Dr. Pladoo's Expedition: Dr. Pladoo's Expedition to Lion Den

By Steven Akinnfest

This book is about a group of young adults whose desire is to see the lion den and capture their images right out of the lions’ natural habitat was more of an unquenchable flame. Led by Dr. Pladoo and their science teacher, Mr. Roberts, the experiential learning was very much welcomed. They learned the practical side of a project as well as a useful learning method and the concepts of math and economics and the elements of the earth.

Lions are territorial beasts, they inhabit a wide range of ecosystems, making their home anywhere there are prey and adequate shelter.

Despite their individual shortcomings, their success was due to their determination and cooperative attitude toward one another and to the leaders. The quest to discover the lion den subsequently led to unimaginable fun and awards.

Dr. Pladoo’s Expedition™

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Author: Steven Akinnfest (MBA)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662435829

Book preview

Chapter 1-A

Tyrone’s A.M. Surprise

Sponsor’s Meeting and Agreement

Sponsor’s Meeting and Agreement

Opening statement by the Lead-sponsor about crew selection:

The counselor spoke amicably to the other nine sponsoring-member panel concerning the upcoming annual project.

The Counselor said, "The athletic director and I established a project three years ago known as the CAAD project in reference to Dr. Stephen Brookfield’s lecture and argument that:

In order to create a learning community, educational leaders ought to have the ability of looking at the whole community as one body. Foster community interaction and relationships: teacher to student relationship, student to student relationship, teacher/administrator to parents’ relationship, which is built on cordial, professional, and knowledge-based interactions.

The counselor paused…

For this reason, we started the so-called CAAD project three years ago; not only to raise some fund for the new football and basketball stadium, but to also support tardy pupils and stare the community towards cordial dialogue and interactions; consequently, we are able to deviate from speculation to objectivity.

The counselor paused…

For one, the traditional assumptions that students come to class well-fed, well-clothed, and ready to learn is a wrong assumption and misrepresentation of societal situation. Also, the perspectives parents hold true about students and teachers might be faulty. It’s our duty to let the community know the progress made and the efforts required, she said.

The counselor paused…

"Therefore, today, a flyer similar to the ones distributed last season will be distributed to each class by the athletic director tomorrow. Should anyone have any further concerns or suggestions for improving this project, please direct them to me, or to the Athletic Director.

Meeting adjourned!

Chapter 1-B

Scene 2: Tyrone’s a.m. surprise

Tyrone’s a.m. surprise

Tyrone is one of the newest faculty at Sunrise College (fictional), a private, nondenominational institution of learning, where students are inspired to reach for the stars.

One early Monday morning, he drove through the double-gated entrance of the campus in his customized truck: a metallic burgundy vehicle with twenty-four-inch wheels; it’s stylishly built, similar to those vehicles displayed in the seasonal TV show, Pimp My Ride, with enough chrome for two more vehicles. It’s also equipped with special shock absorbers that help to elevate and lower the vehicle by a push of a button. Students admire his vehicle as well as his personality.

He parked his truck by utilizing the parallel-park technique, picked up his laptop bag, and headed for the aisle connecting the classroom building. He walked gracefully, cautiously toward his office as there were few children on the path saying Good morning and Hello to different folks along the way.

Roberts (the science teacher). Morning, Mr. Phillipson!

Tyrone. Morning, Mr. Roberts.

Roberts. Do you know, today is a special day in this campus?

Tyrone. How special?

Roberts. Special enough for advanced payments to all faculty members.

They both paused to giggle.

Roberts (cont.). You know, I’m just being a bit sarcastic, but according to the administrative schedule, the athletic director is supposed to interrupt each class session one classroom after another, sometimes this afternoon to announce the CAADs price project: Counselor And Athletic Director price project.

Tyrone. A price project, what is that?

Roberts. Yes, each class determines what project they would like to undertake and their main mentor will lead them to completion and submission of the value offers for community bid.

Tyrone. Oh yes, that is a good program!

Their conversation was interrupted by Thomas who led his team to Disneyland Park in Florida, the previous year. Although the project was entertaining and educational, it yielded barely three quarter of what was projected.

Thomas. Y’all were referring to the CAAD project?

They both look toward his direction.

Thomas (cont.). We call it CAAD project because it was introduced by the counselor and athletic director to raise money for a new football stadium. I led the crew last summer to Florida. The project enlightens and educates the community; this is the third annual event, and I wouldn’t mind leading it again this season. It is a student-driven project in conjunction with the community where every summer month, a chosen group of students would chase after authentic discoveries in pictures and tangible forms as the value offer in exchange for community bids.

Tyrone. That is such a nice program.

Roberts. Yes, it is. It was started by the athletic director and the counselor with a goal of raising money for the new proposed athletic stadium. Each class is supposed to submit a project of their liking to the counselor for consideration, and the mentor or another faculty volunteer leads them to the completion and submission of the collected items. (Professor Roberts paused.)

Roberts (cont.). You know, our nation said we are in pursuit of happiness, we might, as a group, pursue something beneficial and fulfilling.

The bell rang, they dispersed to their different offices. A couple of hours later, the Counselor and the Athletic Director showed at Tyrone office and handed him a copy of the proposal, then he spoke amicably:

Athletic Director. Good morning, class! Previous two summers, we sponsored a group of students and two mentors to the Disneyland Park in Florida, and the entire student body and participants in both projects were excited and happy. However, both years, we come so close to the brim of the breakeven point, but we fall short of the dollar projection each year. For instance, last summer, the project-group brought back 120 pictures from Disneyland, and every one of them went through the bid process; it was fun, it was educational, and it brought the community together, but we missed our projection by a 5 percent