Grand Canyon Trip

Fundraising information.

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Dear Friends, Family and Community Members,

According to John Wesley Powell, an American explorer, geologist and teacher, “The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.” We are therefore planning a 6-day trip to Arizona in April 2010 to see this wonderful landscape with our own eyes.

We were all Earth Science students last year where we studied Geology, Astronomy and Earth’s History. This trip will give us an opportunity to travel outside our Bronx neighborhood to visit a truly amazing part of our country, and bring to life topics that we learned about in the classroom. We are thrilled to be able to witness some of the places we saw only in textbook photos or on videos.

In addition to our visit to the Grand Canyon, we will also be spending time in Sedona, a beautiful town filled with artists and mammoth red rocks. While there we will do some bike riding, hiking and visit a few galleries. We’ll also be going to Slide Rock State Park where we’ll be able to swim and slide down natural sandstone rock formations.

From Sedona, we’ll head north to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument where we will hike through and explore solidified lava flows that are over 1000 years old. We’ll also visit Wupakti National Monument where less than 800 years ago it was one of the largest pueblos, despite being located in one of the driest, warmest places in the area.

As we continue our journey north, we’ll be stopping at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Here, with the use of their state of the art telescope, we will have a night tour of the universe in all its magnificence. We will also take a college tour of Northern Arizona State University to get a glimpse of the campus and speak with admission counselors.

Our final destination will be the awe-inspiring, Grand Canyon. John Muir stated, “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” Hopefully this will be a springboard that catapults us into the world of traveling and exploration as well as connecting us to the magnificence of the nature in this country.

We have been involved in fundraising since last spring and although we are paying for half of the cost of the trip ourselves, we still need to raise $12,000. This money will help cover the cost of plane tickets, hotel accommodations, meals, park entry fees, and other activity fees such as mountain bike rentals.

We are currently hard at work organizing 2 dances at our school and we have plans to conduct an evening dinner at our school with family and friends to continue to fundraise for our trip. We are asking you to give what you can so that we can reach our goal of raising $12,000 by January 2010. If you cannot donate, please pass this information on to others who you think may be able to give. All donations can be given in the form of a check made payable to Discovery High School and sent to the same at 2780 Reservoir Ave. Bronx, NY 10468. Upon receipt of your donation, we will send you a conformation letter for tax purposes. If you have any questions, please contact Lori Zalanowski at wellness212@gmail.com. Thank you in advance for your help.

The Grand Canyon Travelers

Fundraising

The Discovery Dinner Party was a great success. Won’t you help us make the next even more successful? Sign up with Ms. Z to make and donate a dish for our February 3rd Discovery Dinner Party. Ms. Stuts is making her killer lasagna!!!

We’re working hard but we still have $$$ to raise. If you’d like to make a donation, please send a check or money order to
Discovery High School
2780 Reservoir Ave.
Bronx, NY 10468