Pack Leader of The Week

Each week or so we gather together in our Tribal Council and either randomly select or vote for (off) one of the remaining members of our classroom to be the Pack Leader of the Week  (P. L. O. T. W.)  The honor and duties of the P. L. O. T. W. include, but are not limited to,  being the line leader, running errands, leading the Pledge of Allegiance, distributing mail and lunch tokens, and getting a cold pop and candy bar.

The 2005 - 2006 Meyer Island Castaways

Ladies & Gentlemen, we have a winner!  Congratulations to the best showing of sportsmanship on Meyer Island to date from both Q & Nate.  Each handled themselves very well at the final tribal council.  They were truly appreciative of each other's friendship & efforts, not to mention alliance.  One the voting was in, we have our Ultimate Pack Leader, Q!  Congrats to Nate for giving his very best every day, and to Q for becoming the 2nd girl to win Meyer Island!

Three big things today, on our LAST Tuesday.  First, a visit to the middle school led off the day.  Next was a visit from The Saint's Bones author, Mark Edwards.  Finally, the day culminated with the final tribal council.

Check out our track & field day pictures.  Can you spot the "Champions" of the school?

The final two is set for Meyer Island 6.  Who will triumph as the "Ultimate Survivor?"  The final 3 were as close-knit a group of friends as I've ever seen.  It was truly heartbreaking to watch as one of them would be leaving the game.  Kudos to the sportsmanship that Spike showed in being named this week's Pack Leader!

       OR      

Who will be the Final Survivor? Tune in on Tuesday, June 6th to find out!

Wednesday, May 31st was the third annual Meyer Island Movie night showcasing the moviemaking talents of my students and participants in Tech Workshop.  We had nearly a hundred people in attendance.  A great time was had by all.  Congratulations on all your hard work and efforts kids!

The last immunity challenge of Meyer Island 6 was a combo challenge using both physical and mental skills.  It was fast and furious, leaving NB, JS, and Q a bit "puzzled."  Q pulled it out with a win, and JS finished 5 seconds later.  Tribal Council provided Q too difficult a choice to make, so she flipped a coin.  JS was on the wrong side of the coin.  What a way to go.  She'll go down in history in such a dramatic fashion as her sister.  Congrats on such a great run, so many were pulling for you! 

From the "Final Four" to the "Terrible Three", that is the scoop on this week's action.  This week's immunity challenge was the dreaded block-out.  The survivors were clamoring for a mental challenge, so they got one.  Different strategies right out of the gate led to different results.  JS went diagonal, NB went straight, then diagonal, cutting off SG at the edge, and Q simply ran out of room.  The winner of the next to last immunity challenge was Spike!  Congrats to this week's Pack Leader, SG.  What a great run for Steve O-Mania!  Whooooooooo!

This week we also had a visit from author Larry Dean Brimner, who has authored over 130 books in his career.  He discussed the writing process, and stressed the importance of editing.  He told the story of once having a book manuscript returned to him 49 times before his publisher was satisfied!  He shared many stories of his inspiration for writing books, and many insights into the process of getting a book published.  At the finale of his presentation, the kids all got a free book of Mr. Brimner's courtesy of Rolling Reader & Ms. Patel.  Thank You!

This week the field was trimmed to the "Fantastic Four" down from the "Fearsome Five-some."  This week's immunity challenge was the highly exciting, yet totally unpredictable Scooter Road Race.  SG started out strong on the inside lane and never gave up his position to a determined, yet frustrated JS.  Congratulations go out to the two-time immunity winner SG, and an even bigger Congratulations to MAD, this week's Pack Leader!

The students have also been busy running the track and accumulating toe tokens while participating in the Mileage Club.

Finally, Mrs. A. set up a challenge with Mr. Balow's class in a "friendly" game of capture the cones.  I was very impressed at our kids' excellent sportsmanship, teamwork, and athletic ability.  They totally dominated both games, but even more impressive, gathered together and cheered on Mr. Balow's kids for a good game and hard effort.  I think they've been listening, but they just didn't want me to know!

This was a catch-up week for the Survivor game.  We were a bit behind schedule, so there were three immunity challenges, and three co-Pack Leaders. 

Finally, the last challenge of the week was a twist on last year's Big Ball Plunger Challenge.  A few of the survivors are really studying their history on this web page, and were ready for battle!  The first round was a team of three relay.  TJ, NB, and JS were beat out by a few seconds by the quick feet of SG, QM, and MT.  A great run in the game came to an end for TJ.  She was a strong competitor who was always supportive of her friends and teammates.

The second challenge of the week was the Crossbow Shoot-out.  Survivors at first were really shy about tagging their fellows, but when push came to shove, their competitive nature rose to the forefront.  NB took home immunity, but was unwilling to let it from his grasp.  A real surprise at tribal council yielded CDV gaining the most votes and being named the co-Pack Leader of the Week.  Congrats Core Democratic Values!

The first IC was the Scooter Challenge Course.  With the final 8, it made it easy to set up a bracket.  Observers were treated to the crazy driving antics of CDV, NB's crash test, TJ missing a cone, and witnessed the big lead &Q's wrong turn, CDV regained the immunity necklace.  AB was voted Pack Leader, and a big congratulations go out to her!  Obviously winning all those immunity challenges made her a big threat.  Will that "curse" also catch up with CDV?

Friday was Grandparent's Day and we offered up a mini-society trading session to interact with them. 

This week's challenge was Hot Potato, and did it ever burn up the survivors.  Students were given a topic and needed to continue giving new examples or were "out."  The Hot Potato winner was AB, who is becoming quite fond of the immunity idol.  Amazingly enough, she gave it away to NB at tribal council and found herself in a tie-breaker vote with KN.  As fate would have it, KN is this week's Pack Leader.  Congrats!

This week we're down to the terrible ten and the competition is heating up.  This week's immunity challenge is the Crab-Walk challenge.  Some of our survivors were really burning up the radar scampering down the course.  Immunity again went around the neck of AB, and this week's Pack Leader is EO!  Congratulations!

This week's challenge was a brainteaser.  Unfortunately, we have no pictures.  AB really felt the pressure this week, and by force of will won the challenge & the immunity that goes along with it.  We also had a visit from the "Big Lug" this week.  Congratulation to this week's Pack Leader, Chocolate E!

Well 4th quarter is now here and the Meyer Islanders have entered the last phase of the game.  All tribe names have been abolished, it is now time for Social Darwinism.  Who will survive?  In the first immunity challenge, Hanging Around, CDV really felt the pressure, being only one of three boys left.  He battled Q for over three minutes of hanging on the monkey bars to capture the individual immunity idol.  Voting was rather spread out, as no clear cut alliances have formed, yet.  Congratulations to our newest Pack Leader, TB!

This week's challenge was a very puzzling endeavor.  Tribes worked to match up puzzle squares in a short amount of time.  The Pirates tied the Pernicious Pythons for immunity.  A member of the Wacky Weasels was voted our newest pack leader, Congrats BWD!

In addition to BWD's Pack Leader selection, we had a visit from his close personal friend.

Friday, March 24th brought a wonderful storyteller who re-enacted the realistic fiction story of a native American girl, Macqua La Femme.  The students were amazed, impressed, and engaged for the 1 1/2 hours of her presentation.

This week's first challenge was the Bean Bag Rally, where students needed to place their beanies into another student's box.  It was quite a bit of exercise on this chilly morning. 

Congrats to this week's co-Pack Leader, MN.

Two weeks without survivor, no Immunity Challenge, just Tribal Council. 

This week's Pack Leader is a repeat winner, Congrats to DK!

This week we had a presentation by Mr. Mike Mauer & Mr. Ron Burke, two amateur archaeologists.  They've been "digging" their hobby of archaeology for many years and had a huge number of artifacts to share with students.  Below are pictures of their presentation, which include flint knapping, the atl-alt, a mammoth & a mastadon tooth, along with many arrow/spear/ax heads.

This just in, Meyer Island Survivor is back on!  Due to good choices by all students, the previously suspended game has been restored.  Now let's make good choices a habit!

This week's IC was Olympic themed, the Cross Country Ski Challenge.  Tribes had to have groups of three cooperate, communicate, and collaborate to successfully navigate the course.  The Pernicious Pythons had all cylinders clicking, and won immunity, only to give it right away to the Wacky Weasels who came in last.  There were very appreciative members from the Weasel tribe and that led to an interesting tribal council.  Voting brought us this week's Pack Leader, SM.  Congrats!

Valentine's Day brought about the second annual Meyer Island Idol.  Our party allowed kids the chance to showcase their many talents.  We had many students who couldn't wait to jump up "on stage" and cut the rug.  The top three prize winners for performances were 1st- BK & TB, 2nd - JF & DR, and 3rd - AB, QM, & JS.  Congratulations to all students who were brave enough to share!

Today's challenge was a two part dilemma for kids, the first was a "Twister" and the second was quite "Puzzling" with the first to finish grasping the immunity idol.  The Wacky Weasels jumped out to a big lead only to have the Messed Up Devils pull close for a exciting finish.  The Wacky Weasels finished less than a second before the MUD tribe, so given the circumstances, this week was a shared immunity.  Congrats to this week's Pack Leader, ZR!

Today's IC involved utilizing the principles found in the "Building Big" dvd on skyscraper construction.  Students worked with limited resources to create the tallest free standing structure.  The Pythons held on with a structure nearly 5 1/2 feet tall! 

Congratulations to this week's Pack Leader, HP.

The "New" Meyer Island Tribes

The Messed Up Devils        Pernicious Pythons            Wacky Weasels

This just in, DK has been voted back into the game.  Congratulations!

The week leading up to the BZL has students so excited.  On Friday, students participated in the first annual Flying Furby Immunity Challenge.  Each group had a practice launch prior to their IC attempt.  The Copper Cobras launched their practice round within 6 feet of the target nearly 75 feet away.  Teal working short-handed, came through in the clutch and landed their Furby within 1 FOOT of the target.  Congratulations to ES, our Big Zoo Lesson Pack Leader!

Another week, another IC.  This week's challenge was the first annual Sauerkraut Shoot-out.  The tribes had a number of tasks to cooperatively complete (collecting their supplies outside).  Based on their times, each tribe then volunteered two members to eat some sauerkraut and turkey kielbasa for a "bonus" reduction in their times.  Every group had two members to participate, other eager members needed to wait until after the challenge to scarf up the remainder of the sauerkraut & sausage (which by the way was completely gone at the end of the day!)  Finally, tribes competed in the slingshot paintball shoot-out portion.  The Red Meyer Maniacs had a 1 second lead entering into this phase of the competition and were the first to mark on their targets twice, thus holding onto the immunity idol two weeks in a row.  Congratulations! 

The voting was very close and down to two islanders, but a big congratulations go out to this week's Pack Leader, DB.   Enjoy your booty!

This week we had a shortened week due to the snowday on Friday, but we were able to squeeze in an immunity challenge.  The challenge was for tribes to locate the hidden immunity idol in the classroom.  The Red Meyer Maniacs found it within an amazing 15 seconds! 

Congratulations to this week's Pack Leader, TK!

This week's challenge was a logic puzzle.  Every group successfully completed the challenge, even beating Mr. Meyer to the finish.  The immunity idol finds a home with Teal this week. 

A number of Meyer Islanders received votes this week, but BK is this abbreviated Thanksgiving week's Pack Leader.  Congrats!

Early November and the mornings are starting to get chilly.  This week's immunity challenge was the Oompa Loompa Dance Challenge.  The kids go crazy over this, and it helps with burning off some of that extra energy.  Check out the pics below.

Congratulations to this week's Pack Leader, JF!  Enjoy your spoils!

Halloween hy-jinks were prevalent on October 31st.  What a bunch of characters!

This week we had a guest speaker, local French Voyager re-enactor Mr. Ducastel.  He kept the students engaged in his presentation for almost 2 hours!  The kids were really excited to "see" history rather than merely reading about it.

Our Survivors were faced with another challenge today.  It was "Just Ducky."  Teams worked in pairs to get the "ducky home" to its nest through the hoop.  The teamwork was fast & furious, and for the first time this year, we had a tie.  Thus, immunity is shared between the Red Meyer Maniacs and the Teal Tigers.  Kudos on the excellent work!

Congratulations to this week's Pack Leader, DK.  Enjoy your pack leader treats!

On our redo session for the balance beam challenge, the tribes all worked on formulating plans that improved their performance.  All the tribes drastically cut their times down for successfully completing the challenge.  The Red Meyer Maniacs completed the course five times faster!  Every tribe successfully moved their members off the balance beam in three minutes or less, with the Copper Cobras coming in at a best time of 1 min. 17 sec.  They were closely followed by Teal, then the Red Meyer Maniacs, with the Golden Gophers finishing in 2 min. and 55 sec.  Congrats to all the tribes on their application of the 4 "C's" and in doing their best at this challenge!

Congratulations to NC, this week's Pack Leader.  Enjoy your pack leader swag!

The immunity challenge this week was sorely needed, as that the kids have been MEAP-ing all week.  Cooperation, communication, calculation, and definitely contemplation were needed in the dreaded balance beam challenge.  Teams experimented with strategies, but found the application of theory to be, well, a challenge.  Unfortunately, all groups were disqualified for not following directions, so we'll retry the challenge, or go to tribal council without any survivors feeling the security of the immunity idol!

Congrats to SB, our first Pack Leader.  Enjoy your pirate booty!

This week we finally had the eagerly anticipated immunity challenge.  This week's challenge was the "Very Hungry Caterpillar."  Tribes brainstormed strategies quickly before engaging in this fast paced & furious race to the finish.  The competition was marked by excellent teamwork by all tribes, but the immunity idol has found a home this week in the Teal Tigers tribe.  Congratulations.  Immediately following the challenge, students returned to tribal council to discuss / review the challenge and talk about events within the classroom.  The very first vote of this Meyer Island Survivor was held, but you'll need to wait until Monday to find out the first lucky Pack Leader of the Week!

Another team building challenge this week as students finally learned who their tribe mates would be.  Each tribe is composed of six or seven "islanders" who are developing their 4 "C's" of Meyer Island through a variety of activities this week.  Today's challenge was "Awww SHOE(t)", which involved honing communication skills for group members.  The four tribes are working on developing their tribal nicknames.  Their colors are Red, Teal, Gold, and Copper.

The "Original" Meyer Island 6 Tribes:

Golden Gophers    Copper Cobras  Red Meyer Maniacs   Teal Tigers

We are learning about the 4 "C's" of Meyer Island.  They are cooperation, contemplation, calculation, and communication.  This week students participated in a breakout challenge.  This challenge involved moving the ball across the gym without any students using their hands to touch it.  It took several tries, along with many different ideas until a successful method was found!  Following this challenge, students partook of a tribal council.  Each child shared how they believed each other illustrated the 4 "C's" in completing the challenge, as well as giving kudos to their peers.

This week's team building challenge was "Tied Up in Knots", and wow what a result.  The students worked together in their small "pods" to get tied up in a human knot.  Each group then progressively worked themselves into tougher situations & "untied" themselves.  Pods united to create more challenging scenarios, finally the entire class created a gigantic knot & after a few tries, they succeeded!

Click here to revisit the 2004 - 2005 Meyer Island PLOTW castaways

Click here to revisit the 2003 - 2004 Meyer Island PLOTW castaways

Click here to revisit the 2002 - 2003 Meyer Island PLOTW castaways

Click here to revisit the 2001 - 2002 Meyer Island PLOTW castaways

Click here to revisit the 2000 -2001 Meyer Island PLOTW castaways