Wow, what an experience! I'm so proud to be chosen to have this wonderful New York City adventure. It all went so quickly, I thought it would be best to give you third graders a timeline (remember those?).
Monday, June 30
5:00 am
I had to get up really early and drive from my hotel room in Des Moines to the Des Moines International Airport. The night before was a little bit stressful as there were thunderstorms all around and even some tornado warnings. I didn't get much sleep, but was excited to head to NYC! I did, however realize that it was probably too early to remember where I parked, so I took a picture of where I walked out. Does this mean I'm getting old? Don't answer that!
8:18 am
This is when we were supposed to take flight, but because there was bad weather elsewhere, the airplane I was supposed to ride in was not in Des Moines. It was still coming back from Chicago, IL. Our flight to Chicago was delayed by 45 minutes, however the next plane I needed to get on was still planning to leave at 11:00 am. Do you see a problem? Well, it turned out we landed in Chicago and I got off the airplane at 10:20, so I walked quickly to my next airplane gate, which I estimate must have been 1/2 mile away. YIKES!
11:00 am
We took flight from Chicago in a large airplane that held about 200 people. The flight was very bumpy due to turbulence (look that up!).
2:00 pm
We landed and although it took a while to leave the plane (I was in row 37 of 38) I quickly found a taxi cab and asked him to hurry me to Midtown! Well, we got stuck in some traffic, of course, but we did make some good time because when I looked at the speedometer, at one point we were going over 60 miles per hour in the city. Did I mention taxi drivers are very aggressive drivers? It's like nothing you've probably seen.
2:45 pm
I arrived at my hotel room on the corner of West 47th and 8th Avenue. Look that up on Mapquest! It took me a while to check in to the room and get all of my stuff organized. I had some time to iron my clothes (yes, sometimes I HAVE to do that when there's no hot clothes dryer to throw my clothes into!). I organized everything I would need for the night. This is a place I had never stayed before. It's also the smallest room I've ever stayed in.
I found these in the bathroom. Do you know what they are? They are earplugs and used in places where the noise level bothers your ears. Why do you suppose they give guests earplugs?
Here's your answer. This is a view outside my room. Did I mention there is a fire station about 5 doors down the road? Firefighters respond to EVERY accident in the city!
I soon got a text message from Karoline (remember Karoline from the Civic Center?) and she said to wear the clothes I would be wearing tonight to our rehearsal at 5:00. So, I got everything organized and headed down to the Minskoff Theatre on 45th street and 7th Avenue (Look that up, too!)
5:00 pm
I got to meet two of the other award winners. One was a principal from Massachusetts and the other was a fourth grade teacher near Rochester, New York. The fourth winner was on his way. He was a middle school principal in the south Bronx, NYC. We had to go through a rehearsal of what the night's awards ceremony would look like. We met a lot of helpful people that taught us where to walk, when to shake hands, when to take the award, and other things like that. It was really neat because we practiced right on the stage and got to look out at all of the lights and seats. Also, all of the Lion King things were backstage being stored since the Lion King Musical is performed on this same stage eight times a week! Here's a photo I took of one side of the theatre.
5:45 pm
We were released from rehearsal, but needed to be back at 6:30, so while Mrs. Binienda needed to go back to her hotel room to change, Mrs. Valentine and I went across the street at Carmine's Restaurant. It was delicious. I really hadn't eaten much food all day, and I am an eater!
6:30 pm
We had to report back to the Minskoff Theatre at 6:30 in order to walk the red carpet. Maybe you've seen that at other award shows. People walk by and the photographers snap picture after picture. The pictures below were taken from BroadwayWorld.com
The photo on the left shows the four award winners (Mr. Gessetto, Mrs. Valentine, Mrs. Binienda, and me) In the center is Mrs. St. Martin. She is the Executive Director of the Broadway League which sponsors the Apple Educator Awards. The photo below is Mrs. St. Martin, me, Mr. Eric Olmscheid, and Ms. Karoline Myers. Eric is the Director of Programming and Education at the Civic Center and Karoline is the Education Manager. Remember, she's the one that told me about your tickets to Wicked! |
6:45 pm
We were invited to a pre-show party. There was a lot of food and drinks in fun glasses. I got to meet so many people who work in the theatre business. It was fun to follow Eric and Karoline around since they knew all of these folks.
7:30 pm
The show! You can go HERE to find out more about it!
The show began with all 56 high school students working together to sing some songs. They were very good. Then, we were introduced to the host, Ryan McCartan (who is a previous winner of this competition and has been on Broadway and the Disney show Liv and Maddie. He introduced the next 6 groups that performed together. They were all fantastic. Then, the judges left for the intermission and had to pick 3 boys and 3 girls to be finalists.
After intermission was our part! A man named Tommy Tune (who has won nine Tony Awards) told a story about how important a teacher was in his life. He told the audience how this teacher introduced him to theatre and then he grew to make it his career. After that, another presenter introduced each teacher by telling the reason why he or she won the award. We each walked out and shook Tommy's hand and received our awards. They were kind of heavy. I'm glad we practiced!
I was the fourth person on stage. It was pretty amazing to walk out and see all of the people in the audience on a real Broadway stage. The audience cheered loudly for us! It was pretty cool! I might have a picture of me on stage coming soon! If I get it, I'll put it here.
Oh! And, I was in the Playbill! I'm not sure if you can see it well enough here, but do you remember when YOU were in our Life of Lincoln Playbill?
The show began with all 56 high school students working together to sing some songs. They were very good. Then, we were introduced to the host, Ryan McCartan (who is a previous winner of this competition and has been on Broadway and the Disney show Liv and Maddie. He introduced the next 6 groups that performed together. They were all fantastic. Then, the judges left for the intermission and had to pick 3 boys and 3 girls to be finalists.
After intermission was our part! A man named Tommy Tune (who has won nine Tony Awards) told a story about how important a teacher was in his life. He told the audience how this teacher introduced him to theatre and then he grew to make it his career. After that, another presenter introduced each teacher by telling the reason why he or she won the award. We each walked out and shook Tommy's hand and received our awards. They were kind of heavy. I'm glad we practiced!
I was the fourth person on stage. It was pretty amazing to walk out and see all of the people in the audience on a real Broadway stage. The audience cheered loudly for us! It was pretty cool! I might have a picture of me on stage coming soon! If I get it, I'll put it here.
Oh! And, I was in the Playbill! I'm not sure if you can see it well enough here, but do you remember when YOU were in our Life of Lincoln Playbill?
The rest of the show were some videos, the finalists performed, and two winners (one boy, one girl) were chosen. It was an exciting night!
10:15 pm
The show ended and Eric and Karoline invited me to a post-show V.I.P. party. It was the performers, their parents, presenters, and other theatre supporters. It was held just down the block from the theatre at a place called John's Pizzeria. They might have the best pizza in all of New York City. I've been there three times now and never been disappointed!
At the party, we talked with so many people and had a great time. Karoline told me she had something for me. She was delivering it. It was a card. Can you guess who from? If you guessed Hayley, you're right! The card was so nice, and it congratulated me on receiving the award. I have been telling her since I found out, that without HER there would BE NO AWARD! Am I right?
The red carpet made its appearance, so we took a photo with my award because I so wanted to share it with you. I tweeted it that night, but here it is again. It was SO HOT in the pizzeria!
At the party, we talked with so many people and had a great time. Karoline told me she had something for me. She was delivering it. It was a card. Can you guess who from? If you guessed Hayley, you're right! The card was so nice, and it congratulated me on receiving the award. I have been telling her since I found out, that without HER there would BE NO AWARD! Am I right?
The red carpet made its appearance, so we took a photo with my award because I so wanted to share it with you. I tweeted it that night, but here it is again. It was SO HOT in the pizzeria!
12:00 am (midnight - Now Tuesday, July 1)
The party was ending and it was time for me to walk back to the hotel. It was a short three block walk. When I got back, it was time to get packed up and ready to leave that morning. I tweeted and answered some Facebook messages.
1:30 am
Time for bed! It was a nice try, but I didn't sleep.
5:15 am
Time to get up and get ready. I had already arranged for a car to take me to the airport, so I didn't have to worry about trying to get a cab this early in the morning. I finished packing up and left the hotel.
6:15 am
The car I took was not a cab, it was black and kind of reminded me of a small limousine. Fancy, right? Well, not really. The driver was so fun to talk to. He was originally from Honduras. Find that on the map. We drove through a different part of Queens I had never been in, and he was QUICK to get me to the airport. It took only 30 minutes to get there. Sometimes it takes one hour!
I even got my tickets without waiting for long and got through the security screening without waiting either! That sometimes takes another hour! Because things went so fast, I got to my plane gate WAY early and had time to relax!
I even got my tickets without waiting for long and got through the security screening without waiting either! That sometimes takes another hour! Because things went so fast, I got to my plane gate WAY early and had time to relax!
9:00 am
The airplane ride to Chicago left exactly on time, and it went pretty fast. I listened to my iPod and I think I may have slept a little bit! I'm not sure. We landed at 10:30 am. That sounds like the ride was only an hour and a half right? Well, we crossed a time zone and got that one hour back, so although it was a two hour and thirty minute trip, it looks like one hour and thirty minutes on the clock.
10:50 am
After we landed and I walked to the next gate, which was a long ways away, I was looking forward to taking off again in about an hour at 12:04 pm. Well… our flight got delayed about 10 times. I knew I'd get back to Des Moines eventually, I just didn't know when.
1:19 pm
We eventually left Chicago by plane. I got to sit by a very nice lady from Indianola, Iowa. Her daughter sang in Carnegie Hall in NYC, so they had been visiting. We shared a lot of fun New York stories.
2:34 pm
We LANDED in Des Moines! I found my car (without using my photo) and headed home to Parkersburg.
What a wonderful trip of a lifetime. I was so very proud to represent all of you guys, Hayley, A-P Schools, and The Des Moines Performing Arts. It was great to share our Pen Pal In Arts program with so many others. Make sure you come visit the third grade classroom in August so you can see the award! Maybe you can hold it and give a great acceptance speech?!? I would love to hear it!
What a wonderful trip of a lifetime. I was so very proud to represent all of you guys, Hayley, A-P Schools, and The Des Moines Performing Arts. It was great to share our Pen Pal In Arts program with so many others. Make sure you come visit the third grade classroom in August so you can see the award! Maybe you can hold it and give a great acceptance speech?!? I would love to hear it!