Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Student Reflections - Ninth Grade ................................................................................................................ 6 Lidia Boguslawska: Red Cross Lifeguarding............................................................................................... 6 Kelsey Bohla: Denmark Trip ...................................................................................................................... 7 Hannah Boring: Denmark Trip .................................................................................................................. 8 Nbiko Bowry: Golf and Paper Engineering................................................................................................ 9 Zack Bozzo: Golf and Badminton ............................................................................................................ 10 Layla Bradshaw: West is Best and Campus Beautification ..................................................................... 11 Savannah Capdeville: Denmark Trip ....................................................................................................... 12 Donovan Capdeville: Campus Beautification and Trinidad Trip ............................................................. 13 Miko Dizon-Bumann: West is Best and Campus Beautification ............................................................. 14 Dominique Elizee: GHCDS Early Learning Center Internship and Hand Building in Clay ........................ 15 Carolyn Grimm: Denmark Trip ................................................................................................................ 16 Justin Guye: Botanical Gardens and Paper Engineering ......................................................................... 17 Olivia Hanley: Sailing ............................................................................................................................... 18 Kanai Hodge: Fretboard Fundamentals and Chess ................................................................................. 19 Quincy King: Botanical Gardens and Chess............................................................................................. 20 Lucy Klempen: Sailing.............................................................................................................................. 21 Atleee Kohl: Sailing ................................................................................................................................. 22 Natalia Kuipers: Legal Internship ............................................................................................................ 23 T’Moi Llanos: Firearm Safety/Marksmanship and Paper Engineering ................................................... 25 Ashton G. Patalidis: Red Cross Lifeguarding ........................................................................................... 26 Larissa Sweeney: Botanical Gardens and Campus Beautification .......................................................... 27 Rosei Simpson: Botanical Gardens and Campus Beautification ............................................................. 28 Kieran Walter-Sundaram: Denmark Trip ................................................................................................ 29 Student Reflections - Tenth Grade.............................................................................................................. 30 Maya Acosta: Crucian Gold Internship ................................................................................................... 30 Tyler Alexis: Firearm Safety/Marksmanship and Kayaking ..................................................................... 32 Chloe Camacho: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship ....................................................................... 33
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Angelo Capriola: Eat, Dance, Learn and Hand Building in Clay ............................................................... 34 Nia Coates: Head Start Internship........................................................................................................... 35 Samuel Cole: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship............................................................................. 36 David Conhoff: Colorado Trip ................................................................................................................. 37 Nayla Coureur: Crucian Gold Internship ................................................................................................. 38 Wylie Crowther: Drowsy Chaperone ...................................................................................................... 39 Nina D’Eramo: Drowsy Chaperone ......................................................................................................... 40 Dahlia Ferrol: West is Best and Hand Building in Clay ............................................................................ 41 Nadia Garriga-Cerni: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship................................................................. 42 Nyla Griffith: Vision Center Internship and Drowsy Chaperone ............................................................. 44 Alinah Hamed: Botanical Gardens and Animal Welfare Center ............................................................. 45 Ethan Hanley: Sailing............................................................................................................................... 46 Kiersten Hayden: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship and Softball .................................................. 47 Zac Herold: SCUBA Internship ................................................................................................................. 48 Tariq Molloy: Eat, Dance, and Learn and Kayaking................................................................................. 49 Georgia Porter: Island Therapy Internship ............................................................................................. 50 Dominic Pugliese: Chiropractic Internship .............................................................................................. 51 Nathan Rodriguez: Kayaking Internship.................................................................................................. 52 Mayah Russel: Drowsy Chaperone and Fretboard Fundamentals ......................................................... 53 Ethan Stamper: Crucian Gold Internship ................................................................................................ 54 Isaiah Stevens: Drowsy Chaperone and Badminton ............................................................................... 55 Lincoln Tang How: Tang How Brothers Internship ................................................................................. 56 Christopher Tirado: Golf and Badminton................................................................................................ 57 Vincent von Schilling: Plessen Medical Group Internship....................................................................... 58 Layalie Washshah: Senatorial Internship ................................................................................................ 59 Avery White: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship ............................................................................ 60 Student Reflections - Eleventh Grade ......................................................................................................... 61 Julian Bishop: Senatorial Internship........................................................................................................ 61 Webster Bozzo: Red Cross Lifeguarding and AP History Review ............................................................ 62 Ella Brownsdon: Eat, Dance, and Learn and AP US History Review........................................................ 63 Jade Bryan: Independent Videography................................................................................................... 64
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Danielle Coleman: Smash Book Journal and French Films ..................................................................... 65 Rachel Conhoff: Colorado Trip ................................................................................................................ 66 Sage Crook: Red Cross Lifeguarding ........................................................................................................ 67 Crystal Fahie: Buccaneer Internship ....................................................................................................... 68 Caroline Flavia: Massachusetts Trip........................................................................................................ 69 Jalen Frorup: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship and AP US History Review .................................. 70 Sarah Hardee: Sailing .............................................................................................................................. 71 Rose Kleeger: Women’s Coalition Internship and AP US History Review ............................................... 72 Joshua Morales: GHCDS Tech Internship ................................................................................................ 74 Timothy Nguyen: Moorman Aesthetic Center Internship ...................................................................... 75 Bianca Patterson: Fretboard Fundamentals and AP US History Review ................................................ 76 Jada Romer: Fretboard Fundamentals and AP US History Review ......................................................... 78 Alexandra Starr: Moorman Aesthetic Center Internship ........................................................................ 79 Laila Torres: Eat, Dance, and Learn and Kayaking Internship ................................................................. 81 Lindsey Wessel: New Orleans Trip and Petrichor Internship.................................................................. 82 Student Reflections - Twelfth Grade........................................................................................................... 83 Daniel Garriga-Cerni: Superior Court Internship .................................................................................... 83 Kira Griffith: AP Calculus Review and College Prep ................................................................................ 84 Shauni Lustig: Jolly Roger Internship ...................................................................................................... 85 Matthew Mays: AP Calculus Review and College Prep........................................................................... 86 Sylvana Montealegre Hutchins: Nelthropp and Low Internship and Volleyball Tournament ................ 87 Faith Snow: Art Farm Internship ............................................................................................................. 89 Elise Stamper: AP Calculus Review and College Prep ............................................................................. 90 Aiden Stevens: AP Calculus Review and College Prep ............................................................................ 91 Jonathan Thomas: AP Calculus Review and College Prep....................................................................... 92 Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................................... 93
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Introduction Interim. Winterim. Mini-mester. These are just some of the words used at top private schools around the country to describe a week-long program when students have the opportunity to pursue personal interests outside of the classroom in the form of internships, trips, and a range of skill-building activities. At Good Hope Country Day School, we call this week Mini-Gusto! In 2017, our 7th-12th graders:
Observed surgeries in operating rooms Became certified lifeguards Prepared rigorously for AP Calculus and AP History exams Shadowed attorneys in the criminal justice system Watched and discussed French films Perfected sailing techniques on 29ers Designed paper origami Hiked and biked across remote corners of our beautiful Island Assisted teachers in preschool classrooms Fine-tuned golf strokes and badminton swings Gave kayak tours in Salt River to tourists Applied make-up to create fake scars and styled 1920’s hair-dos Visited prospective colleges “Bridge-walked” in Denmark
And so much more! We hope the following Summary Reflections from 9th-12th graders give you a good sense of the amazing experiences that our students had during the 2017 MiniGusto—and the amazing life lessons those experiences provide. We are enormously grateful to everyone listed on the acknowledgments page who helped provide these remarkable experiences. Here’s to the 2018 Mini-Gusto!
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ex p l o r e !
Ninth Grade
Student Reflections - Ninth Grade Lidia Boguslawska: Red Cross Lifeguarding The Activity/Experience I did was the American Red Cross Lifeguarding course/certification. Things I liked most about this experience were CPR and First AID because in my opinion everyone should have basic knowledge in both. This simple knowledge can help save lives. I also enjoyed practicing scenarios on my fellow classmates; it was fun to be able to practice saving people in not an emergency environment. Something I tried for the first time was trying to save someone much larger than me. Webster Bozzo, one of my fellow teammates, took the course at the same time and, I got the privilege of practicing rescues on him. I also learned that a lot of bad situations can take place around pools. They are actually very dangerous and there are endless possibilities of how someone can get hurt. I also learned things like in lifeguarding it is important to go exactly step by step in the testing because even if in a real life emergency you wouldn’t pay attention to how you dive down to get the victim it is important to learn the steps because people can sue you if you do the steps otherwise. Something I learned about myself is that even I forget. I would watch my fellow classmates do complicated rescues and they would miss simple steps that at the time of me watching over them would be super easy and hard to miss. I would think in my head “Wow how could you forget that?” Then when I would jump in the water and do the same exact complicated rescue I would miss the same simple steps. Steps that were so simple that you forgot about them. Another example was when an instructor told a swimmer to drown close to the edge where you could just reach out your lifeguard buoy so they can grab it and you can pull them in instead of jumping in. I thought to myself, “How could you get that wrong?” Then later that week during testing the instructor did the exact same scenario and instead of putting my buoy out to help the person I jumped into the water to assist. Not that my way was wrong there were just easier ways of dealing with the problem. This is important to know about myself because I am human and everyone makes simple mistakes. Also maybe that I shouldn’t judge so harshly my fellow classmates. Watching others make a mistake can help you learn. I’m sure that if I were paying better attention when my classmates were making simple mistakes on complicated rescues I wouldn’t have made the same mistakes shortly after.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Kelsey Bohla: Denmark Trip For Mini-Gusto, I went to Denmark for a cultural exchange. I really liked having the opportunity to meet so many new people and being able to experience what everyday life is like in Denmark. I definitely did many things for the first time on this trip. It was my first time going to Denmark and also my first time staying with a host family. Staying with a host family was a little awkward at first, but I definitely ended up making a lasting connection with them. I also went bridge walking for the first time. Walking 60 meters up on a bridge was pretty incredible, though it was a little nerve-racking at times. I learned a lot about Denmark and its history through activities like bike tours and museum visits, and also a lot about what living there is like from the overall experience of staying with families. I learned to enjoy biking, a very important part of everyday life for Danish children. I learned that I am fairly outgoing and social when it comes to meeting new people. That is very important to me because it is one of my personal goals so I am very glad to be improving in that area. Going to Denmark was like a dream and I am incredibly happy I had the opportunity to go. The trip was amazing. I loved every second of it and the experiences I had were unforgettable.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Hannah Boring: Denmark Trip This Mini-Gusto, I traveled with a couple other people to Denmark. The “couple other people” I speak of consist of Carolyn Grimm, Kelsey Bhola, Savanna Capdeville, Kieran Walter-Sunderam and Ms. Graham. Our group was the VI portion of the Create a Citizen club incorporating Good Hope Country Day and our partner schools in Denmark and Ghana. Before our trip, I had a couple thoughts. I was excited to experience a new culture and meet new people, for I always find people of other cultures way more interesting than people from my country. Although I was excited, since it was my first time outside of the United States and I was going without my parents, I was nervous. It took us two full days of traveling to finally arrive at the Copenhagen airport. Our flight schedule consisted of three flights - St. Croix to Miami, Miami to London, and London to Copenhagen. From Copenhagen, the teacher picked us up and drove us to the school in Middelfart. The drive was long three hours, actually - but it was quite beautiful to look at. Well, it was beautiful to look at if we all weren’t asleep the entire time. At the school, our host family came and brought us back to their homes. My host student was a girl named Fie. She was extremely nice, and her English was very good, probably much better than a lot of the kids on island. From Wednesday to Friday, I went to school with Fie. Their school is bigger than ours, but not as big as my school in Maryland would be. We biked to and from school every morning - no matter the weather. I think that’s what I loved the most about Middelfart. On Wednesday, we biked back home but then went straight back to the school to meet with the other kids in Create a Citizen for a dinner. We all met in this tiny school kitchen to make a traditional Danish dish and a traditional dish from St. Croix. Although, our dishes weren’t really traditional - I made chili, Kelsey made spicy rice, and Kieran attempted Johnny Cakes. We call them Kieran Dough now. On Thursday, the Danish kids took us biking around Middelfart. They took us out of the school a couple hours early and showed us all the historic places in Middelfart. The weather ended up being really nice (around fifty degrees, I believe), so I biked most of it without my jacket. On Friday, we just hung out at home. Fie and I made a lemon pie, which was really delicious. I think the biggest realization about myself that I saw in Denmark was how I am still the social butterfly that I was in elementary school. I’m moving back to Maryland over the summer, and I am going to be attending Annapolis High School, which is the public school for Anne Arundel County. I’m extremely excited, but I’m still nervous about moving to a new school again. I’m still trying to decide if I will start as a sophomore or freshman, but I’m leaning towards just starting with my old grade and being the new transfer kid among hundreds of other new transfer kids than being the new transfer kid that’s a year younger than everyone else. I was only worried about being social and making friends. When I moved to St. Croix, I became extremely less social and less confident than I was back in Annapolis, so it was very
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade helpful for me to see than I still have my social personality in me. I guess I’m just more comfortable around large amounts of people than only a small few.
Nbiko Bowry: Golf and Paper Engineering The activities that I did during the course of Mini-Gusto were golfing at the Buccaneer (in the morning) and Paper Engineering (in the afternoon). During golfing at the Buccaneer I enjoyed talking to people I don't usually hang out with, getting to know my peers better, and learning that some of my peers (like Zack) are really great at golfing. During Paper Engineering I enjoyed hanging out with my friends, listening to Mrs. Baker’s different, yet interesting, pandora stations, and learning that I'm really good at following directions for origami. I did try something for the first time, which was golfing. I've watched golf sometimes and I understood the gist of how the game is played and what to do to win but some rules I wasn't very sure about. This experience showed me how hard it actually is when the pros make it look so easy. From my experience in Paper Engineering I learned that I’m fairly good at following origami directions, I’m very bad at folding and flying paper airplanes, and root beer floats are better than fanta floats. From golfing at the Buccaneer I learned that Sean goes golfing in his spare time, Zack is a natural born golfer, and I'm very bad at using a driver. I learned that the people that I might not talk to on a daily are really cool too, and that's important, because that allows me to view other people and certain situations differently in order to widen my friends list.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Zack Bozzo: Golf and Badminton This year’s Mini-Gusto was fun and I had a lot of fun doing it. Each day was different and I learned new things every day. From the first day being not hard, but a day to understand and get an idea of what and how we are doing our activities, to the last day of understanding how to play both activities and get really good to be able to beat the teacher;). I made new friends and learned what they can do and how good they were and the improvement they had in each activity.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Layla Bradshaw: West is Best and Campus Beautification I did West is best (hiking, touring, biking, yoga, and the pier) and Campus Beautification. I liked hiking and yoga. Everything I did was for the first time. I learned that Maroon ridge is where slaves used to throw themselves off of and that the Virgin Islands has yet to be decolonized. I learned that history is very important to me because it helps me understand where I come from and my future.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Savannah Capdeville: Denmark Trip I participated in a bike tour around Middelfart Denmark, a culture cooking dinner, a bridge-walking tour, and a million more little things that I've forgotten to mention. I enjoyed how this trip really took me out of my comfort zone. On St. Croix, I feel like I'm protected in this little bubble— and this is exactly what Mini-Gusto tosses you out of. The bridge-waking tour was of this sort. Bridge-walking in a nutshell is where groups of terrified civilians hike up to the top of a bridge and proceed to walk the entire length of the bridge twice. The Little Baelt Bridge had us standing at 60 meters high(roughly 197 feet). I'm terrified of heights and this tour had me feeling like I was on the verge of death. Somehow, I loved it. Danish jam is this wonderful entity unknown to American tastebuds. Thankfully, my Danish family introduced me to it. On my last night in Middelfart my host family and I went to two supermarkets searching for a jar for me to bring home. I learned, or at least reinforced that I personally love to learn and experience different cultures. I've learned many new things, some pertaining to language. I can now say some phrases in Danish and German. Weirdly enough, I know more German than I do Danish now. Some phrases I now know are "Mit navn er..."(my name is-Danish), "Ich heisse..."(my name is-German). Danish schooling is very interesting. Everything is more laid back.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Donovan Capdeville: Campus Beautification and Trinidad Trip For Mini-Gusto this year, my family and I decided to spend this time in Trinidad. We were leaving for Trinidad on Tuesday so I said, “Why not do a Monday activity at school and get some community service hours?” So, today as an afternoon activity, my brothers and I participated in Campus Beautification. We continued the mural on the exterior wall of the art building. I remember participating in Campus Beautification last year and beginning this mural. It had never been completed so I was glad we were still working on it. The mural contained many triangles of different colors and different shades. Today I had to wake up around 4:30 in the morning for my 7:00 flight to Trinidad. The first plane took us from St. Croix to Miami in about two and a half hours. In Miami, we had a 7-hour layover so we rested at the Admirals Club. At about 3 o'clock, my mom and I went to the mall to pick a few things, and then made it back to the airport for our flight. At 7:00 pm, the plane took us to Trinidad in 3 hours. Once we arrived, a taxi dropped us off at our grandmother’s new house. On Wednesday afternoon, my family and I went searching for vanities and sinks at different stores. There wasn't much we did that day. Although, Ashley Furniture Homestore did have some really soft mattresses (memory foam!!!). I didn't know mattresses could be so expensive though. We also stopped at a store so I could get a sketchbook, because I was planning to sketch a portrait during my vacation. Thursday morning, I started on my portrait. I had little time, because we were heading over to our aunt’s house for breakfast. It was my aunt’s birthday. Today we had planned to go to this bird sanctuary, to learn about different birds and plants of Trinidad. So, after breakfast my family and I drove for an hour into the mountains of Trinidad, up into the forest. There were many beautiful hummingbirds and many beautiful plants. I learned that in one species of bird, the males group and have a dancing competition (looks like the moonwalk). The female then chooses who dances the best and mates with them. Later we went back to my aunt’s house and had cake. On Friday, I didn't do much. We stayed home all day, so I got to work a lot on my portrait. Other than that, I went across the street to my uncle’s house and played video games. Although on Saturday, a friend who previously went to Country Day and moved to Trinidad, went zip-lining with us. It was really fun.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Miko Dizon-Bumann: West is Best and Campus Beautification This year, I did the activity West is Best, which included hiking to the Maroon Ridge Lighthouse, touring Frederiksted town, cycling with Freedom City Cycles, doing yoga on the beach, and jumping off the pier. I also did Campus Beautification, in which we painted murals around the campus. I liked painting murals, cycling with Freedom City Cycles, and doing yoga on the beach. I tried doing a headstand for the first time and it was successful. I learned more about the history of the USVI, how to do a headstand, and how to do other yoga stretches and poses. Something I learned about myself is that I’m more adventurous than I thought. This is important because with knowing that I’m adventurous, I now have the confidence to do more adventurous things.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Dominique Elizee: GHCDS Early Learning Center Internship and Hand Building in Clay My morning activity was Preschool Help and my afternoon activity was Hand building in Clay. I liked using the clay to make whatever I wanted and I also liked working with the little children. It was different from my usual day to day experiences. I learned that I have a lot more patience than I thought. I also learned that I like working with clay. I learned that I like art forms that I can express myself with like clay and this might be important because I can choose a career using an expressive art form.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Carolyn Grimm: Denmark Trip For my 2017 Mini-Gusto, I went to Denmark as a part of the Create a Citizen project. While there, I got to do many new things; for example, I went to a foreign country for the first time, experienced what a homestay is like, went on a biking tour, and walked on top of a bridge. This Mini-Gusto has been incredible and I’ve had many “firsts” - traveling abroad with friends, being immersed in a completely different culture, and eating Danish licorice (and no, it wasn’t good - not at all). Honestly, it’s hard to pick my favorite thing about the trip, because every single thing was new and exciting. I wouldn’t trade this adventure for the world. One thing that I was originally nervous about was the biking tour - before then, it had been several years since I’d ridden a bike, and I was afraid of falling. However, I faced this fear head-on and learned that it wasn’t nearly as daunting as I’d made it out to be. The entire Denmark trip was a huge step out of my comfort zone - traveling semi-alone, staying with people who were practically strangers, and trying crazy things, like bridge-walking. I learned, though, that sometimes it’s important to take a leap of faith and do something completely outside of your level of comfort. Overall, this trip was the most memorable experience of my life thus far, and I’ll never forget it.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Justin Guye: Botanical Gardens and Paper Engineering I did The Botanical Gardens Mini-Gusto activity and Paper Engineering for Mini-Gusto this year. I enjoyed Mini-Gusto this year. I've learned the importance of helping out in the community because of my work at the Botanical Gardens. We learned how to use different tools and also how plants can grow in different ways, as well as the importance of preserving our island. There were many different animals and insects that I had never seen before. I decided to help with the trail elective so that I can help to build something that will leave an impact in our school, as well as our island. Mini-Gusto was an amazing experience and I hope to be able to do something that is as much fun next year.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Olivia Hanley: Sailing The activity I did was a 29er Sailing Clinic with a coach, Francisco, from Argentina. “Fran” is a friend of our current coach, Santiago “Tino” Galan. Having Fran come up to St. Croix to help coach us was a wonderful experience for our team. Unfortunately, I was sick for a large portion of Mini-Gusto and was unable to sail most days. I most enjoyed the learning experience. In the few days I was at the clinic, I learned more about these boats than I have with any other coach we have brought down. I also enjoyed meeting Fran and adding him to my sailing “tool box”. Having connections is a big part of the sailing industry, and I now have one in Argentina! I tried many new things on the 29ers during the clinic. I tried new techniques, rigging styles, body movements. I re-rigged my trap bungee to my mast, instead of having it through the sides of the boat. I did so in order to keep the trap hook from wrapping in the side stay. One day, Fran sailed with me for about 30 minutes. He taught me about ooching which is when you rapidly move your upper body back and forth short and rapidly. This allows the boat to accelerate and to get onto the next wave. It's hard for me to just write three things I learned because we learned so much more than that. One of the most important things Fran was telling us was that when racing, look at the whole picture. Don't just focus on beating and messing with one boat because while you are doing that, you may be losing 5 or 20 more other boats. Another thing I learned was that during the starting sequence, it is so important for the crew (me) to be paying attention. I need to be looking around for other boats, looking for potential situations where we could be in the wrong. The starting line is so chaotic and it's just important to look past the chaos and focus. I learned 1) that I need to go to the gym, and 2) just to focus more. Sailing these boats is mentally and physically draining and it's hard to stay focused and keep your head in the game. If we can do that, it will give us a leg up on the rest of the fleet.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Kanai Hodge: Fretboard Fundamentals and Chess My Mini-Gusto activities included Fretboard Adventure and chess. At first I didn't want to do it because I didn't have an interest in learning the guitar. “Fretboard” is another name for guitar. We started the class learning about all twelve frets on a guitar. We also learned the G major scale and how to play an E minor and A minor note. What I found interesting about the frets is that you can play the same note in every fret but get a different sound depending on which of the twelve frets you are in. I also realized the guitar is a really hard instrument to learn. It takes a lot of time and practice. It also causes your finger tips to get sore from strumming the strings. Fretboard Adventures was quite interesting and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My afternoon activity was chess. Chess is a board game designed like an ancient war in my opinion. There are pieces that include a knight, a rook, a pawn, and of course a king and queen. My strategy when playing the game of chess is I think about attacking my opponent’s king as quickly as possible. Before I start my attack I always make sure my king is safe. In the beginning of the game I castle. A castle is one of my preferred moves. The objective of the move is to put my king in a corner surrounded by three pawns and a rook. There are many moves to win in a game of chess but the most important move is to put your opponent in checkmate. I enjoyed participating in chess because I won a few games against my friends, learned new strategies to win, and increased my competitive skills. The highlight of my week however was beating Mr. Loya at a chess game. Mini-Gusto week taught me that it’s not always bad to learn something new. For example, I never played a guitar before, and wasn’t interested in it, but participating in Fretboard Adventure helped me with focus and attention. Chess forced me to think strategically. Focus, attention, and thinking strategically are important skills I needed to improve on. I also realized that I have other talents outside of sports. These activities were important because it helped me be more aware of things around me and helped me be more open to new experiences which will make me a stronger student and person.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Quincy King: Botanical Gardens and Chess For my Mini-Gusto I had a dual activity schedule. My morning activity was volunteer work at the St. Croix Botanical Gardens with Ms. Coles. My afternoon activity was Chess with Mr. Barrant. For my morning activity our end goal was for us to build a new fern house. To do so we had to destroy the old house, build the new one, and put ferns in the new house. I liked breaking down the old fern house because it was satisfying to see it fall. In addition, I liked seeing the finished product because it made me feel proud of what I accomplished. For my afternoon activity we just played chess. Like I said in my journal entries, it was a peaceful contrast opposed to the hustle and sweat of the morning. I also liked this activity because of its low cost and ability to let me stay on campus for the remainder of the day. I have competed in chess tournaments before and I have also done manual labor with and without tools before, but my morning activity at the St. Croix Botanical Gardens allowed me to work with ferns which I have never done. In my morning activity, I learned the value of teamwork, perseverance, and listening. I improved my skills in these categories also. Chess also taught me perseverance, in addition to patience. It taught me patience because it could get annoying if the other person didn't play fast enough. It also taught me patience by making me force myself to actually think through many scenarios before playing. I learned, in my morning activity, that I'm not that good with audible directions. I work best if I see written directions instead. In chess I learned I get impatient quickly, I realize I have to work on this skill to succeed in modern-day America.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Lucy Klempen: Sailing For Mini-Gusto I did a full day 29er sailing clinic. One thing I really liked about this was the training we got, since we brought up a good coach from Argentina. We all got a lot of good training and it was good preparation for the upcoming regatta I had. I learned that I should be kicking boat on the downwind to make it surf a wave. I also learned that my tack line should be adjustable on the water in case I need to fix it depending on the wind conditions. Also, as a crew in heavy wind it's important to have your body weight out as much as possible for leverage, so when on trap I should be in my tippy toes and have my arms up by my chest while trimming the main. What I learned about myself is that I get really tired when I sail hard. This is important because knowing how much energy I have before an event will be useful. Knowing how much sleep I should get and food to eat to get the right amount of energy to be able to sail my best at regattas.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Atleee Kohl: Sailing Mini-Gusto is a great learning experience for everyone in the school no matter what topic you choose. I am so happy that Mini-Gusto still exists because without it I would not be where I am today, whether it's from a sailing point of view or a life point of view. This week was filled with fun lessons and hard work, all with the people that I love being around. Mini-Gusto helps many people try new activities and experiences and allows others to expand in one area. I did 29er sailing clinic for my Mini-Gusto and I learned so much about the 29er that I don't know what I would do without Mini-Gusto. We learned many different techniques for heavy wind and most importantly got my brother up to speed with skippering. One thing I really liked about Mini-Gusto this year was being able to hang out with my friends for a whole week; I also liked the fact that I could meet a coach all the way from Argentina so he could give us a taste of his Argentinian culture. The main thing I learned this week was how to properly prepare the boat to go out sailing. That being said it was pretty boring taking hours to rig our boat up before we went out on the water. One thing that I learned about myself was that I love sailing with different people to diversify your skills and be able to hear everyone's different techniques. It is also just fun to switch it up a little bit because in these boats it can get too serious and too personal really quick. It's also nice to get a break from your race partner every once in a while. Let's just say this: if you want to sail with someone you love then don't sail the 29er, whether it's your girlfriend or someone that you don't want to think you're a crazy lunatic.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Natalia Kuipers: Legal Internship For Mini-Gusto I interned at Beckstead and Associates. I organized papers, sat in on a deposition and went to court multiple times. I really enjoyed going to court and watching the lawyers in action. I found it really interesting to see what court is like in the real world. I quickly found out that it is nothing like Suits or How to Get Away with Murder make it out to be. It is a lengthy process and some cases last years. I found out that being a lawyer is 99% paperwork and research and 1% litigation. Most lawyers never even to go to court, which I found disappointing. Court is where all the action happens. I enjoyed meeting new people as well. I met people that I never would have had I not had this opportunity. I met Judge Brady, Judge Cannon and Judge Lewis. They were all very nice people and it was a pleasure to make their acquaintances. In every office I went into there was a bookshelf. A bookshelf chalk full of legal books. That made me extremely happy because I am an avid reader and it seems that to be a lawyer is to be a professional reader (among many other things, obviously.) Something new that I did was go to court, I had never been to court before. Another new thing I did was get a job. On Friday, I wasn't finished with what they assigned me so I asked if I could come back the next week and finish up. I felt bad leaving my work behind half done. Lo and behold, not only did they let me return, but they offered to pay me for my work. My first job, in a law office! Helping out on a real case! Needless to say, my spring break was well spent. I also might go back and work in the summer if they need my help. Working at the office and going to court kind of put a lot in perspective for me. I worked on an open case. An open drug case. I made a difference and even if it was just making the lawyer’s lives easier so they didn't have to go through all of the paper work themselves and could spend their time on something more productive, I feel like I made a difference and it feels really good. I went home everyday feeling like I had accomplished something, which made me happy. Working on this case really made all of my issues seem so small. There are actual drug lords living among us, here in St. Croix, like Pablo Escobar level drug lords (that’s a huge exaggeration, they aren't even near his level). That is so much bigger than anything that I’ve been worrying about lately. It honestly makes me see my petty little issues from a different angle. I ask myself, “Does it really matter?” Now, the answer is almost always no. I’ve always kind of had this fear that I would grow up, graduate high school and college and not enjoy what comes after, a career. That I’ll grow to resent my life because I’ll be stuck doing the same thing day in and day out. That I’ll lose my sense of wonder and drive and get cemented in a never ending cycle of apathy and that I’ll just wake up to get through the day and go to sleep again. I was scared that whatever I’ll be doing will be brainless, tedious work and I won't be challenged and engaged. That work will be like school, something you have to do and don’t necessarily enjoy. That my whole life will be endless boredom. I don't have that fear anymore. I had a job. A real job that adults get paid pretty well to do. So now, I’m excited for the future. I’m not scared to grow up, move out, get a job and be selfsufficient. Now, I know I can do it. That may sound pretty dramatic but I really had a revelation. This experience also really opened my eyes to things around me. For example, every time I see a cigarette boat I wonder if it has ever run drugs, and every time I hear the word “horse” I don't think of a solid-hoofed plant-eating domesticated mammal with a flowing mane and tail, used for riding, racing, and to carry and pull loads, I think of a kilo of cocaine, which I know is awful, but I don't really think it is.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade The world should not be sugar coated for kids, they should know exactly what’s happening around them, and now I do and I don’t think that's wrong or bad, I think it’s exactly what I needed. Exactly what everyone needs. A wake up call. I learned a lot this week about the law and about myself. I can’t thank Beckstead and Associates enough for having me. And I hope that I can continue my work with them in the future. Can I just go to law school, already?
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
T’Moi Llanos: Firearm Safety/Marksmanship and Paper Engineering The activities that I did were Firearm Safety and Marksmanship and Paper Engineering. Three things that I liked the most about this experience were shooting firearms, making paper airplanes and learning how to load firearms. I made origami for the first time and it was hard. All of my shapes came out wrinkled because I wasn't folding properly. Two things that I learned during this experience would be how to load and shoot firearms correctly. Something I learned about myself during this experience is that the best firearm for me would be the pistol.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Ashton G. Patalidis: Red Cross Lifeguarding I took part in lifeguarding and CPR and First Aid Training. My favorite activities were CPR training when we practiced on dummies and learning about all the rules of CPR. There were lots of rules but there are some really funny ones too, like when approaching an unconscious person you have to ask them if you may help or ask the people if you may help, but then they explained why you do that. Another one was approaching a drowning victim and how to safely handle them. I tried to talk to people and sort of be confident around people but I did not succeed. I learned that I have to be way more confident around people and how to handle situations where people's lives are endangered and how to handle it in the best manner. I also learned that I have to be more confident around people because my lack of confidence could mean someone could die. I know before I had be more confident but I did not know someone could lose their life because of me. I also sort of base most of my decisions on my emotions.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Larissa Sweeney: Botanical Gardens and Campus Beautification I did the botanical gardens and campus beautification. The two things I liked the most were drilling in the screws when we were making the fern pyramid and being able to make my own mural and being able to say I did it. I never knocked down a gazebo or painted on a wall without the teacher being over my shoulder. The first thing I learned in the botanical garden experience was how to properly hold a drill and put together a pyramid. In campus beautification I learned that you can make a shadow by putting pencil on the wall kind of dark and then put the paint color you want. I learned that I am actually a decent artist and it's important because now I will be more confident with my artwork.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Rosei Simpson: Botanical Gardens and Campus Beautification For my Mini-Gusto twenty seventeen I chose two community service activities. My morning activity was Botanical Gardens. We started off by tearing down the old building so that we could start building the fern pyramid. For my afternoon activity I picked Campus beautification, when we first started this activity Ms. Banwaree and Mr. Fletcher had the intention of us just touching up the old paintings and painting a few new things on the art building but after the first day Larissa and I got the idea to start a new mural, and we decided to do Thing 1 and Thing 2. We got to work right away and soon found that our imaginations started running wild and over the days we got more and more ideas. Instead of it being a week project it's turned into a rest of the year project. Some things I liked about the botanical gardens were being outside and meeting new people. Campus beautification is something I went into with a negative perspective. I just saw that we would be working out in the sun and heat and sweat but (this happens to me a lot) I was proven wrong. I ended up really enjoying it and the feeling it gave me knowing that I was leaving a mark, a visible mark. I was never such a great painter but doing this project was fun and I did a pretty good job. Campus beautification also brought me closer to my friend Larissa that I've known since 2nd grade. We shared laughs and tears of sweat when the sun was mid-day and beating down on us. I really enjoyed my choices for Mini-Gusto this year, even though I went into it with the idea that I was going to hate it. Normally I would choose an activity with minimal to no physical exertion. But this year I felt the desire to come outside of my comfort zone and try something else, and hey, I got a lot of community service so that's another plus.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Ninth Grade
Kieran Walter-Sundaram: Denmark Trip I flew to Denmark with Carolyn, Kelsey, Hannah, and Savy. I like meeting new people and experiencing the Danish culture the most. I tried Bridge Walking for the first time, and it was extremely fun and scary at the same time. I learned what it is like to live in Denmark and how it is to go to school there. These are both things that are very different than here in St. Croix. I learned that I would not like to live somewhere that is too cold. That is important when thinking about my future.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Student Reflections - Tenth Grade Maya Acosta: Crucian Gold Internship This year, for my Mini-Gusto experience I was given the opportunity to work as an intern for the popular local business, and my personal house of worship, Crucian Gold. Over the years I flipped past this very internship in the Mini-Gusto booklets but never had I imagined I would ever sign up for it myself. This year, however, with a little convincing, I made the commitment and scribbled down this activity and nothing else on my form. With luck, I got in alongside two of my good friends. Walking in the doors on that first morning at 8:47, an ambitious thirteen minutes early, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of apprehension. I wanted to not only survive but thrive in this environment but I was afraid I lacked the skills, as I had never had a job before, and I was afraid I would be overshadowed by all three of my fellow interns. This anxiety was quickly wiped away by the welcoming smiles I was met with and surrounded by for the next five days of my life. The girls in the shop were patient guides, and the guys in the shop were devoted mentors. They put up with us as we struggled and messed up, and helped guide us to success. We quickly immersed ourselves in the daily routine of a Crucian Gold employee. In the mornings we would each grab a plastic bin filled with all gold jewelry that was stored in the safe at night for security reasons, and then redistribute the pieces in their appropriate showcases. Then Ethan and I would head down to the studio in the morning to make fools of ourselves while we tried our hands at jewelry making. At first I was little worried about stepping into the studio with my five foot (on a good day) frame and spaghetti arms but I learned all you need to keep hammering at a piece of jewelry, even when your arms feel like they’re about to fall off, is a hard head. At one point, one of guys kept asking if I needed a break (he never asked Ethan that) but I insisted on continuing and didn’t let him see me struggle. Over the course of five day we made a handful of infinity knot rings, four Chaney pendants, a couple hammered bracelets and a few hammered, copper cuffs. A few of our pieces were even sent up to the shop to be sold! One day someone with a size five and a half finger and a love for Chaney will be walking around sporting jewelry that was hand made by yours truly. I was the only intern that wasn’t overly excited about working on making the jewelry, but by the end of the week I dreaded when twelve thirty would roll around, signaling the end of my time in the studio. I got along best with the guys down in the studio. Even when they weren’t asked, they were eager to show us new techniques. In the afternoon we would work our ways back up to the shop where we would engage in tasks such as measuring, tagging and bagging jewelry that had come up fresh from the studio. We also got the opportunity to decorate the display windows for St. Patrick ’s Day. On the fourth day, we got to stay late and participate in Art Thursday. This was my first time working out front with customers and I had to fly solo unlike the others who had had some time shadowing one of the employees. This was the part that I dreaded the most when walking into this experience. I was afraid I wouldn’t have the people skills like
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade my more social fellow interns but when the time came I didn’t crash and burn as I feared. In fact, one of the customers who was being helped by someone else ended up gravitating toward me. This was very surprising and very rewarding. I learned a few things through my experience as an intern at Crucian Gold. I learned things such as the difference between brass and silver (and embarrassing mix up if you’re working in a jewelry store), in the working world lunch can be as short as thirty minutes so either bring lunch or order ahead, and to never ask how far along a “pregnant” woman is. However, I also learned some broader, more valuable lessons that I’ll carry with me in life; it never hurts to ask for clarification and making mistakes is a part of the process of improving.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Tyler Alexis: Firearm Safety/Marksmanship and Kayaking For Mini-Gusto 2017, I did Firearm Safety/ Marksmanship and Kayaking. My overall experience was amazing. I really enjoyed spending time with my peers and building bonds. Mini-Gusto is a great time to create friendships between younger and older kids. It also helps 8th graders make friends in high school so the transition is easier. I enjoyed Firearm Safety the most because I never shot a gun before. At first I was scared because I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle the recoil of the gun. The recoil was not intense and got easier the more rounds you practiced. Overall I had a great Mini-Gusto and I hope next year is better.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Chloe Camacho: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship For the course of the week I participated in an internship at Caribbean Adventure Tours, under the supervision of Ms. Dunton. We learned what it takes to be a kayak guide and give tours to the visitors of the island, or just visitors to Salt River. To work there you not only have to have mental awareness of your surroundings to protect yourself and others, but you have to know about our island and how to care for it; and the kayaks of course. Ms. Dunton gave us different pieces of paper that had different parts of the whole speech you would give if you were to lead a tour. The guides in training learned about the different bays and beaches and their significance to our island and culture as a whole. For example, the history of how Sugar Bay began is the reason we don’t have a flowing river running through St. Croix. During the sugarcane era, there was an excess of sugar and molasses. Absentmindedly, they dumped all the molasses into that bay. Eventually it got clogged up and the river stop flowing. Now the water gets really shallow as you head into the bay because there is a 5 ft. buildup of molasses. I liked that we were not supposed to memorize the information word for word. We had to give a complete summary of the importance of each bay, but we were not supposed to sound like we were reading out of a text book. The main message while giving tours, is to be engaging. If you just kayak around and leave your guests in the dust or barely talk at all, they probably won’t be happy, leave a tip, or recommend the shop to their friends. Another big thing that we learned and that I liked was that Ms. Dunton was teaching us the responsibility of working at the shop. Anything we do on a tour reflects positively or negatively not only of the shop, but on Ms. Dunton. We were shown how to put kayaks in the water, take them out, clean them, and put them away on the rack. Since there were a lot of tourists during the week, there were actual scheduled tours. Everyone who did the internship had the opportunity to help Sophie lead a tour. I thought this was cool because I’ve never shown given a tour of any kind to someone who is completely new to the Caribbean. I learned how sometimes you just have to relax and that you have to think on your feet. No tour is going to be the same. You’re always going to be faced with a new challenge to face and overcome. Maintaining your cool is key. Most people are new to kayaking so if you freak out they might just lose their minds. I learned that physical toughness is just as important as mental toughness. Anyone can kayak in the ocean, but not many people can lead and teach others about the history of our island.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Angelo Capriola: Eat, Dance, Learn and Hand Building in Clay During the week of Mini-Gusto I participated in two activities. My morning experience was “Eat, dance and learn”, my instructor was Ms. Capriola. What I liked the most about this experience was the variety of activities it included. We started each day learning and helping prepare a traditional breakfast or snack from a Spanish speaking country. Some dishes prepared were huevos rancheros con tocino and fruits from México, churros con chocolate caliente from Spain, gallo pinto with tostones from Costa Rica, bocadillos de queso y jamón from Perú and arepas con queso from Colombia. Besides enjoying a tasty breakfast every day, I like the fact that some of the instructions were given in Spanish. The second part of the activity was the most fun to me. It was an hour of Zumba. Although I am not a skilled dancer, I had the opportunity to practice some Latin dance steps while working out. For the last part of the activity we watched a Spanish series called “El Tiempo entre costuras”. It was entertaining and interesting at the same time. The story took place in Spain in the 1930s and 40s during the Spanish Civil war and the Franco dictatorship. I wish we had time to see more of the story, which has actually 17 episodes. Some of the themes were hard work, family and social struggles. In my afternoon activity I made a couple of clay items. The first two days we learned some basics about clay. Monday we learned how to make coil pots and Tuesday we learned how to make pinch pots. After we learned the basics we started to use our imagination to make different things. I made a fist with a stand and a Roman eagle that even had the initials SPRQ on its chest. I did not think that I would be very good at making things out of clay, but I surprised myself. I learned that I am much more artistic and creative than I thought. I was and am proud of the works of art I made.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Nia Coates: Head Start Internship Mini-Gusto 2017 I participated in the Head Start Program, a full day experience at the Herbert Grigg Home for the Aged. To be completely honest I didn't even know that there was a preschool at that site that consists of about ten classrooms with 20 kids in each. The thing I liked most about my Mini-Gusto experience was the children. The age group I worked with was two yeasr to five years old, so at the point they are just full of energy and have the biggest attitudes in the world. When I walked in the first day it really didn't take any time before the children warmed up to me and knew my name. Secondly I learned that in the Head Start Curriculum they have a daily routine that the children follow that contains when the children eat, sleep and learn. Also the program is a big help to low income families-it provides the children with a good education and three meals a day, five days a week.
What I learned about myself is that patience is a key factor in life, no matter what situation you are going through. I said patience because the children at Head Start were amazing but at the same time the age I was working with the children are full of curiosity so when you tell them “no” or “don't touch that” they do the opposite. That's why I give teachers of any age a huge thanks because we are not easy sometimes. Although working with children is truly a blessing.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Samuel Cole: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship During this Mini Gusto of 2017, I enrolled in a kayaking internship that was run by Ms. Dunton. We were in charge of morning and afternoon tours of the kayaking company: Caribbean Adventure Tours. Most of my friends were doing this, so I was really excited to spend this experience with them. We got to learn about the history of Salt River Bay including numerous Indian tribes and Columbus’s landing. Some things that I also learned about are the wildlife and plant life in the Bay. Pelicans eventually go blind from diving so much for their food, so they eventually die of starvation because they cannot look for food. Mangroves have a special yellow leaf called the “sacrificial leaf” on every branch of the mangrove tree. These leaves eventually fall off and go into the water to filter the mangrove roots. During this experience I learned that I can be more of leader if I try and this is good because with my leadership skills I can help the community and make it thrive with greatness.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
David Conhoff: Colorado Trip The year of 2017 I went up to Colorado to improve upon the art of skiing and to visit my auntie and uncle for Mini Gusto. The one week journey of my Mini Gusto was filled with many wondrous experiences. One of these experiences included spending time with my family. Either on the slopes or off, my family and I always had a great time together. With this world being filled more and more with electronics and people glued to their phones, it was nice to take a break and share this time with family. Another experience I enjoyed during my Mini Gusto was learning how to do jumps while skiing. This was a lot fun. Even though I wiped out so many times it was exhilarating! Apart from jumping and spending time with my family, I got to try a new food. It was called Mochi. It’s a Japanese dessert that contains a rice pudding shell on the outside with an ice cream filling on the inside. The first time I tried Mochi, I preferred the ice cream to the rice pudding shell, but the dessert grew on me, and I found that I enjoyed it. Throughout this Mini Gusto experience I learned that I had more confidence inside me than I knew I had before. This is important because it shows that Mini Gusto achieves somethings deep within us and it gives us the opportunity to try new things. This is why it should be kept at our school for years to come; however, I feel that the journals and reflections should be removed because they take the joy out of the other wise fantastic experience.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Nayla Coureur: Crucian Gold Internship For Mini-Gusto 2017, I worked as an intern at Crucian Gold with three other sophomores. One of them actually attends the AZ Academy. What I liked the most was the warm environment. Everyone was friendly and inviting. I also liked both working on the floor (in the store) and in the studio. Both of these seemed to suit my personality. The idea of being trusted around the jewelry was exhilarating. That was one thing about the workers. Everyone trusted each other, and I liked that. There were many “first-times” both in the store and in the studio, but the one that might be my favorite was shaping the chaney. In the second floor of the studio, there was a diamond studded wheel that we used to make different shapes. The contraption was made by Nathan Bishop himself. I learned so many things that listing just 3 wouldn't cut it; however, I learned how to make several pieces of jewelry. In addition, I learned new social skills that were helpful for working in a business environment. This may not be important everywhere, but the workers at Crucian Gold are all about double-checking each other’s work. This little, but big thing reminded me that not everyone is perfect and we all make mistakes. After the week, I learned that I’m a good salesperson and I socialize with new people pretty well for a shy person. I’m focused and have a drive to get tasks done. This was important for me to realize because I can apply these skills to my schoolwork.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Wylie Crowther: Drowsy Chaperone During Mini-Gusto the activity I chose to do was preparing for The Drowsy Chaperone. What I liked during this experience was my chance to improve my makeup and hairstyle skills so I will be able to assist with tasks like that backstage. I also got to help organize the backstage area of our theater by building new shelves. During this activity, I curled my hair for the first time and really liked it. I learned new makeup techniques and how to build shelves during this activity.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Nina D’Eramo: Drowsy Chaperone For my Mini-Gusto activity I did “Drowsy Chaperone Prep”. Truth be told I wanted to do a different activity, but I didn’t turn in my form on time, or at all, to keep things honest. Nevertheless I was appreciative that Ms. Thatcher let me do this activity and not getting my first choice holds some value in that I once again learned the importance of deadlines. Anyways, I was fine with doing this activity because I enjoy theater and “The Drowsy Chaperone” is the second school production I am participating in. I also enjoy building and sewing so making sets and costumes didn’t sound all that bad. I think the most enjoyable things were hanging out in a relaxed environment with my friends, watching “Hairspray”, a musical I had never seen before, and creating costumes. I also got to try some new things like building a shelf and making a friend look old with makeup. However, it wasn’t all enjoyable. At times I found myself struggling to get along with some others in the activity so I definitely had to apply cooperation and patience daily, I also learned that hot glue can take the stretch out of fabric sometimes. All in all it was an enjoyable experience and was unlike what I’ve done for past Mini-Gustos, and like all experiences I think I grew in the way that I pushed my personal boundaries of creativity and innovation. (Unfortunately I took no photos during my Mini-Gusto.) As always I have had another enjoyable week of Mini-Gusto at Good Hope Country Day School and look forward to my spring break.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Dahlia Ferrol: West is Best and Hand Building in Clay This year for Mini-Gusto I participated in a morning and afternoon activity. One being West is Best with Ms. Schill, and Hand building in Clay with Ms. Biddle. West is best consisted of many different activities on the west side of St. Croix such as hiking, historical museum tour, biking, yoga, and a day at the beach. Hand building in Clay consisted of making anything you want out of clay and then glazing it. On the first day of West is Best we hiked up to the Ham’s Bluff lighthouse. The hike was very long but I got to learn about the different plants we came across and the beautiful view of the ocean when we finally got to the top was priceless. On the second day we went on a tour to the Fort Frederik Museum, which was built in the 18th century by the Danish government to protect St. Croix against invasion of European powers, smugglers and pirates. There I learned the fort gained its status as a National Landmark because of the role it played in two events that eventually led to the end of slavery in the Virgin Islands in 1848. In 1848, Emancipation Revolt ended slavery in the Danish West Indies, but started a 30-year period of serfdom based on contract labor that guaranteed continuing control by plantation owners. On the third day we went biking which I enjoyed the most. The very next day on the beach, we did some relaxing yoga to stretch the bones from biking for hours the previous day. The final day was a nice day at the big dock. I liked expanding my knowledge about St. Croix, as I got to learn a lot of new facts. I also liked making my own pottery. I made a coffee mug, heart shaped bowl, sugar mill, and a turtle. On this experience I tried yoga, hiking, and making things out of clay for the first time. Overall, I enjoyed my Mini-Gusto week. The week was one to have fun and learn more about the history of my island.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Nadia Garriga-Cerni: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship For my Mini-Gusto experience 2017, I chose to train to be a kayak tour guide. This entailed reading and learning about Salt River, leading tour groups, and cleaning up after every tour- just like what a real guide would do. I have not kayaked since I was around seven years old, so this was a fairly new experience for me, and on the first day, I did have a little trouble trying to control the direction of the kayak. Because of this, Ms. Dunton decided to give me a little bit of help and join me in my kayak. After a little while I got the hang of it, and Ms. Dunton and I broke off from the group and she gave me my own little tour of Salt River while Sophie gave the rest of the group their tour. On my personal tour, Ms. Dunton taught me everything there is to know about Salt River; the different types of mangroves, seaweed, and jellyfish, along with stories of how the abandoned boats got to be where they are now. I even got to hold a real jellyfish for the first time! It was a very informative and fun day for me, along with the other tour guides and morning and afternoon kayakers. Salt River Bay is made up into five different bays along with five different beaches. So, over the course of the week, during either the morning or afternoon group we kayaked over to each of the bays along with one beach, where we stayed and swam for a while. We did not quite make it to every bay or beach, considering our time frame. One day, we hiked up to the Salt River Bay National Park Museum, where we learned about the development and changes of Salt River, along with the history of the different groups of native peoples and the landing of Columbus on our island. It was an educational visit for all of us, as I learned that not all of the bays in Salt River are natural, one of them is actually manmade- Bioluminescent Bay. I had a lot of new experiences during the week and so much fun that I do not think I could pick one thing to be my favorite. I loved making new friends and spending time with people I might not have if I had not had this experience. I loved being able to try something new and kayaking for one whole week, finding new places that I didn’t even know existed. Salt River is a beautiful place, and I grew to love the new sightsthe water, mangroves, and the newly discovered bays and beaches. We even saw a sea turtle one day! Because I was able to have this experience, I realized that I loved being out on the water and discovering more things about my island that I have lived on for so long. I also realized that I am able to speak to groups of people without being afraid, a skill I did not have before this experience.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade I am so glad to have chosen this Mini-Gusto experience, as this one was a great one. For future MiniGusto experiences I hope to learn as much and maybe even more as I did this year‌ I truly believe the idea of the MiniGusto experience to be quite influential, educational, fun, and unique for students at the Good Hope Country Day School. It is one thing that many other schools do not possess, and I believe it to be pertinent to our education. From my experience this year, I found out many things about myself and learned many things I did not know before about my island and being a tour guide, and I hope to get a job at Caribbean Adventure Tours one day, so I am able to discover even more new things.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Nyla Griffith: Vision Center Internship and Drowsy Chaperone I spent the Mini-Gusto week working as an intern at The Vision Center in Sunny Isles, and doing Drowsy Chaperone Prep. In the internship, I took a glimpse into what it’s like to be an optometrist, and in the afternoon activity, we prepared for the upcoming spring musical. From the very first day of the internship, I knew that I was going to love it. First of all, I was already interested in the medical field but just not completely sure if it was where I wanted to take my education. So this was a good chance to observe a part of the medical field. I loved being able to see patients coming in and checking the health of their eyes. I really liked using the machines to test eye pressure and vision, and I loved work with the staff. They really made me feel welcome. For Drowsy Chaperone Prep, I enjoyed spending time with people who loved music, dance, and Disney as much as I do! We had a blast while still getting work done. Normally I would have picked an activity that I was sure that I would feel comfortable in. However, this year I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways so I decided to pick an internship. I learned a lot of things during this experience. I learned so much about the eyes in only 5 days! I learned about glaucoma, keratoconus, myopia, diabetes, cataracts, high blood pressure, and even how NASA collaborates with ophthalmologists to prevent blindness in space! Did you know that after 2 months in space, damage happens within the eye that can cause potential blindness? Well I didn’t until this week. This is one of the many reasons why planning a trip for astronauts to Mars is very difficult. For Drowsy Chaperone Prep, I learned a lot about what goes in behind the scenes of plays and musicals. The crew and cast alike have a ton of work to do! I’m a very shy person so going out of my way to communicate with people I don’t know is a challenge. During this experience, I made an extra effort to open up so I could work better with the staff and enjoy myself while learning. I realized that my work on shyness is paying off and it’s easier for me to speak to people about confidently. In conclusion, I had a great Mini-Gusto experience that was both fun and educational. I learned about both eyes, and myself.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Alinah Hamed: Botanical Gardens and Animal Welfare Center For this year’s Mini-Gusto, I had two activities to do for the week. In the morning, I went with my group to the St. George Botanical Gardens and in the afternoon, I went with a different group to the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center. At the Botanical Gardens, my group and I had to remove their old fern gazebo and replace it with a fern pyramid. It was a difficult task but was a lot of fun to do. At the animal shelter, we did not do as much I did at the Botanical Gardens. We interacted with animals that they had. We gave baths to the dogs and we also gave them walks. It was amazing seeing how different and unique each animal is. At the animal shelter, I had to clean the laundry room and I helped make new toys for the animals out of old t-shirts. I really liked removing the old fern gazebo. It was really fun. Just looking at the before and after pictures that we took feels great. It feels amazing because I can look at the new fern pyramid and say I helped build that. I liked how everyone came together to make something great. Everyone had something to do and every time we went to the Botanical Gardens we all did a little something that later helped build something amazing. I remember times where we made a mistake but we fixed it together. The fact that we made a mistake did not discourage us; in fact I believe that it encouraged us to do better. I really liked being with the animals. My favorite picture is of a cat at the animal shelter. This cat was really friendly and a great animal. For the first time, I did some construction work and some plumbing. It was very different from building arts-and-crafts projects for school. We built an enormous fern pyramid! I enjoyed being able to try this for the first time. I had to help remove a fern gazebo and then replace it with a large fern pyramid. I learned a lot from this experience. I learned how remove a fern gazebo, how to do some construction, and how to do some plumbing. We did not do much plumbing work. It was really what to use to connect pipes and such. We had to run a pipe from the water source at the Botanical Gardens to the pyramid and have the pipe going up into the air so the ferns can receive water in the pyramid. I learned that it is okay to make mistakes. What matters is what I do about the mistake. Mistakes help people grow and your brain grows as well. No one is perfect and mistakes are a part of life. It is what makes us human. I learned many things about myself during this experience. I learned that I should not be afraid to try new things. I also have to stop trying to do everything by myself and it is okay to get help. It is also much easier to work with some help. Working with others can help in many different ways. You get a fresh pair of eyes on the project that can help you improve the project. I learned that I do not need to be so shy all the time. I just need to take initiative and just do it. I need to stop being afraid. This experience really helped me learn this about myself. All of this is really important because if I had not learned these things about myself, I would not have been able to grow as a person.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Ethan Hanley: Sailing During Mini-Gusto 2017 I took part in a sailing clinic. The coach was my daily coach’s friend from Argentina. I really enjoyed this clinic because it allowed me to improve greatly on my 29er skills and it allowed me to further understand the rigging and theory behind skiff and apparent wind sailing. The thing that I really enjoyed most about it was that I made a lifelong connection with someone who is very knowledgeable in the field and I will be seeing him sometime again for sure. Although sailing 29ers isn't “new� to me because we have been sailing them for almost four months now, I felt like I was sailing a completely different boat when we got the technique and proper handling down. I felt like I was no longer riding a tipsy piece of fiberglass but rather collaborating with a beautiful beast on top of the water. The first and probably most important thing that I learned (about the boat) is that you can never get enough vang on. I also learned a lot about the physics of apparent wind and how to use it to better your speed and efficiency in sailing skiffs. Initially, when we got the new boats, I wasn't too interested in pursuing a campaign in them, but as I felt the gain in control and understanding, a campaign in 29ers or skiffs in general is something that I am fairly interested in. Now it's just a matter of finding the money.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Kiersten Hayden: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship and Softball This year was my first year to participate in the annual “Mini-Gusto”. Almost a year ago, I got the privilege to call St. Croix my home, before Mini-Gusto I did not know that this island had this much history. My morning activity was kayaking with Ms. Dunton. The first day, she took us to Sugar Bay. I had never been here, so seeing the mucky water was a little confusing to me. She told us, that the water is so mucky because of the mangrove trees; she said that they produce molasses and it clogs up the water so it stays mucky. The mangrove tree also produces a yellow leaf, and it is called the sacrificial leaf and it carries the weight and when it is done it falls off. The second day, she told us that white out was made on our island. She said, “There was a woman, and she had 2 sons that went to Country Day. She did not have a lot of money, and the boys struggled in their common core classes, so she made a paste and put it over the boy’s mistakes and called it white out.” These two facts that she taught us really stood out to me, because I never knew how much history St. Croix has. This activity was exciting; it was more than just having fun it was getting to learn about the place that we call home. When we would return back from kayaking for the morning, everybody would help and then we would all gather around and play games. GHCDS has taught me how their school is like one big family, and I am very grateful for being a part of this family. My afternoon activity was softball. I played softball a few years ago, until I moved. Even when I moved I still worked on my skills. I got the privilege to work with a man named Gato Poche, who was a professional baseball player. Between hitting, running bases, learning to work every position, and catching he has molded me into a mindset that I can do anything I set my mind to. Every afternoon, we would run around Sion Farms field twice, after that we would run the bases. He told me that “the key to softball is to be fast.” After we would run, we would do 4 sets of hitting, with a regular pitch, an under armed pitch, and bad pitches. I had a bad habit of putting all of my weight on my front leg instead of my back, so when I would bat I would launch forward. So to fix that habit, he took me to the fence, told me to get in position and he started to throw balls and told me to only use my upper body weight. This skill really helped me, safe to say I do not launch for balls anymore! He prepared me to play first base the most, to stay down, charge the grounders, and once you tag the bag to step off. Today for GHCDS I play first base. I work with him every Sunday for a few hours, to work on things more outside of school practices. This week for Mini-Gusto, I was able to learn new things about the island and about Softball. I cannot wait to do it all over again next year!
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Zac Herold: SCUBA Internship For my first ever mini gusto at GHCDS, I decided to intern at S.C.U.B.A where Molly Buckley gave me the option of either working the retail side of it and learning about the shop or working on the boat. The choice was not very hard and I opted to work on the boat. Most of my responsibilities entailed loading and unloading the gear from the boat, rinsing the gear after the dives and aiding the Dive Masters and Captain in any way they needed me to. Other than that I got to have fun on the dives as well as hang out with the divers. I liked how welcoming and nice the crew were. Although they had me at work nonstop, there was always time to joke around and have fun as well. Also I got to have a lot of insight as to what it's like being a dive master. I learned a lot about diving while working with the dive masters every day. The two biggest techniques I got to work on were my breathing and my buoyancy. Most of my learning how to breathe better and more efficiently while under water was based off of me concentrating on keeping a calm, slow breath and watching the other divers. The buoyancy was a bit trickier. I had to narrow down how much weight I needed and then I needed to get better on knowing when and how much I needed to inflate and deflate my BCD. Something that I had mostly already known about myself but this confirmed is that I want to work on a boat. I think I had just as much fun working on the boat as well as leisurely diving in the water. Even though it was hard work it was really fun and I ended up staying an extra week because of how much I liked it and how much the crew liked me.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Tariq Molloy: Eat, Dance, and Learn and Kayaking During Mini-Gusto I did two activities: Eat, Dance and Learn with Ms. Capriola in the morning and Kayaking with Ms. Dunton in the afternoon. One out of three things I liked most about this experience is cooking all the different Spanish dishes. One day I made churros with lots of sugar. The second thing was Zumba with Ms. Capriola. It taught me some Spanish dance moves. The third thing was having fun watching someone's kayak flip while my partner and I paddled and help them get their stuff. I also watched a Spanish series called The Time in Between. In this week I learned how to dance, learned some Spanish and I learned names of bays in Salt River. Something I learned about myself is I know how to cook.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Georgia Porter: Island Therapy Internship For Mini-Gusto this year, I decided to do an internship at Island Therapy Solutions, located in Gallows Bay. I learned many different things regarding the fields of Psychology and Special Education, especially. I had to go in for HIPAA training, which stands for Health Insurance Portability of Accountability Act of 1996. It’s a legislation that provides data privacy and protection of safeguarding medical information. Basically, I signed an agreement that I would not disclose any personal information about the clients I worked with or the program I worked in. After HIPAA training, I went into the ABA STEP Program, which stands for Applied Behavior Analysis Strategic Enrichment Transition Program. The goal of the program was to help individuals with autism gain independent living and employment skills. In order to do this, staff members would create a list of daily tasks they would have to complete, like sweeping, folding laundry, or making copies, and keep track of their progress. We would record how long it took them and how many times we had to help them or prompt them to do something. After they completed their daily tasks they would have reinforcement time, like playing video games or board games. And usually after that, we would do stimulating things like card games or puzzles to keep them interested and keep their mind working. We did a lot of different, educational activities and I learned so much while I was there. I took in a lot of information over the course of the week, especially about behaviors and autism specifically. For example, I learned that no one can change behavior. But, you can change how often it happens and why it happens. An example of this is when a child makes a certain noise when they want a toy. You can teach them other ways to express that they want that toy, but you cannot get into their mind and prevent the child from making the noise. Also, I learned that there are four reasons why any human participates in behavior: access, attention, escape, and self-stimulation. All of this information was extremely helpful to me throughout the week and I’ll carry it with me throughout the rest of my career in that field. This week was an amazing experience for me. I always thought that I wanted to work in the field of Special Education and Psychology, but I think this really sealed the deal. I discovered that I wanted to work with children who are intellectually disabled over the summer when I worked with ITS at my summer camp. But I got the experience to work with adults as well, and now I’m even more excited to further my studies in Special Education after high school. I’ll always be very thankful for my experience with Island Therapy Solutions.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Dominic Pugliese: Chiropractic Internship During the Mini-Gusto week I had the great opportunity to intern at “Williams Family Chiropractic”. During this week I learned how to run a successful medical establishment. I learned how to work with Virgin Island insurance policies. I also got to view and diagnose X-Rays and MRI’s from patients from the practice. I also got to work hands on with the doctor. Some things that I enjoyed were the positive and humorous cloud that would mist among the office. I also enjoyed the time that Dr. Jay would spend to make sure I understood a term or how to operate a system or how to file a certain insurance file. I also got treated on some occasions when the office was empty (very nice). During this experience I learned how to classify dimensions and skeletal systems of the body. I learned how to work with a program called Chirotouch. Something that I learned about myself was that I am capable of pursuing a field in Sports Medicine and how I can get there and how Dr. Jay can help me get there. I will be pursuing my internship/job with Williams’ family chiropractic to get further experience in the sports medicine field.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Nathan Rodriguez: Kayaking Internship I got to meet new people and kayak with my friends. I got to surf on a kayak with a partner. I learned about the history of Salt River and about Christopher Columbus’ landing. I learned that I can be really fun and active with people. It’s important because later on I will meet more people.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Mayah Russel: Drowsy Chaperone and Fretboard Fundamentals For Mini-Gusto I did The Drowsy Chaperone prep with Ms. Wilson in the morning and Guitar with Mr. Canning in the afternoon. I liked making waffles in the morning with Ms. Wilson for breakfast and practicing hairstyles and makeup on Wylie and also learning some guitar theory with Mr. Canning. I tried playing arpeggios for the first time with Mr. Canning, that was hard and I still don’t really have it. I learned 3 new songs on guitar; I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles and Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder. I learned that I really should start working harder with my music by PRACTICING MORE. I also learned that I’m pretty darn good at doing glam makeup.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Ethan Stamper: Crucian Gold Internship This year for Mini-Gusto I had the amazing opportunity to work with one of the island's most well known businesses. Crucian Gold! I worked alongside the owners Therese Trudeau, and Nathan Bishop and their wonderful team of people who help the business to succeed. Going into the week I was apprehensive and anxious. I didn't know what to expect. This all went away the moment I walked into the doors. Everyone straight off the bat was super nice and welcoming. We would show up at about 9:00 a.m. every day and begin our chores before opening. First we would set up the showcases and clean all the glass. Once we were done with that we would clean the windows and open the shutters. After all the cleaning was done we were split up. Half of us worked in the studio in the morning and the other half worked in the store and we would switch at lunch. In the studio we got to learn and make jewelry. We learned about how different metals work and how much attention to detail goes into making a piece. We learned how to hammer metal, tie knots, how to solder, ground and set Chaney, how to make chains, and how to shape bracelets and rings. My favorite things about this experience were working the counter and working in the studio. Working the counter was exciting and a little nerve racking. Working in the studio allowed me to explore different mediums of art and make something beautiful. I got to see the steps of making jewelry and how much work it takes. This whole internship was filled with new experiences like learning how to make calls and how to work the counter. Almost everything about this was new to me. Through this internship I learned that I am good with customers and that I’m a natural salesman. I also learned how much I like making jewelry.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Isaiah Stevens: Drowsy Chaperone and Badminton This year for Mini-Gusto I participated in The Drowsy Chaperone Prep in the morning, and in the afternoon I played badminton. I enjoyed being able to help out with making props for the play that I’m in and learning how to correctly play badminton. During my morning activity I learned how to put on makeup for the first time. I don’t like how heavy a thick layer of foundation feels on my face. I learned how to hit the birdy in different situations while playing badminton. I also learned that I’m not terrible at badminton. There’s really not much to say about this week other than that I enjoyed spending time with my friends and learning new things.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Lincoln Tang How: Tang How Brothers Internship The week of March 14, 2017 was very busy for me. I got an opportunity to shadow in the world of work on a job site for a general contracting firm. My internship experience consisted of a combination of hands on assignments as well as shadowing the project superintendent to see how preparations were made for completing an industrial project. On the first day, I reported to the job site at THB, Inc. around 7 a.m. There was a welding and pipefitting class in session which I successfully completed in the past and earned a NCCR national certification. I got the opportunity to sit in the class room instruction for that day and offer tips to the other students. I assisted the instructor with explaining the video scripts to the students. I also used my knowledge in algebra and geometry to help some of the students that were not able to grasp the formulas needed for the pipefitting assignments. The first day at class was very fulfilling and rewarding as it showed me how much I had learned from attending the class in the past. On the second day, I worked with the project superintendent on line in securing quotes to complete a job. I then assisted with the preparation of the quotation to provide to the business that needed the job done. I then went into the area where the materials and equipment for the job site was being prepared. I assisted the workers with putting the equipment and tools into order for travel to the job site the following day. I also went into the office with the secretary and the project superintendent to observe how the cost was put together. I was able to learn how the expenses were listed and then subtracted from the overall price so that the profit was at least 20% for the business. I also got a chance to call businesses to get quotes for materials that were needed. The third day was another hands on day for me. I worked with students that needed extra helping with the pipefitting class as the math formulas are a requirement in order to complete the assignment. I got to drive heavy equipment inside of the work yard compound with the supervisor showing the dos and don’ts of using a forklift in a safe manner. I also observed sandblasting and helped in the repairing of a broken gate for a residential customer. The last day of my internship, I got a chance to go on a job site with the supervisor to observe a job that needed a quote. We drove to the U.S. Post Office and took pictures of the job which included the repair of an electric security gate. After taking all the necessary measurements we went back to the jobsite to begin preparation for the job which was needed on an emergency basis before the end of business that day in order to secure the property. Overall my experience during Mini-Gusto week was very exciting and I learned a lot. The world of work is very busy and there’s never a dull moment. I had a good experience and look forward to doing it again.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Christopher Tirado: Golf and Badminton This week I experienced Golfing at the Buccaneer and Badminton with Mr. Summerhayes. The things I liked about these experiences were getting to try these different sports and learning their basics for future games I may play. Golf for the clubbing and tripping, and Badminton for the athletic type. I tried Golf for the first time and found it to be harder than I imagined. I learned how to trip and hit a golf ball properly and how to volley and beam a birdie in Badminton. I learned that I am capable of doing these activities as if I've been playing for a decent time.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Vincent von Schilling: Plessen Medical Group Internship Most of my time was spent observing minor medical examinations, but on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday respectively, Dr. Tawakol took me through a minor suturing operation, a fistulogram, and an angioplasty respectively. I enjoyed watching the live X-rays during Tawakol’s fistulograms and angioplasties as well as learning about the treatments of chronic renal disease, acute renal injury, and renal cysts as well as the process of conducting tests for proteinuria, serum creatinine, and creat / BUN ratios, and their use in the diagnosis of nephrological disorders and the like. I learned how to semi-accurately diagnose chronic renal disease, the uses and harmful side effects of ACEs and ARBs as well as the viability of combination therapy in extreme cases. For example, the use of an ARB and placebo in most cases is recommended, but monotherapy is not as effective as an angiotensin converting enzyme blocker and an angiotensin receptor blocker combined if you do not consider the increased side effects brought on by the angiotensin converting enzyme blocker. The combination therapy(relative to monotherapy with ARBs and placebo) has a higher rate of death from acute renal injuring, but also decreases one’s risk of progressing to end-stage renal disease. I learned that I harbor mild hypengyophobia that applies to the medical field and the thought of holding a person’s well-being in my hands. That phobia may prevent me from ever holding a career in the medical field despite my heightened interest in one as a result of this internship. (I am not suggesting that I am even remotely intelligent enough to get into medical school or attain a degree in the medical field.)
Postscript: I apologize that this is nowhere near one page, but I wanted to refrain from artificially extending it. (Which I may have already done) I believe that I have included all of the requested information, but if you wish for me to extend it, I would be happy to add a few lines on diabetic nephropathy, Uremic pericarditis, or renal cysts.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Layalie Washshah: Senatorial Internship My Mini-Gusto activity was an internship with the Honorable Senator Sammuel Sanes. I shadowed the senator and was present at meetings and other official events. I got to observe his day to day actions and what he does in the office. I liked that I was able to see how someone in power in our community is able to affect so many people with just a simple signature. It was also nice to see how senators interact with each other and I also got to see how their offices look. A new experience was talking on the radio station. It was kind of scary since I am not used to talking on a platform that thousands can hear me on. I did enjoy the experience and I was glad that the host did not try and make me talk too much. I learned that I am important in making a change and that my voice matters if I want something to happen. If I want a change in my community, I need to reach out to leaders in my community like the senators. I am thankful for the opportunity to work with such important figures and cannot wait for what activity I will do next year.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Tenth Grade
Avery White: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship For Mini-Gusto this year I participated in a very captivating internship at my teacher Ms. Dunton’s kayaking Tour Company. Each morning, for an entire school week, I would travel to Salt River where my peers and I would learn to give proper kayak tours using the students of GHCDS that were signed up for the kayaking Mini-Gusto activity. While enrolled in this internship, I participated in two outside tours with real guests that were not part of our GHCDS family (exciting, whoot whoot). I knew from the start that this would be a week of hands-on learning and teaching. Giving tours to people was so fun for me; it barely felt like a job. I loved teaching others about Salt River and the diverse ecosystem that makes it special. I learned new facts about our island’s wildlife, which was neat considering how much I love nature and marine creatures. When our group paddled to Sugar Bay in Salt River, I got to pick up and hold a jellyfish called a Cassiopeia, which don’t sting and are named after a constellation. One of the reasons I enjoyed this internship so much was because I wasn’t stuck sitting impatiently in an office for hours, I was out on the water and in the sun surrounded by smiling (and sometimes whining) kids. I consider myself a people person, since I am a certified sailing instructor in the states for two months in the summer I find that I am decent at guiding and taking care of kids while at the same time making sure they have fun. This internship provided me with that.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Student Reflections - Eleventh Grade Julian Bishop: Senatorial Internship I spent the week of March 13th; Mini-Gusto week, interning with the office of the honorable Senator Sammuel Sanes. I began the internship believing that it would just be similar doing paperwork for any office, but the job of a Legislator is so much more. We started off our first day doing something I am very familiar with: a long, muffled, and repetitive conference call. Meetings can be great; sharing information and debating issues is always a proactive way to resolve issues, but a conference call has never been that for me. I often find it just ends up being a very hard-to-hear phone call, with the only hearable person being the one screaming into the phone right in front of them. But shortly after the call, we were doing other, more enjoyable things: Mr. Sanes formally introduced me to his staff, one of his staffers, Mel, taught me how to read a legislation-amendment proposal, and Mr. Sanes and I walked around Frederiksted town visiting different businesses, work sites, and- of course- having lunch. Throughout the rest of the week, Mr. Sanes and I, later accompanied by Lalie Washshah, helped organize paperwork, toured the other offices of the legislature, attended business meetings, walked through the property of a proposed bike park, and even got to speak on a radio show! On Thursday we planned on accompanying the senator to a committee hearing, but unfortunately it was cancelled. Even though Sanes told us that the internship would be uneventful, as many of the other senators were on the annual Sea Trade trip, I felt like I had truly learned so much more about the life of a legislator.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Webster Bozzo: Red Cross Lifeguarding and AP History Review I did two activities, Lifeguarding and AP history review. They were both a lot of fun and I got to do lots of cool activities. I did two full days of lifeguarding, Tuesday and Thursday, and the rest of the days were half lifeguarding and half AP history review. In lifeguarding, I learned a lot of new stuff and I did all sorts of cool things in and out of the pool. My favorite activity during the week was when we were given scenarios and we had to play them out as if they were real. This meant that I could be the boss of everyone. Another activity I did that was really fun was when we practiced the simple saves that a lifeguard has to know. During the AP history review, we learned how to write DBQs (document based questions), played (a game) Kahoot; a fun way to learn simple facts, and got amazing food from my teacher, Mrs. Guerra. My favorite activity was obviously Kahoot because it's fun since you get to play with friends. I almost won a game of Kahoot which is pretty hard because I was going up against Jalen who is really smart in history. Technically, I did do something new, but I already knew how to do it. Just not properly. Hehehe. I learned a bunch of ways on how to enter the water properly depending upon the situation in lifeguarding. I also learned that you can perform ventilations in the water if necessary to save a person's life. I learned that in a DBQ a lot of it is based on point of view and knowing outside information. Another thing is that you could get a zero on the AP test. Which is kind of scary. I learned two new things about myself during this experience. If I set my mind to it without distractions, I get it done, and I am a quick learner and reactor when it comes to intense situations dealing with life or death in lifeguarding. This is important to me because it shows/tells people who I am and what I can do if needed. I also believe that this will help me in the future when I need it the most. So I would like to say thank you to my instructor, Coach Kelly, and my teacher, Mrs. Guerra.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Ella Brownsdon: Eat, Dance, and Learn and AP US History Review During the Mini Gusto 2017, I got to do two enriching programmes to help benefit my grades. I did a Spanish class where I got to cook foods from a certain country, each day being different. After cooking and eating food, we did a zumba dance workout and finished off the first half of the day with a TV show in Spanish. After the Spanish class, I had AP United States History (APUSH) Review where we went over the first few periods that we learned at the beginning of the year. There were games and activities that we did that helped us go over the information. My favourite part of the Mini-Gusto experience was the part where I got to cook food and eat it. Everything that I cooked was really good. I also liked getting to meet people who I normally don't hang out with. While it was not fun that I wasn't with my friends, I made 2 new friends that I now talk to a lot. During this trip, besides the obvious, I learned that if you are outgoing and talk to people, that they will do the same in return. It shouldn’t matter if you are with your best friends or with people you just met, you can have fun with either. This is important because I am going off to college soon, and I am extremely nervous that I am not going to fit in and that I will be too shy to make new friends. Coming to GHCDS was an easy transition because everyone here is so nice and welcoming that you don’t feel excluded. If I were to go to a stateside school, I would have had a harder time and feared that the transition to college was going to be nerve wracking and not easy, but learning this about myself and others, I feel much better and way less nervous. I also learned that I really enjoy Spanish and want to improve my Spanish speaking and writing so one day I can hopefully be fluent so I can go to Spain for a semester in college. Overall, Mini-Gusto was fun, but next year I will definitely be going to the beach to get to experience the islands one last time.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Jade Bryan: Independent Videography During the Mini Gusto week, I did several different activities (accompanied by Jenna). The first day was exploring town. The second day was hiking to the tide pools, seeing the beer drinking pigs, and discovering LEAP. The third day included hiking to the lighthouse out west, visiting the monk baths, and pier jumping. The fourth day was a relaxed day and only included a tour of the botanical garden. The final day included a kayak tour with the Mini Gusto interns. Why were there so many activities? This is because we were creating our very own tourism video. The 2 things I liked most about this experience was gaining the courage to go pier jumping and just getting to improve my filming skills. There were several things I did for the first time. I had never gone pier jumping, seen the beer drinking, visited LEAP, the monk baths, or the lighthouse, took an actual tour of the botanical gardens, and go kayaking. The whole week was just a time of exploring for me. One thing I learned is that there always something to do wherever you are. I also learned that in Columbus all those boats are sunken because of a hurricane (which I believe was Hugo). Overall, I just learned how much I truly love film, media, and production. This is important because it’s is a step towards figuring what I would like to do when I’m older.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Danielle Coleman: Smash Book Journal and French Films During this Mini-Gusto, the Mini-Gusto of 2017, I did Smash Booking with Ms. Banwaree and French Films with Mrs. Schill. These activities were quite enjoyable, especially discovering ways to express my creativity through smash booking; in said activity I was able to use art supplies that I usually do not have access to and created something to represent me. Participating in French films also opened my eyes as to how other cultures approach film making. During my Smash Booking experience, I attempted to become more equable toward my artwork. I have the habit of becoming too caught up in what I want my work to look like and ignoring what I've already made, in other words, when it comes to my artwork I become a perfectionist. I made it a point during this activity to isolate myself from that habit and to accept the mistakes I made. Throughout the week, I was mostly successful, I became more at ease when I made a mistake, deciding that making mistakes is what makes things seem more human and original. While partaking in French films I acquired an interest in watching movies originating from other places besides the United States, and smashed booking gave me a new way to spend my time, as well as a new passion.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Rachel Conhoff: Colorado Trip Over the week of Mini-Gusto I had the pleasure of traveling to Colorado to visit my aunt and uncle and ski with my family. Throughout the week there were numerous experiences that I enjoyed immensely. Some of these experiences included, skiing moguls without too many wipe outs and running with my Uncle Tom along trails and through the woods behind his house. A few other experiences were, finding the perfect prom dress with my aunt as well as helping her prepare her famous dishes in the kitchen and hanging out with my family both on and off the slopes. I also got to see a close friend that I hadn’t seen in years. While in Colorado I tried a new dish called Mochi. It’s a Japanese ice cream that contains a rice pudding shell, enclosing a small scoop of ice cream. The shell has a gummy like texture that’s a bit strange at first but after a few bites, it begins to grow on you. It’s now one of my favorite desserts. I learnt several things throughout this trip. First, it’s much harder to keep your skis parallel and close together then it actually looks (at least for me). Secondly, I learnt that the University of Denver is not the right college for me after visiting the campus and learning all about it. (There pre-med program was ok and even though they were Division 1 school they didn’t have a cross country or track team, which is a necessity for me.) And thirdly, I learnt that the journal entries and reflections that were required this year hindered my Mini-Gusto experience. Instead of enjoying my activities and living in the moment, the idea that I had to journal every day and then write a reflection of my experiences (plus other school work that I was given over the break) really began to stress me out causing me to not be able to take in everything around me. But other then that I had a wonderful Mini-Gusto and I look forward to next year’s activities.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Sage Crook: Red Cross Lifeguarding Over the Mini-Gusto week, I was fortunate enough to participate in the Red Cross Lifeguarding course taught by Kelly Boring. Throughout this experience I enjoyed meeting and collaborating with new people and improving upon teamwork skills. I found that this activity was a useful way to spend my mini-gusto experience because the skills I learned from the lifeguarding course can be used in my future endeavors as well as a valuable skill to have within a household. During this week, we simulated real life scenarios where we were required to use the First Aid, CPR and Lifeguarding skills we learned. Aside from the basic training in becoming a lifeguard, I learned to stay calm in stressful situations, communication skills and how to work as a team. I learned that I can be a leader in a group and work well with others to complete the task at hand.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Crystal Fahie: Buccaneer Internship For Mini-Gusto, I partook in an internship at the Buccaneer. This internship was aimed toward expanding my experience and knowledge of hospitality and tourism. During this internship I not only got to work at the front desk of the establishment but also at its Golf Shop, Tennis Shop and Gift Shop. I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with each of my mentors as each individual made the experience a memorable one. Furthermore, I enjoyed seeing the variety of people that visit our island as well as the variety of purposes that brings someone here. Consequently, I was able to learn a variety of things. During this experience I learned how much effort goes into making a guest feel welcomed and cherished. I found that minor details that I as an individual wouldn't regularly classify as important are held to very impressive standards. Furthermore, I felt honored to be taught how to work the innovative register that is utilized at the Buccaneer. Also, I learned that I personally never noticed the effort put in by hotels or any tourism attraction I've attended to keep everything formidable. This is important because now I will be more aware of the workers dedication and actual work load when trying to make my vacation better with a smile or kind gesture. All in all, this experience has opened my eyes and was very enriching.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Caroline Flavia: Massachusetts Trip This year I was unable to participate in the Mini-Gusto activity that I had signed up for due to a minor surgery on my toe. I was signed up for the kayaking internship and I was excited to be able to spend all day out on the water, but unfortunately my doctor informed me that I would not be able to participate. I was disappointed because Mini-Gusto is one of my favorite traditions and I was hoping to have an internship experience, but I was not able to do much because I was supposed to take some time to recuperate. My Mini-Gusto experience was unique, though not particularly enjoyable. I was able to experience the medical procedures of a doctor in the first hand and was able to experience the process of recovery. During this time I was able to attend one session of the AP US history review activity and was pleasantly surprised as it was much more interesting and helpful than I thought it would be. I definitely did not enjoy getting surgery or the recovery period, but I did enjoy the AP US history review. The highlight of my Mini-Gusto week was going to Massachusetts and touring a college. It was a new experience for me to be in Massachusetts during the spring. I travelled to Massachusetts on Thursday with my mom with the intention of visiting a few colleges during a colder month. I usually go to Massachusetts in the summer, but my parents thought I should get a feel for the cold New England weather before committing to a school in the North. When we first got there, it was freezing and I got to experience snow which I have only seen a few times. It was very cool to see winter and spring in the states because on St. Croix there are not drastic seasonal changes. I am glad that I was able to experience the weather and witness the season before committing to a New England college. I learned that even when it is freezing out, a good coat/jacket and layers will solve the problem. After spending some time in the states this week, I am certain that I would enjoy attending a school in the Northeast. Though I visited most of my top choice colleges during the summer, I visited another during this week of Mini-Gusto. I visited Wheaton College, but I immediately knew after seeing the town and campus that it was not the right fit for me. Although I did not really like Wheaton, I did find the experience valuable as it helped me to narrow my college search. I am now confidently able to say that I do not want to attend a suburban school with a tiny town. After seeing Wheaton I realize that sometimes it is necessary to visit the campus because my impression of the college online was dramatically different than in person. This Mini-Gusto started out badly, but my experience improved as the week progressed. I was not happy about having to have surgery during Mini-Gusto week, but I did learn several things about my college search. I cannot wait to try something new next year during Mini-Gusto!
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Jalen Frorup: Caribbean Adventure Tours Internship and AP US History Review For my Mini-Gusto activities, I participated in kayaking at Salt River Bay in the mornings and AP US History review in the afternoon. The thing I most enjoyed about kayaking was the fact that I got to do something that I liked and that I was really good at all week. And for some reason, it never got boring to go kayaking in the same area. Another that I enjoyed was when we would park our kayaks up on the places we visit and take a walk, play games like manhunt, go swimming, or just sit, chill, and talk, which is what we did on Friday and it was quite fun. Another thing I greatly enjoyed about this morning activity was being able to spend some time with my friends and not have to worry about the stress of a heavy workload. In APUSH, some things I greatly enjoyed was the fact I also got to spend some time with friends, the great that Mrs. Guerra brought in every day, along with all the fun games we played in class. What I learned from kayaking was that Salt River Bay is actually broken up into multiple different bays. There’s Sugar Bay, Triton Bay, Bio Bay, Horseshoe Bay, and other bays. They also have different beaches like Nixon Beach and Columbus landing. I also learned about the different wildlife and plant life that exist in Salt River, like the mangroves, which act as a habitat to small fish, crabs, and other sea creatures. Besides, I got to learn a little more history about the island and the Bay as a whole. For example, I learned that when Columbus landed, he actually never set foot on the island. In AP US History, I didn’t really learn a whole lot of new stuff that I didn’t already know. It was more of just a review of all the old things that we had discussed. I did, however, learn a few tips and tricks on writing Long Essay Questions and identifying the different parts that needed to be in the essay. I got a little bit of advice from Mrs. Guerra how to structure my thesis and to make sure that I hit the points that the APUSH exam graders are looking for. What I learned from this Mini-Gusto experience is that I can sleep through just about everything. I say this because after kayaking every morning, I would get really tired during APUSH and fall asleep during it and miss tons of things. This isn’t very important or crucial to my development as a student, but it’s just something funny I learned. I learned that when pressed for time, I can actually surprisingly get a lot done. This is definitely very good for me because as a teenager, I procrastinate a lot and being able to get things done in a nick of time would be very helpful. Besides that, being able to do things in a short amount of time can help me when I’m taking tests and will definitely assist me on my AP exam when
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade they have me write a 5-paragraph essay in 35 minutes. Yea, a little bit much, but with the skill I learned, I won’t even break a sweat.
Sarah Hardee: Sailing I was able to experience world class coaching from a skilled 29er coach for the entirety of Mini Gusto. I really loved the opportunity to meet a new coach who is accustomed to sailing the 29er and felt really lucky to be learning from such a knowledgeable sailor. I also really appreciated the opportunity to practice a lot right before my big regatta the following week. During this week I learned how to better communicate with my crew to make short and fast conversation about decisions on the boat and also learned how to improve my big line starts. During the experience I learned that I have the ability to keep my cool in stressful situations like big lines as long as I focus and take it slow. It is important that I learned this about myself because going into the regatta the following week it was necessary that I understand how to keep my cool and not get frustrated or scared on the line.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Rose Kleeger: Women’s Coalition Internship and AP US History Review This year for Mini-Gusto, I interned at the offices of the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix in the morning, and reviewed for the AP U.S. History exam with Ms. Guerra in the afternoon. While I volunteer at the Women’s Coalition once a week after school throughout the year, it was nice to be able to spend a longer block of time on a few special projects instead of the routine filing and other office tasks I usually do one afternoon a week. I liked working in the mornings, because the atmosphere was quiet and productive. On Tuesday, I shadowed a Women’s Coalition Court Advocate. I spent the morning at Judge Camacho’s courtroom at Superior Court, where I observed domestic violence cases that day. The cases were compelling and serious. I also met the Crime Victim Advocate for the VIPD while I was there, and introduced myself to the Judge. It was fascinating to see exactly what the Court Advocate’s job entailed and how well she did it. This experience was the highlight of the week for me, and was a good opportunity to learn about issues in the community outside the classroom. In my afternoon history review, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of time periods we were able to cover, and appreciated that Ms. Guerra made the experience fun with food and games without detracting from productivity. During Mini-Gusto I also learned about the fundraising software that the Women’s Coalition uses, called The Raiser’s Edge. It was difficult at first, because the layout was very new to me and different from anything I had seen before, but now I feel much more comfortable using it. I also had an opportunity use Excel spreadsheets to organize the auction items for an upcoming gala fundraiser. I had some experience using Excel before, but only the most basic features. I became more proficient and confident in my Excel abilities, and through trial and error was able to figure out several useful features. Finally, I helped set up for the Women’s Coalition fundraising gala and art auction, which featured a beautiful work by Ms. Biddle. In my history review class, I learned about the Long Essay portion of the AP U.S. History test and how it is scored. For the first time, I tried writing a practice essay for this part of the test, and closely examined a sample essay response to see how graders award points for the different rubric categories. If I can put this knowledge into practice when I take the exam, my essay will be more readable and will address the important points better. I did not know what it would be like to work inside in an office all morning for a week. I thought it might become monotonous or even boring, but it was not. I learned that I quite enjoy working in an office, and the time went by quickly. It is important that I learned this about myself, because many jobs involve office work and as I think about what I would like to do for a living someday, it is good to know that
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade working in an office can be enjoyable as long as the work is important and the people you work with are interesting.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Joshua Morales: GHCDS Tech Internship I spent my Mini-Gusto doing an internship with the new head of IT for our school, Mr. Minten. Since I’m a pretty big tech guy, there weren’t too many things I didn’t enjoy doing during my internship. (Though cleaning dusty keyboards isn’t on my bucket list.) I really enjoyed setting up new tech for different rooms. The library’s projector and Ms. Baker’s laptops are some examples. I also enjoyed learning more about the school’s network. Above all else I enjoyed being the food tour guide for Mr. Minten during lunch. Ranging from Quality Subs to Turtle’s Deli. There wasn’t a day on the job that I didn’t say “The more you know.” Aside from all of the interesting tech facts that Mr. Minten told me over the week, I learned how to properly use software called Clonezilla. This is a tool used for copying and pasting the data in hard drives. I learned about the school network’s state, and the different ways to improve upon it. I also learned how to use a new ticketing system that is being implemented soon. I also learned that Chromecast is a bit more convenient than apple TVs Over Mini-Gusto, I learned so many useful things that will help me towards my goals. Mr. Minten’s seemingly endless tech knowledge helped me fix several computer issues I was having at home. I also learned a few things about myself that will help me in the long run. I need to work on being on time. Silly as it may sound, I really can’t stand being late. I also learned that I work really well around those who are driven. Mr. Minten is very eager to help the school out and that made me want to help out as well.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Timothy Nguyen: Moorman Aesthetic Center Internship Mini-Gusto is a time of experience and learning. A time where you should soak up as much information as you can, in order to turn that information into something you can use. This year I took an internship with Dr. Moorman, a plastic surgeon. I knew Dr. Moorman from his son, Andreas. He was also a coach that I had when I used to play AYSO (when I was very young), so I knew that the internship was going to be enjoyable. Throughout the week Aly and I were shadowing two PA’s (Physician Assistants). They were from Barry University and were helping out Dr. Moorman for their cycle. We saw patients, followed up on patients, and watched Botox injections and juvederms. The special day was on Wednesday, where I was able to see two live surgeries. The first surgery was an abscess removal while the second one was a inguinal hernia repair. The first one was about an hour long, and was shocking. I wasn't shocked about the blood, but only shocked by the fat. I never knew that fat would've been so yellow. It gave me goosebumps if I looked at it long enough. The hernia repair was very long (3 hours) because of the location and of the amount of fat there was. It was hard to get a good look at it because the flesh was covering the hernia. This surgery jarred me, bringing me to the realization of how stressing surgery can be. You have to be able to do long surgeries, while also being focused at all times. This realization gave me massive respect to every doctor, for being able to this job with so much passion. Dr. Moorman also gave me insight and tips about psychiatry, because that's the field I have my eyes on for my future. I have to be able to do a lot of office work and just sit in an office for most of the day, because being a doctor is also a fight against paperwork. Seeing the amount of notes one person gets for their EMR (electronic medical record) also shows how focused you have to be while in the office, even if it may be mundane. Seeing his practice also made me want to start my own private practice in the future, because of how lax it can be. I also realized that I should now get a head start on how to do surgical knots, because I'm very bad at knots in general. Throughout this experience, I realized that if I really want to become a doctor, I have to accept that the beginning years will be super hard and mundane. I have to be able to withstand the hardships if I ever want to become successful and to have my own private practice.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Bianca Patterson: Fretboard Fundamentals and AP US History Review For this year’s Mini-Gusto, I did Fretboard Adventures with Mr. Canning and AP United States History Review with Ms. Guerra. Overall, I enjoyed myself in both activities. Fretboard Adventures was a guitar journey, learning about the guitar, and playing all over the fretboard. We learned the basic chords, scales, tabs, and more. It was rather enjoyable except I should have made a better plan because I started to realize that I was in a beginners’ class. I was getting bored because I was reviewing things that I already knew. I should have done the Intermediate Fretboard Adventure instead of the Beginner. I signed up for this activity because I wanted to have a better understanding of my guitar and learn how to play it better. I wanted to learn new things with my guitar like bar chords (which I cannot do) and other kinds of chords like the B chord, the F#m chord, and chords like that. AP United States History Review was pretty straightforward. It was like a regular class in school with my APUSH classmates except we just reviewed old content and got into the new content that we learned already before we went on break. We played jeopardy and Kahoots related to the content that we were reviewing. I signed up for the activity because I wanted to be prepared for the AP Exam in May. I think after I did this review I think I would do somewhat well. I feel for this activity we needed more time because we didn’t go over all the terms/concepts. I have a feeling we will finish it sometime in April. What I liked the most about Fretboard Adventures is that I was able to play my guitar, learn new chords, and actually get better at my chord transitioning. During APUSH Review, I was able to study the early concepts/terms while having a good time with games and Kahoots. In Fretboard Adventures, I learned the major and minor scales. Even though I do not like using tabs as much anymore, I was able to somewhat enjoyed playing them. After this learning experience with my guitar, I learned that I need an actual guitar, not a toy guitar and that I can play faster by using a different plucking/strumming technique while playing a song. I was able to play all kinds of songs with the different chords. I can play “No Woman, No Cry”, “Redemption Song”, “Bubble Toes”, and “BrownEyed Girl” (just the chords). Now the songs with the tabs that I’m able to play are “Superstitious”, “Isn’t She Lovely”, and the melodies to the aforementioned songs. I learned one thing about myself during this experience and that is, I can’t teach beginners something that I know. I think it is telling me that I do not have any kind of patience (which I’m not surprised about). When I was teaching my fellow classmate a song, I got annoyed but I somehow didn’t show it. I actually managed to hold it back and go through the lesson. However mid-lesson, I just dropped it and started practicing/playing songs that I wanted to play. That’s just one thing. Another thing is that I study best and remember concepts/terms/events better when I’m eating at the same time. When I was in APUSH Review, my APUSH class and I had little snacks and treats. Ms. Guerra was expanding on ideas, while we ate. We also made a shared document with the terms/concepts/events. We put our own definition for a word/event/concept and we elaborated on it with Ms. Guerra’s notes/ideas that she was telling us. All of this is important because I know a little more about myself when it comes to teaching someone something or having a better studying technique.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade This Mini-Gusto was a fun one just like the others ones I had. I hope the next one will be the same.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Jada Romer: Fretboard Fundamentals and AP US History Review Mini- Gusto is a week where we the students can FINALLY be away from school work and actually relax and enjoy ourselves! This year I did Fretboard adventures with Mr. Canning, where I learned how to play the guitar and new songs. Guitar was not bad the first day, besides having my fingers get hard and hurt so much. We also learned the different chords such as Major and Minor E, an A chord, D, and G. It was tough at first but it was fun in the long run. For my afternoon activity, I did APUSH Review with Mrs. Guerra, which was actually fun! She made or bought us food (she should do more often or simply adopt me so I can eat more of it) and we played great educational games, which to me brought our class together even more. We played competitive games such as Kahoot and flash cards, we even decided to do review essays for us! Mini-Gusto this year for me was alright, although I wish that majority of the activities that were listed weren’t so expensive. I know for sure I would have become CPR certified or become a lifeguard. This year’s Mini-Gusto was good because we the students were allowed to be in a more relaxed environment and because of that we were able to learn more, grow more, and build off of each other. In conclusion I have already looked into getting a guitar for me to continue my learning, and I feel prepared for my APUSH exam! I was able to learn a lot and therefore apply it to my life. Music relaxes me, for when I am stressing out over school or I just want to get away from everything. APUSH helps to open my eyes to events from the past and later connect them to events in the present (synthesizing).
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Alexandra Starr: Moorman Aesthetic Center Internship In the Mini-Gusto program for 2017 I signed up to intern with Dr. Moorman a plastic and general surgeon who operates his own practice and works at the hospital. I have had previous experiences with Dr. Moorman when I did half of my Mini-Gusto in my freshman year with him. But this time I was there for the whole week and I got to see more of the whole picture, from the initial work up with patients to the follow up and suture removal. We started on Tuesday because he had no scheduled appointments for Monday. We spent three of the remaining 4 days in his office observing minor procedure and patient check ins. I enjoyed all of this year’s Mini-Gusto experience, everything was wonderful. I enjoyed learning under Dr. Moorman and seeing more of the surgical profession that I would like to enter. Another aspect of the week that I liked a lot was Julia, a Physician's Assistant student from Barry University, she was a great teacher. She gave me a lot of insight into being a woman in the medical profession. During the week I had the amazing fortune to be able to scrub-in during a surgery, to be sterile and to assist minorly in the surgery. I was gowned in a sterile blue frock with sterile gloves and a face mask. I was standing at the table with Julia, Kyle, and Dr. Moorman while they performed the surgical operation which was an Inferior Pedicle Technique Breast Reduction. I was able to hand them instruments and ask questions. The surgical nurse was very kind and taught me many things about the Operating Room, she is a mother of a child of a similar age. In my freshman year of Mini-Gusto I had a very similar experience with Dr. Moorman. This year I was so fortunate to observe some surgical procedures in the hospital. It was very wonderful, an eye-opening experience. The only thing that I didn't like in the whole day was the smell of the cautery and the cauterized flesh it was a very strong smell that stayed on your clothes even after you had left the hospital. But when I was close to the operating table the smell was just as distasteful and strong, but when I was part of the surgical process the smell became part of the background and was not revolting or too strong. I learned many different things working with Doctor Moorman this week. I was given the chance to observe a hernia repair surgical procedure and various office visits with patients before and after similar types of procedures. I learned a lot about hernias, the different types and the different steps that can be taken in the healing process and preventative measures. Another aspect to the week that was very new to me was that many of Dr. Moorman's patients were coming in to have their skin checked for any abnormalities. This was interesting because I learned of many different types of skin lesions and what to check for living in a community that is so frequently exposed to the sun and where skin cancer is so common. The last day of the week, on Friday is Dr. Moorman's cosmetic day, which is mostly Botox and juvederm patients getting elective procedures. I learned many different things about the entire procedure, the differences between the products and the different techniques of injection. Overall, the majority of procedures that I observed were, skin biopsies, abnormal skin lesion removal, regular check ins with repeat patients, suture removal, breast reduction consults, hernia repair consults and cosmetic This week interning with Dr. Moorman was quite amazing. I learned so much and saw so many new things. This week has solidified my desire to enter the medical field, more specifically surgery. Dr.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade Moorman is an amazing teacher and was very welcoming to Timothy and I. I highly recommend this Mini-Gusto to anyone interested in medicine.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Laila Torres: Eat, Dance, and Learn and Kayaking Internship For mini-gusto, I did Eat, Dance, Learn with Mrs. Capriola in the morning and Kayak Tours with Ms. Dunton in the afternoon. I liked learning new recipes from different Hispanic cultures, learning dance moves with Zumba and the different bays in Salt River. I went to the different bays in Salt River for the first time and went with a really big group. I also tried different foods that I have not tried before. For Eat, Dance, Learn, I learned how to make a Costa Rican breakfast, a Colombian breakfast, and much more. I learned how to dance a bit of salsa and how to move a bit. In Salt River, I learned the different bays like Bio bay and how there are three different types of bioluminescent organisms that will most likely be seen: dinoflagellates, glow worms, and ctenophora. There was not a big thing I learned about myself, but I did learn that I like to learn about the different types of foods and just learn how to cook it. I’m not up for dancing all that much, but I learned how I like salsa more than bachata and I liked learning about salsa. I don’t like the ocean all that much, despite the fact that I am certified for scuba diving, but kayaking to really nice bays and learning how we have a bay called horseshoe bay where it’s a mating point for sting rays and a type of sharks that goes because of its shallow waters.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Eleventh Grade
Lindsey Wessel: New Orleans Trip and Petrichor Internship I travelled to New Orleans to visit Tulane and Loyola and travelled to Georgia for an internship at Petrichor. I liked being able to leave the island, touring the campuses while there were students on campus and sitting in on a class, and I liked learning about finance. I did my first internship and enjoyed it. I learned that the states during the spring time are still cold, I learned what investment companies actually do, and I learned that some college students go to class only to receive attendance points. I learned that I really don’t like cold weather and that I do not know where I want to go to school or what I want to study.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Student Reflections - Twelfth Grade Daniel Garriga-Cerni: Superior Court Internship At the outskirt of this Mini-Gusto, I was kind of pessimistic because I had heard a range of mixed reviews of Judge Gallivan, and almost all of the reviews had something negative about her. I also had the expectation that we would be turned into free law clerks, taking notes in court, going through files, and doing major work for her. In reality my experience was far from what I thought it was going to be. I got interested in law and politics during this past election and that’s why I decided that I should do it, especially since my interest in Human Rights Law was increasing. During the internship I learned the different levels of judges we have in the Virgin Islands, their functions, and how the courts are separated. On most days we started our day with an advise of rights hearing, which according to her law clerk from Texas, is basically just a bail hearing to set the bail for the arrested. It was really interesting to see how it operated, although admittedly I did get bored by the fourth person because it is the exact same process for each one and usually each hearing has 4-6 people in it. I was also surprised how unprepared the public defender's provided to each of the arrested persons, and then I found out that they usually only talk to the prisoners 20 minutes before the hearing since most of the time they don't like going to the prison to talk to them. I was also really interested in each of the judge’s style because each one was vastly different. Judge Gallivan is very serious, while Judge Brady is more relaxed and easy going, while Judge Willocks is friendly but very serious and no nonsense. It was also very interesting to see how many people are actually involved in the court system whether they simply work in cubicles, or directly for the Judge. Probably the most interesting thing I learned was the different types of judges. I had already known about Justices and Judges, but I learned that there is a Magistrate program in which both Judge Gallivan and Judge Camacho are Magistrate Judges. I found it that it meant that the still receive the title as judge but have limited power and jurisdiction on what trials they can oversee. All in all the experience was very helpful and educational for me personally. While there were times where we were bored, the times that we weren't compensated for that. It also helped me decide what path of law I want to study and eventually, and more importantly helped me decide that I don’t want to become a judge, and not because the judges gave me a bad impression of the job and court, but because I realized that I can do more and change more and more directly help people in some other form rather than being and making rulings on things people have done. Overall it was a very good experience, and I hope that this is an option next year for others to experience this.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Kira Griffith: AP Calculus Review and College Prep This year for my Mini-Gusto experience, I had the opportunity to review for the AP Calculus test in May and prepare myself for college life through College Prep. While I was only able to stay for the first three days of AP Calculus and first two days of College Prep before my college visiting travels, I really managed to enjoy myself and master some new skills. Prior to my Mini-Gusto experience, I was looking forward to obtaining a thorough understanding of the material we had covered throughout the year in AP Calculus and I was excited to discover what fun plans Ms. Logan had in store for us in College Prep. I am happy to say that it was more than I could have hoped for. In AP Calculus, we had a thorough review of limits, derivatives, and integration problems. We coupled this review with practice from old AP tests. We worked on practice multiple choice questions and free response sections from old tests. Surprisingly, the three hours of AP Calculus work went by fairly quickly and although I felt mentally tired, I was satisfied and ready for the next activity. While I still feel that I have much more to cover in my personal review time, I feel more confident in my ability to perform well on the actual AP test in May. I had the most fun in my College Prep activity. The first day we made nachos and rice krispies. Even though we blew a fuse in the process of warming up the nacho cheese in microwaves, we were all able to come together as a class and make rice krispies later on with the one remaining functional microwave in the room. Both treats were delicious and I had the opportunity to snack on them while learning how to sew! The evidence of my sewing is in my Mini-Gusto Journal. I learned how to sew cloth together and buttons onto cloth. We had a mini competition for points while sewing for the prettiest and the fastest sewn pockets. Meanwhile, we had to guess the movie that fit with a Disney song playing in the background. Even though I didn’t win either competition, I had a lot of fun. The next day we made macaroni and cheese and learned how to make professional letters and postcards. I sent a thank you postcard to my parents, thanking them for all they have done for me. It warmed my heart to show gratitude and make someone’s day with a cute and colorful postcard. Overall, I loved that I was able have a Mini-Gusto experience filled with intellectual challenges, excitement, and fun. One thing I learned during this experience is the ease with which one can express gratitude. You do not need to write a long letter or draw an elaborate picture in order to express true, heartfelt gratitude towards the influential people in your life. The second thing that I learned is that I have been working hard all year and it has become evident in my performance on practice AP Calculus free response tests. I was happy to be able to continue to challenge myself, be involved with friendly competition, and learn novel skills that will be instrumental to the success of my future college career.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Shauni Lustig: Jolly Roger Internship For my Mini-Gusto, I worked on a sailboat called the Jolly Roger. I spent time talking to tourists and snorkeling on the buck island snorkel trail. The best part of my experience was challenging myself to learn how to work with strangers better. My other favorite parts were being in the sun all day and learning how to work on a sailboat. I have never hoisted a sail before in my life or worked on a boat at all so I was excited to try something new. I also have not worked with tourists before and I knew that this was going to be something hard for me to do so I was excited to challenge myself. Things I learned include things about myself and things about sailing. I learned that it is pretty easy for me to have conversations with strangers once I push myself to start it. It easy for me to talk to strangers if I ask them about themselves and then relate what they say to my own life. Once Captain Mike told me just to talk about my plans for the future conversations became easier. Usually it is not so easy to talk about myself but now that I have done it so often it has become easier. I used to struggle with when saying too much is too much and I feel that I have gotten better at realizing when they boundary has been met. I have learned as well how to work on a sailboat of course. I have learned how to hoist a sail by myself, tie a knot that becomes quite useful on a sailboat, and how to deal with tourists when you have your own tourism business. I have also experienced the buck island snorkel trail for the first time in all my years living here. I have learned the importance of making people happy when your business relies on the happiness of others. When you’re dealing with tourists, nothing is more important than their happiness when you’re trying to make money from them. I have learned that I am able to socialize a lot more than I thought. It is actually easier to socialize with strangers than I used to think.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Matthew Mays: AP Calculus Review and College Prep This year for my Mini-Gusto experience I took AP calculus review in the morning and College prep in the afternoons. I was very grateful to have this opportunity to solely work on review for the exam in May. In AP Calculus, we had a thorough review of limits, derivatives, and integration problems. We were able to pinpoint certain areas of weakness, so that in the following weeks we can better prepare. In college prep there was never a dull moment, Ms. Logan always brought enthusiasm and creativity. Specifically her home made “Game of College�. Before this experience, I never knew you could make scrambled eggs in the microwave. One of my personal favorites was the pancake in a mug, it was surprisingly good. In AP calculus I learned some new and easy tricks to help find the correct answer that will definitely be useful on the exam. I learned that to achieve my desired score it will take a little more practice and review, but with the help of Ms. Logan it is possible.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Sylvana Montealegre Hutchins: Nelthropp and Low Internship and Volleyball Tournament Sylvana, who was recently accepted to the Savannah College of Art and Design, submitted an impressive daily journal, which warranted inclusion in this compilation.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Faith Snow: Art Farm Internship For Mini-Gusto this year I did an internship with the Art Farm. I worked with the guy that owns the farm and did various tasks around the farm such as potting trees, sifting soil, picking and preparing plant beds, planting, and weeding. The things that I liked most about my time here were that I was able to work outside with vegetables and the hard work aspect of it. I also liked the satisfaction of completing tasks and knowing that my work will impact the farm and their harvest. I learned a lot about the proper way to prepare a plant bed and how to make the ground the most efficient to receive plants and that is not something that I have done before. Also I was handling ginger roots and weighing them, I have never done that before. The owner and my boss, Luca, had me sift some coconut fiber that he mixes with some other stuff to make a really nutrient rich soil. I learned that farming is very hard work but you get used to it. I was exhausted from being in the sun but Luca didn't seem to mind at all. I learned that if you just take a short break from work it is easier to return because if you sit down for too long you feel the tiredness more. I also learned that I really like farming. There is a certain pride in being able to grow your own food. It would be really cool if I didn't have to worry about buying healthy vegetables or going out to the grocery store because I would just grow it myself. I also learned that I am very good at taking directions from people. I do stuff very well when I am told what to do. That is not so good because I should be better at telling myself what to do and making it happen but it is good that I can follow directions well.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Elise Stamper: AP Calculus Review and College Prep For Mini-Gusto this year I did AP Calculus Review and College Prep. The things that I liked most about this experience are that both activities prepared me for the future, AP Calc prepared me for the AP Calc Exam in May and College Prep prepared me to feed myself next year in college. I also really like Ms. Logan as a teacher and she made it enjoyable. I tried cooking in the microwave for the first time and it was easier and tasted better than I thought it would. From this experience I learned what areas of Calculus I need to review and how to feed myself in college. I learned that I am prepared for the AP Calculus Exam from this experience because it gave us the opportunity to take a whole practice test and I scored a 5. It is important because it means that I am on track to excel on the exam.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Aiden Stevens: AP Calculus Review and College Prep During Mini-Gusto, I studied for the AP Calculus exam and took the “welcome to college prep!” elective, which prepared me for cruel college dorm life. In my AP Calculus review activity, I received five bonus points for getting the highest score on several free response questions. That was what I liked most about the morning activity. As for my afternoon activity, I liked making food in microwaves the most. We made nachos, bacon, eggs, pancakes, ramen noodles, and more all in a microwave. I tried Carbonara for the first time, which is basically spaghetti with a sauce made out of eggs, cheese, and bacon. Through my mini-gusto experience, I learned what the layout of the AP exam looks like and learned how to feed myself at a cheap cost in college, as well as how to sew on a button. Through this experience, I’ve also learned that I need to work on discipline when it comes to writing things down daily because it was nearly impossible for me to find the strength to open my journal.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Twelfth Grade
Jonathan Thomas: AP Calculus Review and College Prep Over the Min-Gusto week I participated in both the AP Calculus exam prep and the college prep course. Over the course of the week I learned and relearned valuable calculus tricks to pass the AP exam in May. In the college prep course I learned that you can make just about anything in a microwave. Who knew you could cook eggs in a microwave? I didn’t. I also learned to sew buttons back on when the freshman 15 kick in and how to manage my finances. I enjoyed getting a better understanding of the AP Calc subject and cooking with my fellow classmates. I learned that I can make gourmet mac and cheese and rice crispy treats using the ingredients and a microwave.
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Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Acknowledgements Thanks to our 2017 Mini-Gusto (41st!) vendors, internship providers, and faculty sponsors:
Beckstedt Law Caribbean Adventure Tours Crucian Gold Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism (CHANT) Freedom City Bicycles GHCDS Early learning Center Head Start Program
St. Croix Swimming Association /Red Cross Lifeguarding
Denise Blanchette
St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (SCUBA)
Jane Coles
St. Georges Village Botanical Garden Superior Court of the Virgin Islands/Judge Gallivan
Gwen Lake
Jolynn Grace Josh Canning Kate Baker Kathleen Graham-Adams
The Buccaneer Hotel
Laurie Dunton Laurie Schill
Island Therapy Solutions
The Buccaneer Hotel Golf Course
Jess Ewer
The Leading Edge Kite School
Jolly Roger Tours
The Office of Senator Sammuel Sanes
Ibdesigns
Latitude 17
Lea Wilson Mark Locher Maurice Barrant Olga Capriola
Moorman Aesthetic Center
The St. Croix Women’s Coalition
Mt. Victory Camp
The Vision Center
Neighborhood Pharmacy
UNESCO/Create a Global Citizen/Denmark
Roger Summerhayes
Williams Family Chiropractic
Savannah Logan
29’er Sailing Clinic
Suenita Banwaree
Nelthropp and Low Jewelers Petrichor Plessen Medical Group Ras Lumumba St. Croix Animal Welfare Center St. Croix Marksmanship Association
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Amanda Beach Amanda Warehime Annaly Guerra Chris Fletcher
Good Hope Country Day School 2017 Mini-Gusto Reflections
Phyllis Biddle Rita Bicette