The second and third grade class worked hard to raise money to explore the Big Apple. We had multiple bake sales and one amazing, fun, exciting and successful mother's day cafe (that really raised most of the money! ) Thank you to all of you who enjoyed and bought our sweets!

When we boarded the van we were all very excited to get our trip underway. For many of the students this was their first adventure exploring the Bronx and Manhattan. Our first stop was the Bronx Zoo. We ate lunch and headed toward Tiger Mountain. There was a huge crowd gathering around the Tiger's entrance and the kids snuck their selves to the front of the crowd so they could get an up-close view of the gigantic Tiger eating a ball of meat from a stick! We walked all over the zoo, enjoyed a tram ride through a safari like atmosphere, and ended up in the World of Darkness where the kids saw beautiful bats from all over the world. Our Zoo day was a huge sucess. We hopped in the van and started our next adventure ..... Manhattan!

Keith, one of the interns, found us a free place to stay in the Lower East Side. He was friends with the owner of Blue Stockings (an amazing anarchist bookstore) and we were able to sleep under the stars on her building, just around the corner from the bookstore. We made ramen noodles and had a picnic on the rooftop and then set up our sleeping bags. We watched the sunset and marveled at the lights of the city as they lit the sky. The weather was beautiful ... Druhan even saw a shooting star! The sounds of the city lulled us to sleep and we awoke to the sounds of construction on the high rise next to our building. We made breakfast, boarded the van and parked in Brooklyn ( where you can park for free! ). We navigated the subway and made our way back to the lower east side.

We walked through China Town, bought some nice gifts to bring home and almost ended up with a couple tiny pet turtles.....though we decided against it because we already had a pet hamster back in Albany to take care of. We hit the pavement again- we were in search of the BEST Chinese restaurant. Rachel found one that served dim sum and we ate our last meal in the city before making our trek back to Albany. Skyelar, Imara, Asja, Helen, Maya, Druhan, and Tusweca were an amazing Free School bunch. I am incredibly proud of all of them.

To see more pictures visit the Free School photo site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/albanyfreeschool/sets/72157602318458305/detail/

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.