Two of the DO-IT Interns (Shawn Latham and Mike Kuntz) have been assigned the task of summarizing the day's events. Here they are so far. We'll add new info each day.

Yesterday, the Phase I Scholars arrived in Seattle from all over country. After the Scholars were picked up at the airport or dropped off by their parents, they registered and were given a DO-IT treasure--the DO-IT T-shirt. DO-IT Staff, Interns, Mentors, and Scholars and their parents spent several hours getting to know one other.

After the introductions and a brief meeting, we went to the annual barbecue and participated in a exciting activity where the Scholars and Interns were paired up. The groups were given a list of quotes. They had to go around and ask questions to determine which Scholar, Intern, or staff had made the quote. Several examples were, "I have a pierced bellybutton," and " I accidentally shaved off my eyebrows."

After dinner, we went up to the dorm and the DO-IT Interns talked about their success in the community and college. By then, most of us were tired and were ready for bed. About half of the Scholars stayed up a little longer to watch a movie or chat with their new friends. At 11 pm, the lights were out!

Today was one of the funniest days for the Scholars. The highlight of the day was the Ski-For-All. First of all, the kids had breakfast and then they went down to the computer lab for the first of many classes. The first class was a beginning look at the Internet. After lunch the Scholars had a class on improving your mind for college. The professor ( Mr. Graham Allen) talked about how the kids must have a positive outlook on college. He also said that the average person only thinks about five minutes a day. We all thought that was kind of interesting.

After that we then went down to eat dinner before going out and doing Ski-For-All. Ski-For-All is a program that lets disabled kids ride special bikes for them. For example blind kids ride tandem bikes, which is where one person will direct the bike, and another person will just peddle. For one student (Justin) it was probably one of the funniest days of his life. He rode five different bikes and enjoyed all of them. Then we did our evening activities and went to bed.

Thursday we started the day with a talk on the World Wide Web. The Interns showed us a couple of neat pages. For example, Matthew Porter showed us his home page which has interesting Java effects and has a lot of links to other sights. After that Sheryl Burgstahler talked about how kids with disabilities communicate with faculty. For the work based learning experiences the Scholars learned about how to find internships. After lunch John Smith talked about how earthquakes form, and how Seattle might go under someday. Then when Kurt Sahl took the floor the kids learned about working in groups; when they formed groups they where given a problem to solve as a group. Last but certainly not least was the treasure hunt. The treasure hunt is where you read the clue, and then you have to find the right building for that clue. The Scholars did the treasure hunt in groups. After that we all took a break for the night.

Today we started the day with a talk on how to subscribe to a mailing list. The Scholars learned that mailing lists differ on not only on their subjects, but also on how to subscribe to them. Then they got a talk on what career is right for them. They learned to keep their interests to a couple, because one interest or career might not work out so then they can try there interests. After the afternoon activity, we got ready for the Mariners game. We all saw Randy Johnson (The Mariners pitcher) throw 19 strikeouts in a 5 to 0 victory for the Mariners. After the game we all went back to the dorm and hit the hay.

Sunday was a restful, but exciting day. We first started the day with people either going to church or sleeping in. Then came the main event the zoo. In groups we saw bears, garaffs, tigers, and of course the mighty elephants. We also got to tour the zoo store. They had posters, stuffed animals, and collectible jewelry.

After we ate at McDonalds we went back to the dorm and the Phase II Scholars gave their summer reports. One report was about how a woman raced in a wheelchair, another one was about how a guy used a talking device to talk. Last but not least we had an unbelievable talent show. One act was Justin, Jesse, and Jennifer (all blind) singing and playing the guitar. In another act Laura (mobility impairment) did a sit down comedy. After that we went to bed.

On Tuesday the 12th of August, we started with the Phase II Scholars going to their special workshops. Phase I Scholars went to an astronomy lab where they learned how far stars are away from the planet earth. Then they went to a lab to do bypass surgery on a sheep heart. The biggest story of that lab was Justin ripped off a sheep heart. When we all came back for lunch we got to meet the members of the DO-IT Advisory Board. Danny Delcombre was a speaker for us. Danny Delcombre talked about how you can never give up no matter what disability you have. Danny is deaf and blind. His speech was voiced by a sign language interpreter. The Phase II'ers listened to Darin & Julie talk about interviewing strategies. they practiced their skits with employers. At the same time Phase I had an on-line treasure hunt. After that we ate pizza, talked to Mentors, & listened to the Trench Coats. Finally we had our evening activities.

We started today with a talk on which search engine is the best one. Dan Comden talked about how some search engines have a lack of information while others have way too much. While that was going on, the Phase II Scholars were in their workshops. One class the Game of Life is a class about how you program little dots to do different stuff. While the Phase II Scholars were doing that and more the Phase I Scholars were in a class about how to download programs. They downloaded programs using ftp ( File Transfer Protocol), and Netscape.

After lunch both groups learned about how to run a human-powered submarine. Then they had open computer lab for the rest of the afternoon. After dinner people got to paint pictures in a Sumi painting class. Then we did our evening activities.

We started the day with an interesting talk on note taking, test taking, and test anxiety management for Phase I. For the Phase II it was back to work on their weekly assignment. Next for Phase I was a talk on how hurricanes form, and how they can be so destructive. After lunch all the Scholars went to talk about the Mars launch. The highlight of the day was the dance we had at the By George cafe. Everybody learned the Macarena, The Three Step, and of course the Congo. Justin, one of the Scholars, sang two songs. After that we were ready for lights out.