Room 21@EPS

Sir Edmund Hillary, also known as “The Man Behind The Mountain” was born on 20th of July 1919. H e started off life as an ordinary beekeeper but his life was about to change as he achieved the impossible.

Sir Edmund Hillary joined the Everest Reconnaissance in 1951 and again in 1952. He started his expedition to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. On the way up, he met a man called Tenzing Norgay who was going to help him make an assault to the top.

The climb to the summit was full of harsh blizzards and slopes that seemed unclimbable but Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay didn’t give up. Most volunteers who also joined up either gave up or passed away. The Journey took several weeks.

Finally on the 29th of May 1953 at half past eleven. There were no more slopes and nowhere else to climb. They made it!! They were the first people on top of the so-called “unclimbable” mountain.

Over the next 50 years, Sir Ed was to have many more adventures. He jet-boated up the mouth of the fierce Ganges River, a river that is 1,560 miles long stretching from the mouth of the Himalayan Mountains and also led an expedition of tractors to the South Pole. He also became New Zealand’s High Commissioner in India.

Sir Edmund Hillary also helped the Sherpas in Nepal to build twenty-seven schools, two hospitals, twelve clinics, several bridges and an airstrip.

I think that Sir Edmund Hillary used all of the Habits of Minds. He used Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations because he used his past experience from climbing previous mountains to climb Mount Everest and to complete other challenging expeditions. I also think he responded with Wonderment and Awe because he always wanted to learn more about his world and he achieved what he dreamt of doing.

Despite everything he has done. Sir Edmund Hillary will mostly be remembered for that day when he and Tenzing Norgay stood on the summit of Mount Everest.
He was an extraordinary New Zealander and shall never be forgotten.

By MHH

Dear Diary,
Today I have been thinking of ways that I can change myself for the better………

1. By using different strategies to help me behave and learn.
2. By not getting influenced by others to do nasty things.
3. By playing with responsible people.
4. By managing my impulsivity.
5. By walking away from people that aren’t doing the right thing.
6. By not trying to fight with others.
7. By telling a teacher if someone is being annoying.
8. By not arguing with others.
9. By using the Habits of Mind.
10. By using the School Values.

By your new trying to improve,

LT ☺

Wednesday the 5th of March was just an ordinary day. Nothing big. Nothing different. Just another day.

As usual we went to Mrs Tetupu’s Room for Music with Room 25. When we came back to our class that ordinary day disappeared.

The room was a TOTAL disaster!!! It looked like a tornado had hit the place. The tables were upside down. The chairs were upside down. The sofa in the library corner was upside down. The school values words chart that said School Values was upside down. The paper that said Miss Adamson’s Expectations of Room 21 was upside down. EVERYTHING we saw was upside down!!!!

I was totally surprised and stood there with my mouth wide open. I couldn’t believe my eyes because our classroom is usually so tidy. We had no idea what had happened to our classroom. We all went home wondering about what had happened to our classroom.

The next day we found out that while we were in Mrs Tetupu’s class joyfully singing, Mr D and Room 19 had been plotting a plan to turn our class upside down. I know it was Mr D because Miss Adamson, Mrs Tetupu and Miss Tizard had moved his table, hid his chair and did a few other things to his classroom at lunchtime as a joke. Mr D had decided to play a joke back on them!

Mr D must have found out somehow or from someone what had happened. I think Room 19 quietly snuck in through the back door of our classroom and quietly turned our room upside down and then quietly left.
They must have been as quiet as mice because Mr Borcher’s office is right next door to our classroom.

What was even worse was that on Wacky Wednesday the girls got to go home while the boys had to stay and clean the room up. I was really surprised and a bit mad too as we hadn’t made the mess.

It was funny seeing our classroom upside down though. Our classroom is normally very tidy. Very weird seeing everything so messy. I want to have revenge. I want to turn all THEIR tables upside down, turn THEIR baskets upside down and make THEIR room worse than what they made our room. That would be really funny.

Hopefully one day we will get our revenge on Mr D and Room 19. ☺

BY MH

On the 29th May 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of the highest mountain in the world. They were the first people to climb the highest mountain.

On the Top of the World

Sir Edmund Hillary used to be a beekeeper. He then climbed Mount Everest and became an extraordinary person. He liked adventures. He jet boated up the Ganges River and led expeditions to the South Pole.

The Ganges River is a sacred river known as Ganga Ma – Mother Ganges. The Ganges River is 1,560 miles long and it is in Northern India. It starts from the Himalayan mountains and ends up in the Indian Ocean.

Map of the River Ganges
Sherpas are a group of people who live in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal. The word sherpa is also used to describe the local men who are experts in carrying heavy packs and guiding people who want to climb the mountains.

Sir Edmund Hillary set up The Himalayan Trust which built schools and hospitals for the sherpas. He built 27 schools and 2 hospitals. He also built an airstrip which was important as it meant that the planes could carry equipment and food to the sherpas. Before it took the sherpas 17 days to carry the equipment from Kathmandu to their village. Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal.

Sir Edmund Hillary was an extraordinary New Zealander because he never gave up when his wife and daughter was killed in a plane crash. He helped the Sherpas and changed their lives. Sir Edmund Hillary was a helpful and caring man who loved his family, his friends and the rest of the world.

By The White Group

Photos from Sir Edmund Hillary Photo Gallery – Academy of Achievement

At 9:30am the whole school went to the Auditorium to watch the Chinese Peformance. I felt excited because I haven’t watched a lot of shows before.

The first peformance was the drummers. The Chinese girls played them very loudly and very fast. The Chinese Performers also played the cymbals. They were was so amazing because they kept the beat and played in time with the drummers. I couldn’t stop my feet from tapping and my face from smiling.

The next performance was the Tea Pouring. A long time ago when the Chinese sailors worked on the boats they used to drink a lot of tea to cool themselves down. They used a teapot with a metre long spout and they practiced tricks with it. I thought their tricks was spectacular.

My favourite peformance was the Shaolin Monks. They were like ninjas. One of them was like a rope as he was so flexible. They were dressed in bright orange and yellow costumes that made them look like very colourful. They showed us their kicks and punches and their tricks with the chain whip and the bamboo sticks. They told us that they do this to keep fit and healthy.

I think the Shaolin Monks were inspiring. It makes me want to join up. I think they all used the Habits of Mind persitance because they never gave up and kept on trying. They trained for between 10 – 20 years! I would really like to watch them again. They were so AWESOME!!!!

By TM