Greg Mortenson's visit to Fremont was long anticipated, by me, anyway. My class participated in his fundraising efforts back in the fall. We collected pennies to contribute to his Pennies for Peace campaign through Central Asia Institute, a non profit group with efforts to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
So last Tuesday, we went to hear him speak. We were one of the 25 classes invited to be in the audience. There were three kindergarten classes there, some intermediate students and the rest secondary school kids. I went with about 14 parent chaperones - yes, 14 in a class of 20. :) I have a very strong parent involvement, but that is another topic.
So, off we went. We left our school at noon arriving at the venue at 12:30, as instructed by the organizers. The program was scheduled to start at 1:00PM and end at 2:00. We were treated to an elementary school choir singing a song that Greg's daughter did in his Pennies for Peace promotional CD. The kids sang beautifully!
Then came many speakers as we await Greg's arrival. Greg came in late so there were many speeches from AAUW officers, school district big wigs, etc. This was a challenge for kindergarteners with short attention span. Can you imagine 5 and 6 year olds sitting through speeches? :)
Finally Greg arrived and he had to set up video and audio (to go with his presentation) with the tech people. The emcee had to call him to the stage. Finally he took center stage. Since my students knew of his work, they listened, in betwen squiggles. All in all they tried their best to listen and were patiently respectful.
Greg was presented with his check $34, 000 and some change. This was the total from all the pennies we collected.
We left at this point because the program was running long, maybe running late and it was dismissal time at school already. I was a bit disappointed but was glad that I had another ticket for an evening presentation. It will be all adults in the evening... as opposed to the afternoon with 500 students and 1000 or so adults.
So I went to the evening presentation and although the speech was the same, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening version. The delivery was great. He was more relaxed.
He was ceremoniously presented with the check in the evening (above photo was from the evening program). After his presentation, he signed a few books. He was all smiles, did I say more relaxed?
My books was the first ones he signed, First, Listen to the Wind and then Three Cups of Tea... and done with a smile.
I am glad that I attended the evening event as well. I am in awe of the man.
Comments (8)
Glad you got to see him. That's great that you all raised so much money for the organization.
Posted by Cindy Ruth | March 8, 2009 9:40 AM
Posted on March 8, 2009 09:40
Thanks for visiting, Cindy. I was amazed imagining how many pennies made $34K. Probably weighed tons. LOL
Posted by Eden | March 8, 2009 12:52 PM
Posted on March 8, 2009 12:52
That's awesome!
Posted by Amy | March 8, 2009 5:11 PM
Posted on March 8, 2009 17:11
Eden, I'm so happy you had evening tickets to the event as well. How impressive you took your class. What a collection of pennies! Wow.
Posted by Barb Cabot | March 8, 2009 11:06 PM
Posted on March 8, 2009 23:06
Thanks for this report. That is so cool that you got to see him and get your book signed. I really enjoyed "Three Cups of Tea."
Posted by Annie | March 9, 2009 7:40 AM
Posted on March 9, 2009 07:40
Eden, what a wonderful experience for you and your students. Three Cups of Tea is on my next-to-read pile.
Posted by María I. | March 9, 2009 9:42 AM
Posted on March 9, 2009 09:42
Eden - what a special opportunity you and your students had! Thank you for sharing this with us - I need to get a copy of the children's book for my granddaughter, too.
Posted by tourmama | March 10, 2009 4:26 PM
Posted on March 10, 2009 16:26
What a great experience! And cool that you got to go back for an "adult experience" later in the day!
Posted by Chiocciola | March 15, 2009 3:34 PM
Posted on March 15, 2009 15:34