coaster but a slower type. Still we felt very excited about it. Then it was time for lunch. Today I did not eat any more french fries. I ate grilled salmon with something rice like called couscous. After that we went to Splash Mountain and Tom Sawyer Island. We felt very excited so today it was full of fun, excitement and happiness.

 Tiffany (6A)

Today we went to the Magic Kingdom in Disney. We had lots of fun there and enjoyed the day very much. At first, we went to the Adventure Land. We played a lot of games. I liked the Pirates of the Caribbean most. This was the game that we sailed through the Spanish Main with Join the Captain. The reasons that I liked it most is that:  1. There was a mini water splash.  2. Water bombs 'bombed' the water. 3. It was similar to a haunted house, but it was not too scary. If you ask me which game was my most favorite one beside the Pirates of the Caribbean, it would be the Splash Mountain. This was the greatest water splash ride that I've ever tried. When I first saw it, I felt nervous and scared. My heart was pumping quickly. However, the game was set in an animated and  relaxed tone so I was calm. 'Whoosh...Ah!!' The boat rushed down a 65-degree hill. We screamed out loudly and raised our hands up. Cyrus was too scared that he hid behind the seats.

Day 4 - Disney World [EPCOT]

We had loads of fun today at Disney! And here is the recap of the day by some of our students. Enjoy!

Janice (2A)
I was happy today because it did not rain and I have played many interesting games. I played Test Track twice because it went very fast like a roller coaster! Soarin' is wonderful too! I feel like flying in the sky. At lunch, I had a bowl of beef udon. It was a great day. 

Justin (6B)
We went to the EPCOT part of Disney World. EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. We went to different attractions. We went to Soarin', Nemo, Test Track, and Spaceship Earth.  Let me tell you about Soarin'. Soarin' is a famous attraction which we had to wait for more than two hours. This virtual flight is high in the mid air. I think it is boring because I hate flying around for watching the scenery. Next,we went to the Nemo ride, where we got on a car to check out the underwater world. It was fun because the pictures of Nemo and his friends were very realistic.  After that, we went to Test Track. It shows the making and testing of a vehicle. We need to sit on a car and pass different road tests. At last, we went to Spaceship Earth. It tells the history of human discoveries. As we came out, we played a series of games about the future. For example, we drove a futuristic car and raced against a villain. We had a good time today. I hope I can play more games tomorrow.

Breaking News: Help Desperately Wanted

Have you seen these scenarios at home?
- Keys, wallets and cell phones always 'mysteriously gone' and left-behind somewhere indeed.
- A used wet towel is mixed with dry clean clothes in the suitcase.
- Dirty smelly socks, snacks, and miscellaneous items spread all over the bed and floor.

One more scenario: - (Speaking bluntly to a server)   "I want more juice."    Period.
When the server is back with the drink, nothing is said from our kid to thank the server for the service and not even an attempt to make eye contact.

Maybe these scenarios won't take place at home because some of our kids are being served too well. But after these couple days of observations,  most teachers (and parent helpers) think that our kids desperately need a COMPLETE MAKEOVER!

Let us work together to help give our kids more opportunities to sharpen up their manners and basic life skills. Will you join us?

Day 2 revisited

Unfortunately our wifi access hasn't been the strongest so uploading the videos may take a little more time...

Here's a sneak peak at our students' performances. After 30 hours of transit and about 3-4 hours of sleep, I'd say they performed like professionals!

Click the link below:

USF Florida Quest: APSKT String Ensemble

Day 3 Dinner at Bubba Gump

 Have you seen the movie Forrest Gump? We took our kids to its signature restaurant - Bubba Gum. Kids had a taste of American cuisine here. After a long tiring day of adventure, kids enjoyed the drinks more than the yummy burger. You should have no trouble to predict what they wanted to do when they're back to the hotel. Right. Sleep.

Here's a short clip of their first "American" style dinner at Bubba Gumps

Many thanks goes to Mr. Cheng, who is also helping out to update this blog and taking many of the photos. We also have quite a number of photographers in our group giving us photos including Dr. Lee, Mr. Poon and Ms. Tang.

Day 3

Here is a recap of today's adventure written by one of our students - Jack Mau (6B)

  Today we went to the Islands of Adventure. There were many amazing games there. First we went to the World of Harry Potter. We had an amazing ride with the creatures in Harry Potter. Then we played the River Adventure of Jurassic Park. We rode on a boat to see the dinosaurs on the shore. They were terrifying. In the end of the ride, we came to a high fall and a huge splash. At last, we played the Adventure of Spiderman. Wearing 3-D glasses, we rode a roller coaster above the streets. It looked like we were really Spiderman and it was realistic. We had a fun time in the park.

Click the links below to see some of our fun:

River Adventure of Jurassic Park

Splash Zone Fun - Our kid's most favourite-free-simple-fun-with no lineup attraction at Universal Studios

 Stay tuned for more coverage on our adventures at Universal's Studios.

Day 2

Our kids are so amazing! With only a few hours of sleep and a brief rehearsal, they were able to give a good show. Our kids simply rocked and very much impressed our US friends.

USF is beautiful and HUGE!  As we strode along the promenade with tall leafy trees on the each side, we often found little cute squirrels chasing up and down. Our kids would then get very excited.

After the visit to USF, we got a taste of America by shopping at the world renowned Walmart. From fresh produce and groceries to everyday household items, kids were amazed at their bulk sizes and low prices.

But as you can see, road trips can be pretty......tiring.

We had a great feast at night. The Chinese restaurant that we went was located at the Chinatown area in Orlando. The food was tasty but our kids did not eat much for they had a late lunch earlier. I would say that the food is more than enough that it can feed us for two more days! Check out the leftover they had last night and you will realize how much gourmet we had.