So I thought I should start off this post with the “cast of characters” who will appear on these pages in the next few days, just so you can keep them all straight. (Although, if it makes you feel any better, I’m still working on some of the names myself!)
Youth Science Canada (YSC) Chaperones are: Caroline, Leanne, Spencer and Dustin.
BASEF Chaperones are: Cathy (me) and Ray
Montreal Chaperones are: Gus, Wilson and Barry
YSC students are: Adelina from Richmond Hill, Sabrina from Sherbrooke, Emma from Ottawa, Howard from Richmond Hill, Rui from Saskatoon, Anqi from Waskatoon, Chris from Calgary, Megan from Walkerton, Zeyu from Calgary, Nicholas fom Surrey, Vivienne and Janelle from Waterloo, Lauren from Oshawa, Dheevesh from Mississauga, Lexie from Grimsby, Linda from Vancouver, Grace from London, Reda and Alexandre from Quebec City, and Michael from Toronto
BASEF Students are: Janelle, Sarah, Yiquan and Ishan
Montreal Students are: Marianne, Katherine, Chloe and Meagan-Helen
Now that we have that all straight ….
Caroline, Dustin and I head over to the registration area, after the pre-requisite stop at Starbucks (you’ll note this become a theme over the course of the week!). We were among the first in line, so picked up the 40 or so nametags and registration bags and packages, then put the nametags and packages together, eat our breakfast, and await the arrival of the rest of the group.
Ray, Leanne and Spencer, in the meantime, herd the kids through the breakfast buffet in the hotel lobby, then have them gather their projects from their rooms, and make the long duct-tape laden parade from hotel to the convention centre. We are excited to see that none of our projects have any SRC violations (thanks Tom and Patrick back home!) and we can proceed to set up. I'm the only mother on the trip this time around, so I remind them all (for the first time!) to call their Mother's for Mother's Day. Delighted to hear that many of them already have!
Setting up always sounds like a simple process, but invariably, some of the group are done in half an hour, some take all day. We tell them all that we want to see them all in the convention centre lobby at 1 pm, regardless of what stage they are at. Nick has a media interview scheduled, so Spencer is to take him back to the hotel to do that on Skype.
Every year I threaten to bring a pedometer and actually measure how far we walk on set up day. Between several trips back and forth between hotel and convention centre, and then the circuitous route through the 24 projects over and over again, it’s a day for comfortable shoes indeed. And, truthfully, there’s a part of me that doesn’t really want to know how far I’ve walked .. it might just make you more tired than you already feel! Communicating with walkie-talkies, cell phones (and some days, it just feels like telepathy!) we manage to get all the kids projects up. As the students finish, they go find some other Canadian student to help.
At 1, there are only three projects that have not completed their safety checks, so we decide to all head out for lunch together, then a couple of the chaperones will head back with the remaining students to finish the safety checks after lunch.
Leanne and Dustin have scouted out the Panini Café. We wait about 25 minutes for tables, and wind up breaking up into five different smaller groups to eat. HUGE portions of salads, dip platters and paninis, and we are all totally stuffed. Leanne eyes one of the dip platters from another table, and the kids bring it over to us after they are finished.
After lunch, we head back to the hotel and find that the gang from Montreal have just arrived and are checking in. I introduce some of the chaperones from the other teams who haven’t met each other before (while all of the other chaperones except Caroline have come to ISEF before, they haven’t all come to the same fairs .. Ray and I have been here for five straight years. Caroline has been to a lot of Canada Wide fairs)
The Montreal group head out for lunch, Ray and I head back to the convention centre to do safety checks, and the other chaperones settle in to listen to presentations. We ask the students to sign up for a time slot, then have them present their projects for feedback and questions. There are no real safety check issues, so Ray and the students head back, while I head off to an Advisory Council meeting.
Every year I threaten to bring a pedometer and actually measure how far we walk on set up day. Between several trips back and forth between hotel and convention centre, and then the circuitous route through the 24 projects over and over again, it’s a day for comfortable shoes indeed. And, truthfully, there’s a part of me that doesn’t really want to know how far I’ve walked .. it might just make you more tired than you already feel!
Ray collects a student from each of the three Canadian Fairs, and they head back to the Convention Centre to make the Canada “Shout Out” poster. As part of the opening ceremonies, each country is announced, and a student representative carries the poster from their country on stage. It is one of the most colourful and creative segments of the entire week, and a huge favourite among the students.
The kids have now had a chance to look through their registration packages, and discover a special surprise for the week .. the Wednesday night host city dinner is going to be held at Universal Studios! They have closed the park to all but the ISEF delegates, and we’re going to have dinner and spend the evening there.
The students are very excited about the Pin Exchange. They are to have dinner there, so head off as a group across the street to the Marriott hotel for the evening. As a member of the IISEF Advisory Council, I’m invited to a special dinner at Wolfgang Puck, and allowed to bring a “date”, so Ray and I head over there.
We arrive back at the hotel at 9 pm, the same time as the kids do. Some of them got so carried away having fun mixing, mingling and trading pins that they actually forgot to eat! Leanne, Spencer and Dustin head to a supermarket down the street and return with bottled water, fresh fruit, chips, and cookies. We order some pizza from a place next door, and the party moves up to Leanne and Caroline’s room on the 6th floor.
Someone has to get up early in the morning to accompany Vivienne to the convention centre to complete some administrative paperwork connected with an AP exam she has to write later today. I offer to do that, if one of the other chaperones agrees to do my bed checks later so that I can go to sleep. Offer readily accepted by just about everyone else!
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