Thursday, October 22, 2009

Almond Freikers Arrive in Магада́н, Russia !

Folks, We have something special for you in this issue of the Almond Freiker's newsletters. Natalie Arsky is going to give us a guided tour of her Russian homeland while we play catch-up for the last 3 weeks that our Freikers have been stranded in Anchorage, Alaska. Probably a freak snowstorm or something like that :) Anyway, over the next 3 weeks we will give you 2 destinations each week that will correspond to the destinations the Freikers would have arrived at if I had been a good tour guide... which, obviously, I'm not !!

So here goes, For the next couple of months we will get to see something truly special of the world we live in.

Stats for Week Oct 12th - 16th:
  • Almond remains the #3 school in the nation.
    Eldorado 2,418
    Foothill 2,363
    Almond 1,791
  • There are 277 Almond Freikers that are active this year of which 63 have not yet registered at www.freiker.org. Take 5 minutes right now and make sure your child is registered.... I'll wait :)
  • Round trips logged this week = 486 despite the pouring rain on Mon - Wed. Good job kids! Total round trips logged to date = 4,459 totaling 6,700 miles. That is an average of 97 walks/rides per day!
  • We prevented 4.5 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere; saved 637 gallons of gasoline and burned a total of 334,575 kid calories.
Almond Freikers Arrive in Ана́дырь (Anadyr), Russia:

Ана́дырь, Chukchi: Кагыргын, Kagyrgyn) is a town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the extreme north-eastern region of Russia. At 177°30′E, Anadyr is the easternmost town in Russia. Population: 11,038 (2002 Census).
It is the most northeasterly region of Russia and, since the sale of Alaska to the United States, has been the only part of Russia lying partially in the Western Hemisphere (east of the 180th meridian).

Chukotka is populated by Chukchi, an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula. They speak the Chukchi language. Many of them are reindeer herders. Chukchi who live in coastal areas hunt sea mammals, polar bears and carve walrus ivory.









The climate of Anadyr is subarctic. Winters are prolonged and very cold, with up to six months of sub-zero temperatures, so that the soil remains permanently frozen. Permafrost and tundra cover most of the region.

Almond Freikers Arrive in Магада́н (Magadan), Russia:

Магада́н) is a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk and gateway to the Kolyma region. It is the administrative center of Magadan Oblast (since 1953), in the Russian Far East. Population: 114,873 (2008 est.); Ship building and fishing are the major industries. The town has a seaport (fully navigable from May to December) and a small international airport.

Magadan is very isolated. The nearest major city is Yakutsk, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) away via an unpaved road which is best used in the winter, especially since there is no bridge over the Lena River at Yakutsk.

Magadan was the focal point of the Long Way Round motorcycle journey made by Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman and their team. Although their ultimate destination was New York, they frequently noted how reaching the Russian city was the ultimate measure of success or failure for their adventure. Despite encountering swollen rivers, broken bridges and virtually impassable roads as they traveled through Siberia, they were ultimately able to ride the "Road of Bones" into Magadan, and flew from there to Anchorage, Alaska from where they continued to New York. Recalling his final day in Magadan before leaving for America, McGregor wrote:

"Magadan, Siberia. The place that had been in my thoughts and dreams for two years, like a mythical city forever beyond my reach. I wanted to capture it, somehow hold on to it and take a part of it with me when we began the long journey home."



Magadan Church in winter

This Week's Green Gear Award Winner!

And the Green Gear winner for this week was...... (drum roll).....

Teddy Chmyz

Congratulations, Teddy, for completing 5 consecutive Green Commutes the previous week!

Baskin-Robbins Winners For This Week!

This is a big week. Remember you get 1 free ice cream cone for every 15 rides or walks! Coupons will be passed out in class early next week.

Abigail 1244393
Alex 464221
Alex 1236366
Andrew 997089, 1249740
Anthony 974684
Audrey 1238687
Austin 1243628
Ben Parker 975545
Brandon 465461, 990409
Brandon L. 991811
Bryan 1230860
Caris 965375, 996055
Chad 990053, 1247082
Cole F. 1248477
Connor 1236055
Corinne 970397
Dalezilla 1242628
Daniel 970958
David 999490
Drew 994375
Eduardo 993855
Elyse 1239325, 970222
Eric 975978
Ethan 460637
Evan 1243290
Han-Nha 1236650
Ian 991309
Ian C. 1233544, 978754
Isabella 974148
Jack 972443
Jacob 1235668, 979231
Jamie 975327
jeremy b. 1237528, 1249479
Joely F. 1240059
Julia 975625
Julia 1239027, 977343
Katia 1244431
Kelsey 1241384
Krishna 1233028
Lily 1245890
Luis 1245350
Marcus 977847
Matthew 1243372
Max 992086
Max 995191
Mia 991627, 1244580
Natalie 974351
Nathan 975174
Nathan 975725
Nathan 1244039
Nicholas A. 1240081
Nikolas 992699, 1248842
Pinky 1240682
Rachel 1237770, 1242109
Ryan 975817
Sasha 1239119
Sean D. 979130
Shawn 978683
Sierra 1244049
Tanvi 1232178
Tatiana G. 1248482
Teddy 1240376
Theresa 1240484
Thien-Nha 1238814, 990675
Tom 972128
Trevor 1241781
Tyler 1243092
Will Diamond 973104



The Top 10% Green Commuters!
Dalezilla 1242628 39
Jack 972443 39
Brandon 465461, 990409 38
Cole F. 1248477 38
Nathan 1244039 38
Teddy 1240376 38
Andrew 997089, 1249740 37
Audrey 1238687 37
Austin 1243628 37
Joely F. 463041, 1240059 37
Lily 1245890 37
Max 995191 37
Nathan 975174 37
Sierra 1244049 37
Tom 972128 37
Trevor 1241781 37
Abigail 1244393 36
Ben P. 975545 36
Ian Conceicao 1233544, 978754 36
Katia 1244431 36
Luis 1245350 36
Mia 991627, 1244580 36
These Freikers Have Walked/Ridden at least 75% of the time!
Anthony 974684 35
Bryan 1230860 35
Drew 994375 35
Ethan 460637 35
Julia 975625 35
Marcus 977847 35
Nikolas 992699, 1248842 35
Pinky 1240682 35
Sean D. 979130 35
Chad 990053, 1247082 34
Daniel 970958 34
Eric 975978 34
Evan 1243290 34
Ian 991309 34
Max 992086 34
Rachel 1237770, 1242109 34
Will D. 973104 34
Alex 464221 33
Brandon L. 991811 33
Connor 1236055 33
Julia 1239027, 977343 33
Nathan 975725 33
Shawn 467794, 978683 33
David 999490 32
jeremy b. 1237528, 1249479 32
Kelsey 460650, 1241384 32
Natalie 974351 32
Nicholas A. 1240081 32
Ryan 975817 32
Thien-Nha 1238814, 990675 32
Alex 1236366 31
Eduardo 993855 31
Elyse 1239325, 970222 31
Jacob 1235668, 979231 31
Jamie 975327 31
Matthew 1243372 31
Corinne 970397 30
Han-Nha 1236650 30
Isabella 974148 30
Krishna 1233028 30
Sasha 1239119 30
Tatiana 1248482 30
Theresa 1240484 30
These Freikers Have Not Yet Registered!
347454 1
350871 13
353816 2
356380 1
358548 4
460124 4
460141 2
460373 3
461104 3
461817 6
462347 2
463565 4
463633 1
463759 5
464299 2
464550 1
465093 11
465231 13
465238 1
465259 7
465487 1
465741 7
466328 3
466630 3
466978 7
467039 7
467182 3
468667 2
468741 1
468904 4
468988 5
469968 5
961147 1
962704 1
966505 5
967515 4
971219 2
972777 5
974001 7
976876 8
979071 7
979631 2
991940 2
992324 6
994228 11
994883 1
996690 2
997293 1
998509 23
999382 21
1230739 1
1232700 3
1233339 7
1233626 13
1235902 3
1237597 29
1237715 27
1238072 9
1239413 12
1246952 13
1248088 1
1249195 11
1249239 13
Freikomter Times:
This is just a reminder that the Freikometer is a solar powered computer that gets 100% of it's power from the Sun. Because of this, the Freikometer has limited hours of operation. Make sure your students buzz in during one of the periods when the Freikometer is turned on:
  • Start of Day: 8:00-8:30am
  • PM Kinders: 11:45-12:00pm
  • After School: 2:30-3:00pm
If you miss buzzing in on the Freikometer during one of these periods, you can always enter your child's round trip manually at www.freiker.org.
Helpful Hits at the Freikometer:
Here are some tips that will make it easier for your child to be counted correctly when they get to the Freikometer each day:
  1. Have your Freiker RFID tag attached to the top of your helmet or the top handle on your backpack. This gets it closer to the Freikometer and easier to read the tag.
  2. Make sure your child's name is written on the Freiker RFID tag with a permanent sharpie. This way, if you loose the tag, Venny will know who to return it to.
  3. Make sure your child takes turns going through the Freikometer one at a time. If you get 4 kids under the Freikometer and it buzzes, nobody knows whose RFID tag just got read.
  4. If in doubt as to whether your Freiker tag was read, go back through the Freikometer. It will only count you once per day no matter how many times you make the buzzer go off. Have fun with this one...
  5. If, for any reason, you can't make it out to buzz in on the Freikometer one day, you can always enter your ride/walk manually at www.freiker.org.
  6. Work on your friends! If you have friends that are riding or walking to school several days a week and they are not Freikers, ask them to join. It's not just about the cool awards but showing the rest of the nation just how committed the students at Almond are to their health and the health of the planet.
Well, that's all for now folks. I'll update you again next week

Every Ride Counts!
Jon

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