They're Off!

After all of the preparations, the meetings, the dinners and the flood of emails, the Ivy League Connection for 2009 is finally off and running. As of 10:11 this morning our six Cornell cohorts--all from Hercules High--took off under the watchful eye of Assistant Principal Graig Crossley and with Charles Ramsey in tow.

And for the record--and just so all of our other cohorts might follow their example--all of our cohorts were there on time and ready to go.

For those of our cohorts that may be reading this, I spoke with those that dropped you off and got them all to agree that they wouldn't take advantage of your absence while you're on the other side of the country. They promised that they wouldn't move your bedroom furniture out, they wouldn't take in boarders to occupy your rooms and they wouldn't change the locks while you are gone. And Justine--I made your boyfriend promise not to look too hard at any other women while you are away.

I understand that you've been spoken to at length about this wonderful opportunity to visit other schools while you're back there and I've read about some of the fancy restaurants and dessert shops you'll take advantage of and I've even read something about the classes you'll be taking. This is all well and good but don't forget that the main reason for your visit back east is so you can blog back to us to remind us how lucky you all are.

Tell us EVERYTHING!!! We want to know about the classes you're taking, the dorms you're living in, the weather, your classmates, the school--EVERYTHING. You are our eyes and ears and all that we will know about what you're experiencing is through your blogs.

And don't forget to take lots of photos. Post them with your blog or if you have trouble, please just email them to me. I'll clean them up, do some of my Photoshop stuff to them and then post them for you. You can tell me all about that great dessert you ate but when you send me a photo it really hits home.

For the parents, teachers and sponsors I ask you to read these posts and respond back to our kids. Let them know that you're paying attention to what they're writing. Ask them questions and develop an open line of communication. And Parents--feel free to respond to the postings from kids other than your own. We're all in this together except they get to have all of the good times while we sit at home nuking leftovers.

Lastly, to all of our cohorts that are representing our community, when you enter the classroom arrive early, move up to the front row so you're looking into the eyes of the instructor and get involved. Ask questions. Let them know that you exist, that you matter and that you're someone to be reckoned with.

And most importantly, HAVE FUN.