Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Great Baggage Challenge 2013

The French TGV is famous for its efficiency and punctuality. If the ticket says you are going to arrived at 3:07, you will. So, the schedule for boarding and disembarking is VERY tight. For our stop at Aix-en-Provence, we had about 5-10 minutes to get ourselves (and all our luggage off the train.) Since it took us a long time to board and find spots for our bags in the car (about a half hour after we got on the train initially), we were really concerned about how we would manage to get everyone and everything off the train in under 10 minutes.




Once students realized the gravity of the situation, they were slightly worried.



Never fear, though! Parkway has a plan! After much discussion between teachers and students, it was determined to recreate the assembly line from the bus loading in Paris earlier in the day.


Rising to the occasion, designated Parkway students were responsible for getting all the bags off the train, handing them off from one person to another until everything was removed from the lower car train door. Mrs. Morey stood on the platform, guarding the bags as they were unloaded. At the upper car train door, the rest of the Parkway students with their carry-on bags left the train quickly. This two-prong exit strategy allowed the bags and students to leave the train in the time allotted.



As students arrived at the Parkway pile of bags, they were nervous. Would their bag be in the pile? Would everyone get out in time? Would we beat the under 10 minute train allotment? It was a tense situation as everyone watched the clock and the exit process for bags and people.




Of course, Parkway would beat the clock! We got all the bags and people off the train in under 10 minutes, with plenty of time to spare. We are invincible! Train timetables don't scare Parkway students!



Johnathan from North showed off his leadership skills once again as he spearheaded our amazing efforts to remove the luggage and people off the train. He organized the assembly line and was at the front of it as he took bag after bag from the train car. We're so thankful he was on the trip!



Goodbye, TGV! Thanks for the thrilling ride. The bag challenge was fun, but we won! No hard feelings. You can't beat Parkway power!


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1 comment:

  1. This is my favorite post!! We get to see Parkway Power in action!

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