RISE OTR Vegas Recap

One word that describes our first RISE OTR trip is AWWWEEEESOME!

I was blessed with the opportunity to take two young girls to Las Vegas for the weekend. Egypt had a gymnastics competition on Saturday, so we went down two days earlier to explore.'

This was Morgan's first airplane trip since she was a toddler. She was excitedly nervous the morning of the flight.

We had a 5:55am flight, so we headed out at 3:30 am. We were sooooo tired, but the eagerness and excitement wouldn't allow us to close our eyes. After take off, the girls were relaxed and enjoying the ride. Egypt was pumped for the adventure, so she wasn't able to nap the entire ride. Instead, she took payback sleeping photos of us. :(

Once we arrived in Vegas, the girls had a chance to take their very first Uber ride. When I told them that we were riding an Uber to hotel, Morgan made a comment of how much she didn't like Uber. I asked her had she ever rode in one, and she told me no. Well, if she hadn't ever ridden in an Uber how could she hate them? She replied, "They say...they are really dangerous." I said who is "they"? She didn't have an answer. She just knew that she was told that Uber's were not good.

This is when we decided to theme our trip. SMASH They Say! I told the girls that during this trip we would be overcoming our fears and smashing all of the they say statements that fuel our fears and hesitations.

Our first order of buisness was to get Big Bus Tickets! I like to ride the Big Bus in ever city that it is offered. The hop on hop off tour is a great way to see the city as well as learn history and trivia . This proved to be the best purchase of our trip. The girls had many learning experiences on the bus, and was able to make connections from what they heard the tour guide say to things their teachers had said in the classroom.

This is a perfect example of why RISE OTR is helpful in closing the achievement gap by addressing the opportunity gap.

Example: The tour guide told us how the Luxor hotel's lights attract insects, the insects attract bats, and the bats attract owls. Morgan's response was, "Like the Eco-system!?!?" She was so excited to see the curriculum become a relevant reality.

We did a lot of sight seeing before the girls got too tired and feel asleep on the tour bus.

I believe that this trip was one for the books for sure!

We are excited to prepare for RISE OTR Austin. If you know a middle school or high school student who could benefit from exploring the possibilities of life, share this opportunity with them!

www.theriseprojectonline.com/riseotr

Apply today!