Veritas

In February 1999 Sixth Class enjoyed the company of Monte, a very friendly bear from Rattlesnake Middle School, Missoula, U.S.A. He stayed until June. Hi Monte and all our friends in Missoula! He visited their homes and watched them work and play. He was even awarded a certificate for participating in a fun day in the Dominican School on the Falls Road, Belfast. While Aoife OBrien (seen on the left) had a super holiday in Missoula

The first e-mail from Rattlesnake arrived on 13/01/99
Hello Class in Ireland, We have decided to do the teddy bear match. Our class has 22 people in it. A lot of people have questions and comments, and here are some. We live in Missoula and it is surrounded by mountains. In the winter it is really cold, but it is very pretty. What is it like to live in Ireland? Do you have a small town? What are all of your names? What age can you drive? What kind of sports do you play? Do you like having 6 kids in your class? How many people go to your school? Those are some questions and comments. Well, we better get going home.We will send a teddy bear soon. Thanks,Mrs. Stroup's homeroom

19/01/99
Hello Class in Missoula, We were delighted to get your e-mail. Thanks! Dun Laoghaire used to be a small town south of our capital city Dublin. Dublin has expanded so much that now we are part of its suburb. Dun Laoghaire is a seaport. A ferry runs four times a day from here to Holyhead in the U.K. The journey takes about 2 hours. The temperature at the moment ranges between 0 and +10 degrees Celsius. Our names are Rebecca Fox, Alison Spillane, Samantha Twamley, Clare Kelly, Rachael McHugh and Marie Moore.
Last Monday Aoife O Brien arrived in school complete with snowboard and all the gear and insisted that she would be better than any teddy at taking a trip to Rattlesnake.
We did not like to disappoint her so we will pack her off tomorrow. She had packed a mobile phone but we told her that you would help her e-mail home regularly. We gave her a notebook to help keep track of her adventures so that she would not forget anything when it came to e-mailing. Some answers to your questions: In Ireland you can drive at the age of 17. We play basketball, football (soccer) and hurling. It is cool having 6 kids in our class although we have to share our classroom with fifth class . Our class teacher is Sister Edel Murphy (she is a Dominican nun) but Mrs. Hearne is helping us with this project on Tuesday afternoons. We expect to e-mail you every Tuesday. You will probably receive them on Tuesday mornings as we are ahead of you in time. We have not worked out how much yet. 180 kids go to our school, how about yours? What ages are you? What are your names? What sports do you play? What is the favourite subject in your class? We hope to attach a photograph with our next e-mail. Thanks, Sixth Class

28/01/99
Hello 6th grade class, We have our bear ready. We will be sending him soon. His name is Monte. We have put some stuff in a bag. We will attempt to explain the stuff in his bag. We have lots of mountains and forests around Missoula. We have the University of Montana in Missoula, Monte is the name of our mascot. He is a brown bear who acts crazy at the football and basketball games. Your 22 friends in Mrs. Stroup's.
PS. We received Aoife today--what a surprise! She is awesome! How do you pronounce her name?

29/01/99
Dear Sixth Class, we have some questions we would like to ask you. 1.Do you have snowboarding in Ireland? 2. Do you have many black people living in Ireland ? 3. Why are there only six girls in your class, and why are they all girls? 4. Do you go to a Catholic school? 5. What are the ages of the girls in your class? 6. Do you wear uniforms to school? 7. What is the weather and temperature like during the winter? 8. What kind of animals live in Ireland? Hope to hear from you soon. Mrs. Stroup's 6th grade class.

02/02/98
We are delighted to hear that Aoife arrived safely. Hi Aoife! Her name is pronounced EE-FAH. She is very interested in visiting your homes to find out how you live. Although she is black she is unusual in that we have very few black people in Ireland. She brought a snowboard because she expected to find snow in Missoula. We rarely get snow in Dun Laoghaire. It's about five years since we could make a snowball! We are looking forward to meeting Monte. He sounds cool. We are aged 11 - 13 years and yes we wear uniforms to school. We are going to e-mail again tomorrow and attach a photograph so you will be able to see, we are hoping it won't take a long time to download. We are starting to work on your other questions and will e-mail replies when they are ready. Thanks for writing. Your friends in Ireland

We are writing the rest of our journal.
2-1-99 Monday
Today I came over to Taresa's house, and watched some TV for a bit. Then we did some of our math and science homework. For dinner I had a soup called split pea soup, which was wonderfully delicious. After I had dinner, I played my very first game of solitare, on the computer. I did not win any games, but it was fun anyway. After I played solitare, I went to Taresa's grandparents' house. It was a great and fun day.
2-2-99 Tuesday
Today I went home with Carissa. When we got to her house , we had some Ruffle Chips, and watched MTV. After that we went outside, and played basketball. But it was really cold, so we decided to go back inside. And then afterward we went and listened to some music. I was hungry by the time dinner came. We also had split pea soup, just like at Taresa's house. After dinner we talked to some friends on the phone, and it was getting late so we went to bed. catch you later alligator TTFN Stroup's Class
04/02/99
We have been having fun with Aoife. Here are the journal entries for Aoife.
1-28 -99 Thursday
I went over to Jack 's house. I went snowboarding at Marshall Ski Resort. It was really fun. I did a lot of 360's in the air, but I also had a couple bad wrecks. It was about 25 degrees out.
1-29-99 Friday
Jack and I went to the school dance. Then I had a basketball game. We won. It was really fun.
1-30-99 Saturday
With Jack, I went to a band practice. Then I went skateboarding. After that I went and played. I had a great time.
1-31-99 Sunday
I went to church and worshipped God. Then I went snowboarding at Snowbowl Ski Resort. After that I went home and watched the championship Super Bowl game (football). It was the Atlantic Falcons vs Denver Broncos. The Broncos won 31 to 19. Then I left Jack.
P.S. We received your picture today, but we need to down load it to a disk before we get to look at it. ....to be continued....

09/02/99
Hi Aoife, Delighted to hear you are having fun. 360s Wow! We wish we were there too. Is temperature measured in Fahrenheit over there? We are mad jealous that you got to go to the school dance with Jack. We never had split pea soup. Could you send the recipe? You can join our basketball team when you get home.
Monte has just arrived. We are all very excited to meet him. Some information about our school for Mrs.Stroup's class. Our school is a Catholic school. It was founded in 1848. We celebrated its 150th anniversary last November! Dun Laoghaire was called Kingstown at that time. After we won our independence from Britain, the town reverted to the older name of Dun Laoghaire. 1848 was a time of great famine in Ireland. If you would like to know more about this famine log on to http://www.wisc.edu/history/ famine/index.html There are some interesting maps on that site. Six Dominican nuns founded our school to educate and feed poor children. In Ireland it was common for boys and girls to start school together at 5 years of age. At seven they received their First Communion (a Catholic Sacrament). After this boys and girls were educated separately. This is why there are no boys in our class. Our class is the last class in our school to have no boys! Boys now stay on in our school. There are only six in our class because some girls left and some moved house and it was too far for them to come.
Some Questions:
· Where does the name Rattlesnake come from?
· What is the favourite food in your class?
· What subjects do you do?
· What kind of music do you like?
· What is your biggest celebration day?
Monte will write as soon as he gets over his jet lag. Love from sixth class and Monte.

16/02/99
Answers: 1. The name Rattlesnake comes from the Rattlesnake Creek because it bends like a snake.
2. The favorite food of the class is pizza.
3. The subjects we study are: language arts, science, social studies,math, heath, gym, band, orchestra, or choir, and one other exploratory (foreign language, art, woodworking, keyboarding.)
4. The most popular music is rap and pop.
5. The most celebrated holidays are Christmas and birthdays.

25/02/99
Hi Livi, Parker, Jack and everyone else in Mrs. Stroup's class. Well, I finally got over my jet lag! I think I have lost seven hours of my life getting here. The weather is quite mild. They say it's +5° Celsius I'm not sure what that is in Fahrenheit. Samantha, Alison, Rachel, Clare, Marie and Rebecca were very excited when I arrived. They are very nice girls. I really like them. They have funny accents but I'm beginning to talk like them already! They were very excited about the stuff I brought with me. Their teacher Sister Edel said she would pop the corn on Friday. Sister Edel spent some time teaching in New Orleans. She used to eat Tootsie Rolls and Hershey's chocolate when she was there. You can't buy these things in Ireland. The girls thought the bars were delicious. They even offered Mrs. Hearne( She helps with the e-mail) a piece. They don't have quarters or cents or dollars over here. They have pounds and pennies . 100 pennies make £1. They have 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, and £1 coins. They have £5, £10, £15, £20 and £50 notes. Samantha used my pencil to do her maths at 9.45am on Tuesday 9th February. She wrote the date 9/2/99. Weird! They loved the other things I brought. Marie in particular loved the ring. They thought Missoula looks like a very nice place. Alison bought me a notebook. I'll keep notes to help me remember this trip. I went home with Alison on Tuesday. She did her homework after school and then we went out to play some basketball. For dinner we had fish fingers and fries (They called them chips) The girls say a big Thank You for all the stuff , I'm glad you sent it with me. Miss you all, Love Monte

Feb.23, 1999
Right before lunch I had my picture taken with the class in front of the school. We are going to e-mail the picture to you later. I went home with a girl named Karen when we got home we had a snack. We played Road Rash and Frogger on my Sega. Then a few of Karen's friends came over and we played for a while,then we ate dinner we had B.L.T.S. [bacon lettuce tomato sandwiches].Then we watched T.V. Then we went to bed.
Feb.24,1999
I went home with Karen again today. When we got home we had a snack. at 8:00 we started to watch the 41st Grammy awards.Then we went to bed.
Feb.26,1999
I went skiing with my 6th grade class at Marshall. I had so much fun I wanted to go again. Then I went home with Karen. I watched her do her home work. Then we watched T.V., ate cookies, and went to bed.
Feb.27,1999
Today Karen and I went over to one of Karen's best friends house and played their play stationand made scary shadows in the window. Then we played a game called Trivia for Dummies. I had lots of fun at Maggie's house.
Love, Aofie XOXO
P.S. How do you play dodgeball in Ireland or other games like that?
May 1999
Hi everyone in Mrs. Stroup's homeroom. We are well into our last term in Dominican Primary School. We graduate and leave in June! We will all be very sad to go. In September we will start in our new schools. Now that Spring has arrived Monte is a little homesick and is looking forward to returning home. We are getting some souvenirs so that he can take them with him. We will be sending him next week. Is there anything in particular you would like him to take back? Your friends in sixth class.

Monte and Aoife returned to their homes June1999. We hope to keep in touch with Rattlesnake School!