04/27/13

Dorothy Grant Elementary School (DGES) - 3rd Grade Class 2010-2011

has made World-Wide News with their "Smile! Just Because" flag

David R. Collingham, DX0DX Spratly Island Antenna/Station Coordinator makes a visit to Dorothy Grant Elementary School, Fontana, CA on April 5, 2011. Teacher, Beverly Matheson and Students provided David R. Collingham with "Thank You" letters and a Video presentation from each student. A donation was made to the class to continue their projects for advance learning in 2011.

Special Flag Project: Classroom Students designed and fabricated a "Smile! Just Because" flag that would follow the ham radio Spratly DX-Pedition Team Members around the World - January 1 thru February 10, 2011

On October 27-31, 2010, the DX0DX Spratly Island DX-Pedition Team met in Fontana, California to Assemble Antennas and load a large container with supplies for the Spratly Island DX-Pedition. During this visit, Beverly Matheson, Dorothy Grant Elementary School, 3rd Grade Class teacher expressed an interest in ham radio to enhance her kids learning of international geography and currency. Chris Dimitrijevic (VK3FY), the Spratly Island DX-Pedition Team Leader and David R. Collingham (K3LP), Antenna/Station Coordinator, who grew up in Fontana, CA, introduced Beverly Matheson to the American Radio Relay Leagues (www.ARRL.org) website for ham radio information.

L to R; Back Row: Markovic Milovan (YU1AU), Nikolaas Dimitrijevic (VK3FNIK), David R. Collingham (K3LP), Chris Dimitrijevic (VK3FY), and Markovic Milovan (YU1AU)

L to R; Front Row: Maintenance workers at the Microtel Puerto Princesa Palawan Hotel

An agreement was made between the teacher and Spratly team , if the kids prepared a flag for the Spratly Island DX-Pedition, the DX-Pedition team agreed to fly the flag around the world with team members while taking photos, obtaining signed letters and collecting international currency (dollars and coins) that would be shipped back to the school to finish their learning experience.

The flag flew on December 23, 2010 from Fontana, CA to Boston, MA. Then January 1, 2011, the flag flew with three team members (Mladen Bogdanov - YT6W, Markovic Milovan - YU1AU and David Collingham - K3LP) from Boston, MA to Detroit, MI, to Nagoya, Japan, to Manila, Philippines and arrived in Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, Philippines on January 4, 2011.

On the return leg, the flag flew on January 28, 2011 with Scottish team members (Colin Brown - GM0RLZ and Clive Penna - GM3POI) from Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, Philippines, to Manila, Philippines, to Hong Kong, to London, UK with a brief stop in near Edinburgh, Scotland at the famous Forth Bridge (Forth Railroad Bridge).

The Forth Railway Bridge, a remarkable cantilever structure, is located 9 miles west of Edinburgh. The bridge is still regarded as an engineering marvel and is recognized the world over. The bridge was built to carry the two tracks of the North British Railway the 1½ miles over the Firth of Forth at a height of 150 feet above the high tide. The bridge with three massive cantilever towers each 340 feet high was designed by Sir John Fowler (1817-98) and Sir Benjamin Baker (1840 - 1907) and constructed by Sir William Arrol (1839 - 1913) at the cost of some £2½ million.

Front Desk personnel at the Microtel Puerto Princesa Palawan Hotel, Palawan Island Philippines sign and show off the flag	Maintenance worker at the Microtel Puerto Princesa Palawan Hotel, Palawan Island Philippines signs the flag	Restaurant personnel at the Microtel Puerto Princesa Palawan Hotel, Palawan Island Philippines sign and show off the flag	Colin (GM0RLZ) at the Forth Bridge near Edinburgh, Scotland with the Flag

The flag and collected information/currency was packed in a box in Scotland by Colin Brown (GM0RLZ) and arrived back at the school in Fontana, California in March 2011. The final leg of the journey involved a long boat ride as the package was shipped from Scotland to Fontana, CA.

The students learned about 6 international countries and their respective currency, geography, how to prepare formal Thank You letters and make their own audio and video presentation.

Smile! Just Because	Class students taking a break after a job well done!	Class students post the received international letters
Class students track their Flag as it travels around the world using world map while receiving international photos and letters	Class students track their Flag as it travels around the world - Over 27,695 miles and 6 Countries	Class students track their Flag as it travels around the world using world map while receiving international photos and letters
Each class student prepared their own custom "Thank You" letter and made a personal comments Video presentation	"Thank You" letters prepared by Students for the DX0DX Team	Audio and Video presentation by each student was prepared and presented to the DX0DX Team