Second Session Discussion

The second session began on January 10, 2011 with full attendance. There is no session on January 17th.

As we get closer to June (the trip date--exact dates to be determined), we realized we have much to cover. To enjoy the trip, we realize that certain expectations should be in place, and the group brainstormed the following provisions for a contract which they will sign on January 24th.

Y.A.L.E. Social Contract

This contract was constructed and completed by all YALE participants during class on Monday January 10, 2011. We have composed this social contract which we have all agreed to follow while on our trip.

1.    Always have your cell phone on you. (consider borrowing a cell phone for the trip if you do not own one)

2.    Every night a chaperon will make sure that each Yale participant is charging his/her cell phone.

3.    Public Restrooms – There will be a Buddy System in place when someone needs to use a restroom.

4.    No answering the hotel room doors without knowing who is at the door. (chaperon will be in charge of opening the room doors at the hotel)

5.    All phones will be set on vibrate after 9pm to eliminate disturbances at night in the hotel room.

6.    Tell chaperon when you might need some alone time. (if you need to be by yourself “chill time”)

7.    Follow the schedule that YALE participants have made before going on the trip. There should be no arguing about schedule since we will all make our daily schedule prior to going on the trip.

8.    Be respectful to others (inside/outside) our group.

9.    Make sure you know what rides you are able to go on. Each participant might have a medical condition which prevents them from going on a ride.

10.  Flexible to change in schedule due to chaperons discretion.

11.  Respect your space in the hotel. (keep your space clean; tidy up after yourself)

12.  Whenever you go each participant must tell a chaperon where he/she is going at all times.

13.  No smoking or drinking allowed on this trip.

14.  No fighting, no swearing, no DRAMA à always refer to a chaperon in a time of need

15.  No hand-buzzing

16.  No back-talk to chaperons

17.  No deliberate belching/farting in public areas

18.  No harassment

19.  No touching people’s personal belongings without permission

20.  Chaperon will enforce parent’s rules on the trip.

YALE hosts annual Christmas Party

One of the ways in which YALE on the Move has chosen to fund raise for the trip to Florida is by running the monthly dances. This involves a lot of coordination, including designing and sending out notices, managing the food and material donations, collecting the money, coming up with a DJ and list of songs, arranging for the speakers, and making sure the Senior Center is cleaned up at the end of the night. Each dance yields close to $100 in donations, so we hope to plan many more before June.

Bake Sale

YALE members participated in a bake sale at the Senior Center on December 4th. The crafts fair hosted by the Senior Center presented a great venue for us to furnish food and drink to attendees. We managed to raise close to $150 towards the trip!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Yale on the Move participants finished the first session with a celebration right before Thanksgiving. Each member brought his or her favorite dish and helped prepare the feast. There was plenty of good food, good company, and good conversation!

October 25, 2010

After two weeks off of YALE it was great to get back into planning our trip! Last night we talked about the places we may want to go to in Florida. Everyone had great ideas and we will definitely have plenty to do to keep us busy! Among the most popular ideas were Disney, the Hard Rock Cafe, Universal Studios, MGM, Blizzard Beach, and Sea World. There was even one mention of "Alligator Land!" We will work on refining this list so we can create an itinerary! Feel free to let us know if you know of any hot spots in the Orlando area!!

Throughout our YALE sessions we hope to be able to have some "guest speakers" or professionals involved in travel, such as travel agents, flight attendants, etc. So, we created a list of questions we might want to ask a travel agent. Our group came up with lots of great questions, so meeting with a travel agent would definitely be very informative for us!

One of the fundraisers that the YALE group will be participating in is the monthly dances at the Senior Center. All of the proceeds from upcoming dances will be donated to YALE; however, this means that participants will need to do some work in planning and facilitating the dances! Everyone has been assigned a task such as creating and mailing invitations, collecting food/drink donations, setting up and cleaning up, money collection, and working the snack and drink table. The first dance acting as a YALE fundraiser will be November 20th and more information will come home about this soon!

Each participant brought home a Budgeting worksheet last night. This worksheet a way for each person to keep track of how much money they have saved for the trip. They can record the date, how much they have saved that week, and the total amount of money they have saved. We discussed several ways to save money. If the participant has a job, they could possibly set aside a portion of their paycheck. Collecting change and then "cashing it in" is also a great and easy way to save. The homework assignment for next week is to try and save $10 (or whatever you can!) and record it on your Budgeting sheet. Good luck!!

Destination: Florida!

Our second session of YALE began by finalizing the decision about the destination of our trip. Florida and California were the two locations that received the most votes, so the decision was between the two. Since both have so much to offer, we filled out a chart with the pros and cons of each location to help us make the best choice. After a final vote, Florida was chosen. A shorter plane ride is definitely a plus and we are looking forward to lots of theme parks!

Once we knew where we would be headed on our trip, we made a list of some of the expenses that are involved in a vacation and estimates of how much we thought each one would cost. Next week we will look at some actual costs and see how they compare to our estimates...hopefully we weren't too far off! Once we know how much everything will cost we will have a better idea of how much money we need to save.

REMINDER: YALE will not be meeting on October 11th (Columbus Day) and October 18th. See you on the 25th!!

Off to a Good Start!

Our first session was Monday, September 27th, 2010. Introductions were made, although most of the soon-to-be travelers know each other. There are 10 participants which is a great turnout.

We discussed potential destinations, and the suggestions ranged from Florida, DC, New York, California, the Bermuda Triangle, and Andover, MA. The finalists were Florida and California, and now comes the task of deciding which one will be more affordable as well as provide the most activities and easiest way to get around. The discussion was interesting and lively, and the group weighed the pros and cons of each of the suggestions.

The group then discussed potential costs and figured out they would each have to set aside approximately $20 per week for 30 weeks in order to be able to afford the trip. We also talked about possible fundraising efforts, and the suggestions were a car wash, raffle baskets at the next Winarc fundraiser, holding the Winarc dances (doing all the work!), plus a few others, including a pillow fight a la Three Stooges style (don't worry, that was nixed, at least as a fundraiser).

It was a great class, and the two hours flew by quickly.

REMINDER: checks for the first session are due on Monday, October 4th, as well as the Emergency Contact forms.