Mr. Blacquiere

The first thing that your ski clubber needs to do is to pick up their cards.  I’ll have the cards available for pick-up on Wednesday, December 8.  I would recommend that you pick up your cards before Christmas break so that your family can use them over the vacation.   I have over 120 people in ski club, so I can’t possibly track down every student. I ask that someone from your family pick up their cards from me in room 202.  If you have ordered family passes I will bundle your cards and give them to whoever picks them up.

The first ski outing will be  Thursday , December 16.  The first outing is usually the hardest to organize. Many parents and students have questions about how the event will work.  Ski Club will be run exactly like it was last year, so parents of seventh and eighth graders, you probably know the routine.  This post will be an attempt to fill in all first time ski clubbers about how next Monday will work.  If you have any further questions please feel free to e-mail me at Zblacqui@zps.org.  I will try to get back to you in a timely manner.

If you want to attend the first Ski Club outing you need to do a couple of things this week: 

The first thing you need to do is to pick up your card.  The card will be important to keep with you because each student will be evaluated on the first outing.  The evaluation is nothing to be worried about.  Each skier is asked to go down the bunny hill while a member of the ski patrol determines your ski level.  The card is important because after the evaluation it will be punched so that you never have to do the evaluation again.  The evaluation will determine what types of hills you may go down, beginner, intermediate and expert.  As you progress as a skier, you may get reevaluated so that you can ski more challenging hills.  The card is also important if you would like to take advantage of the two free lessons that are offered.  The lessons are offered by expert skiers and usually last about 30 min. 

The second thing that you need to do is to sign-up for the event on or before Wednesday, December 15.  It is very important that I stick to this deadline, because I need to have an accurate roster so that I can keep track of the 60-70 students in attendance on Thursday.  YOU MAY NOT ATTEND THE FIRST OUTING IF I DO NOT HAVE YOUR MONEY BY THE END OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY.  In order to sign up, I need you to stop by my room (202) with the money required for the outing.  The following are the different amounts required: 

Remember to write all checks payable to Bittersweet Ski Resort

$19- Skier/boarder who does not need to rent   ($14 lift ticket + $5 Transportation)

$31- Skier with ski rental ($14 lift ticket + $12 ski rental + $5 Transportation)

$33- Boarder who rents ($14 lift ticket + $14 board rental + $5 Transportation)

            If I have received your money by Wednesday, you are signed up for Thursday.  On Thursday, when you arrive at school, you may store your snow gear (snow pants, hat, gloves, skis, snow board) in your locker or in the Cityside storage room.  Go to the office on Monday morning and they will direct you to the storage room if you are unfamiliar with where it is. 

            When the school day ends, go to the storage room, grab your stuff and then meet in the Chix Coop.  I will take attendance, we will get on our snow gear and then we will load the bus.  The bus typically leaves Cityside by 3:10.  Your family is encouraged to come on the outings, however, only Cityside students can ride the bus.  Your family will have to drive there separately.  In the past some parents of six graders have met us at Bittersweet to alleviate some of their child’s worries, but that is up to you. Two six grade teachers Mrs. Schuur and Mr Kremer will be in attendance also.

            When we arrive at Bittersweet, I will take care of purchasing the lift tickets and rentals for all skiers/boarders.  Once you have all of your gear on you are free to hit the slopes.  There will be four Cityside teachers in attendance to make sure that everything runs smoothly. 

            When the night is over, we will load the bus and head home.  We arrive at Cityside at 9:30 and the kids will be dropped off in the back of the school by the Chix Coop.  Please be on time to pick up your kids. 

            I hope I’ve answered most of your questions.  The next post contains the answers to many other questions that parents have asked this year and in the past.