Last week our Second Graders had a fabulous overnight experience at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific. Our Second Grade teacher, Mrs. Bakkila, shares with us the details of this outing:
“Every February the Second Grade participates in the Aquarium’s overnight program. This marks the culmination of our month-long science unit on marine life. It is also a bonding experience for the class as well as with each child and his or her parent. Mrs. Mallon, our Science Lab teacher, created this idea, and we have been going for the last ten years. We feel that the first PHS student overnight experience should be close to home, and the Aquarium is perfect. Each child brings a parent to ease the transition to this new experience, as the following year the children go to Rawhide Ranch for three days without the parents.”
“We arrive at the Aquarium at 5:00 pm and have the freedom to explore for half an hour. At 5:30 pm, the Aquarium closes to the public and we have the facility to ourselves along with the Aquarium docents. We eat a healthy meal of turkey sandwiches and fruit and then proceed to the third floor, which is reserved for private groups such as ours. We feed nori – restaurant-grade edible seaweed – to the fish in the large tank and then have an interview with the tank divers. Our next experience is walking the entire Aquarium with our docent as we learn about all the inhabitants. This includes dressing in costumes and acting out some of the characteristics of various marine life – for instance, the octopus costume’s arms have suction cups and the children can better imagine a little about the life of this creature. Next we stop in the Aquarium classroom where we play a game involving facts about sea life. Mrs. Mallon has prepared our students so well, that they always get the facts correct!”
“It’s now about 9:00 pm, and we watch a movie to relax prior to bedtime. However, it’s a 4-D movie – we wear 3-D glasses and experience fog and mist coming over us to replicate the ocean experience! Then we pump up the air mattresses, get out the blankets, and lie down in front of the large otter tank, which stays softly lit. As we watch these interesting creatures, we nod off to dreamland.”
“Next morning at 6:00 am sharp, the Aquarium lights come on, we pack up, have a light breakfast, and head home – this is a special no-school day for the Second Grade only, as we have worked so hard and learned so much the night before!”
“Our parents were thrilled to enjoy this experience with their child and found it fascinating, educational, and definitely a good time! And our students? They haven’t stopped talking about it! It’s one of the real highlights of the Second Grade year.”

Although last Friday was called “Doughnuts for Dads and Granddads Day,” it was more like “Tamales for Dads and Granddads.” We realized that although the doughnuts were abundant, our guests seemed to enjoy the tamales just as much. Every year we add to the number of tamales that we order, as they have become such a staple to the morning’s menu. This breakfast was just a prelude to the wonderful classroom time with our guests, followed by our “travel” to an island called Hawaii. The weather cooperated, surfboards were in place, and our First Graders rode a big wave to greatness. Our Character Quality of “Caring” certainly shown through on the little faces of our First Grade students! As always, it was a grand event at Peninsula Heritage School – as one father put it, “The best Dads’ Day ever!”