Great Scot September 2019 Great Scot 157_September 2019_ONLINE | Page 23

Over two weeks in the June-July holiday
break, 45 Year 8 and 9 boys, along with five
staff, visited places of interest in Orlando
and San Francisco, USA, and in between
spent a week living the unique Space Camp
experience in Huntsville, Alabama.
The tour started with a bang, visiting our
busiest state, Florida. Fresh off the plane
we took part in iFly (indoor skydiving) and
an airboat ride, where a lucky few of us saw
alligators. The next day was a trip highlight
when we visited Universal Studios. This day
was full of excitement and was topped off
by a behind-the-scenes tour of the park.
Our last day in Florida was at the Kennedy
Space Centre. It was incredible to see real life
rockets and learn about the space program,
as well as having lunch with an astronaut.
Space Camp was a great opportunity
to meet people from all over the world and
make long-lasting friends. The week was filled
with numerous exciting activities – everything
from simulators of space launch to meeting
some engineers who worked on the Apollo
11 rocket. Highlights were participating in
missions, where everyone took the role of
a person on an actual space mission, and
learned about the technical challenges of the
American space programs and the intricacies
of designing a spacecraft.
After enjoying a packed five days at
camp, we headed off to the Golden Gate
city, San Francisco. With San Francisco
being the technological hub of America, we
toured Silicon Valley, where we got to see
the headquarters of some of the biggest
technological giants in the world, including
Google, Facebook and Intel. We later visited
the Exploratorium, a fun interactive museum
in which we explored the concepts of science,
art and human perception. We visited the
University of California, Berkeley, touring
around the campus before heading off to the
legendary prison, Alcatraz, where we heard
about the fascinating and rich history of the
island prison.
Our final stop was the USS Hornet, a
decommissioned US aircraft carrier, famous
for its role in the space program, most notably
the recovery of the Apollo 11 astronauts after
their splashdown. The trip was full of exciting
and interactive activities, all the while learning
about the mysteries of space. It has been one
of the highlights of our time at Scotch.
ABOVE: GRAVITY TRAINING. BELOW: STAFF AND STUDENTS AT THE NASA CENTRE IN HOUSTON
SHANE GAN — YEAR 9 AND
HENRY ROGERS — YEAR 8
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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