The Buffet of a Day

Thursday was a huge day at the school and for the immersion students. Much of it was typical school excitement and there were unique events that we have never seen before. So the catalog for the day included Standardized Testing for the DLSBS students, Mass and our Official Ranger led Hike at Glacier National Park.

The Students at DLSBS, are getting ready to enter into a new formalized curriculum and before they do that the administration wanted a baseline on the ability levels of the students in the school. Much like CBC they want to be able to measure the learning process. DLSBS utilizes the NWEA MAP test in 4 areas. The test is the same that CBC uses but for the specific grade levels here at DLSBS. Our students were asked to serve as test readers for the MAP, many of the students get accommodations similar to what some kids at CBC would get. The first of the 4 sessions lasted right up until Mass and true to Murphy's Law they had network and internet issues that cropped up first thing in the morning.

We had already experienced Mass at the Little Flower Church adjacent to DLSBS, but today was a special day. We were witness to 2 Baptisms of DLSBS students and 7 First Communions. It was really special that the CBC boys got to witness this Sacramental moment with the kids. Many of the families were in attendance and the Church was busting at the seams with people there to celebrate with the 4th graders experiencing this special moment.

We quickly snarfed down our lunch while waiting for the Immersion Coordinator to be ready to leave and then we journeyed to St. Mary's an area of Glacier Park just north of Browning. St. Mary's Lake is a huge body of water right at this Eastern entrance to the Park and is the Gateway to the Going to the Sun Road, which is a scenic drive through Logan Pass, the highest pass in the Park. We took a 2.5 mile hike near the lake with our Park Guide Ittai, a National Park Services Ranger. We got to visit an early Ranger station, a enormous Beaver Lodge and Dam and several landmarks on the trail. He talked about the diverse ecosystem in Glacier and how unique it is. One of the areas we visited was a burned portion of the park from the 2006 fire. The boys finished off the hike by skipping rocks into the St. Mary's Lake.

That evening was supposed to be our dinner out at Two Medicine Grill, but considering that it snowed the entire hike and was getting worse we decided that we would work our way back to the Mission and enjoyed dinner there. In the end the Mission got around 4 inches of snow and Browning got about 6 inches of snow. We think that the Eastern part of the Park had upwards of 10 inches. To all that we came across it was no big deal. The roads were clear and it was interesting to see how easily everyone got around.

After supper at the Mission the challenge was finally thrown down and the rules were drawn for a swim in the Two Medicine River. So we had two boys who took up the charge and continued the tradition of swims in the River. This was the first time the temperature was freezing and snow was on the ground but it was good fun had by all. We also had a contingent that marched to the top of the Buffalo jumps in the snow and I thoroughly enjoyed that. It was one of the picturesque scenes that I have seen.

We are on the the verge of wrapping up our trip and I will try to have one more blog post Friday Night and then again as a wrap up to the trip. LIVE JESUS IN OUR HEARTS.....FOREVER!!!