Day 5: Restaurant Review

Ingredient Review

by Nora

I was a little taken aback at seeing the chic and natural look inside Ingredient. It had that earthy, all-natural peace vibe that everyone likes, right? It was a lot of things, really. It was kind of a hipster, chic, woodsy diner. Ingredient is definitely family-friendly. There was a great little patio and a nice-sized park featuring fountains and plants by the restaurant. Everywhere there were kids either playing with other children or running through the water. Even with a few older people here and there, I think the entire design of the location was geared toward a younger audience.

I ordered a medium-rare burger with fontina cheese, bacon, and sauteed mushrooms on a pretzel bun, plus basil pesto sauce on the side. When I got my burger, I was surprised to see that it had no cheese on it. We quickly sent it back, and in a few seconds, there was a piece of cold fontina cheese on my lukewarm burger. As I was cutting my burger, I started hearing complaints from my friend Susanna. She felt her burger was overcooked and way too dry. I soon realized what she was talking about. The mushrooms, though, were perfect! That fresh, creamy taste took me back to the good times I spend with my dad in the kitchen. The bacon was nice and crispy.

Aside from a few setbacks, everything was perfect. Maybe for now they should just stick to the basics. Mixing it up might not be Ingredient’s thing.

Overall Rating: Three out of 10 stars

Price: $$$$ (Very pricey.)

Day 4: KCUR

Teacher’s note: On Thursday, students practiced reading weather, news, and advertisements for pretend radio broadcasts. They worked on monitoring their volume, pitch, and speed to optimize their vocal deliveries. After that, they wrote and recorded their own news, sports, and/or commercial features. Here is Nora's performance:

Later that day, students toured KCUR studios in Kansas City. As their kind and knowledgeable host, Stephen Steigman—chief of KCUR broadcast operations—provided background information on public radio and some of the technical details that allow the NPR affiliate to beam its news and entertainment programming to radios throughout the Kansas City area. Mr. Steigman then recorded the students as they had a conversation. 

Here is the full interview.

The students watched in wonder as Mr. Steigman then took an excerpt of audio from the proceedings and added it to a popular song. During the entire van ride back to the school, students laughed and sang along to the new hit song:

Day 3: KCPT

On Wednesday, students took a tour of the KCPT studios in Kansas City, learning about what distinguishes public television from its commercial counterpart. With those differences in mind, each student wrote and directed a public service announcement. Here is Nora's.

Day 2: KU School of Journalism

MEDIA MANIA STUDENTS VISIT KU SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM

LAWRENCE, Kan. — On Tuesday, June 2, 11 students from Barstow’s Media Mania summer camp traveled to the University of Kansas’s School of Journalism in Lawrence, Kan., to learn more about the process of creating print, online, and television news.

KU school recruiter Ashley Anguiano led the campers, teacher assistant Matt Gannon, and teacher Mr. Guldin around the Stauffer-Flint and Dole buildings. Ms. Anguiano informed the group about the different aspects of a journalism and mass communications degree at KU. She encouraged anyone pursuing a career in media to write as much and as often as possible.

"My favorite part about working at KU," said Ms. Anguiano, "is seeing the creativity coming from the students." 

The tour concluded with a trip to the Media Crossroads, located within the Kansas Union building. Media Crossroads Director Cal Butcher introduced the campers to the “green screen” that KU students use to produce the student news show, Good Morning KU.

Day 1: Tomorrowland Movie Review

Tomorrowland

Review by Nora L.

Rating: Three out of Five Stars

Tomorrowland is a sci-fi and action movie directed and written by Brad Bird along with Damon Lindelof. When young Frank (Thomas Robinson) enters a “future” themed convention, he meets Athena (Raffey Cassidy).Instantly he falls in love. Athena gives him a pin that he later realizes is able to transport him to the future. As young Frank and Athena spend more time together, Frank can not understand why he can’t make Athena laugh. Finally the truth is revealed that Athena is a robot along with almost everyone else in Tomorrowland. Now jump ahead almost 25 years. Athena has found a girl who is very rebellious and states her opinions clearly. Athena also gives this girl, Casey (Brittany Roberston), a pin to the future. Later, after showing Casey the future Athena seeks help from Frank who is now middle aged and living in a bunker hiding from the fact that the one he loved is a automated machine. When Frank doesn’t agree to help Casey forces him in to working with her by locking him out of his own house and locking herself in. Finally they set out on an adventure to the future and save the world from collapsing and going into total chaos.

All in all, it was an okay movie but there were a few unanswered questions. Like when they visited the future there were only about 20 people there? What happened to all the people in the future in the beginning of the movie? Also, are the robots made in a factory and assigned to families or what? Another question asked at the end of the movie was, is David Nix (Hugh Laurie) , the ruler of Tomorrowland, a robot or not? This question is asked because at the end of the movie he’s wearing a bracelet that controls a landing pad, yet before that he talks about shakes that could possibly keep him from aging. 

I believe that it was a good movie yet there were many parts that did not need to be there such as when Athena got hit by a car. In some parts of the future travel made it quite confusing but still good. I enjoyed the movie, but I’ve definitely seen better.