 
The journey is underway! This week the 4th and 5th grade
students began their 2,278-mile virtual trek on Route 66 by
leaving the starting line at Chicago, Illinois. The weather
cooperated with sunshine and morning temperatures of about
62 degrees... which was nice for running and walking the
park loop by the school. One lap of the "loop" is a half
mile. We'll be using the path around the park most of the
time. However, we'll use the gym on days of bad or
very cold weather.
To begin this journey we had each child complete one lap of
the park. So each student contributed 1/2 mile toward their
team's total. We won't limit the laps each week. Instead,
we'll allow the students to acquire as much distance as they
can in a set amount of time. Their progress will be posted
weekly in these journal entries. For this week, the 4th
graders have the lead by 3 miles. The teams are about
halfway between
Chicago, Illinois and
Joliet, Illinois.
There are 41 students on the 4th grade team, and 41 students
on the 5th grade team. Some students still needed to turn in
permission sheets signed by their parents - which is
required for students to run in the park next to the school
property.
The kids are on their way to California, and Chicago was the
official starting point for this Route 66 journey. Chicago
is home to the
largest cookie factory in the
world (Nabisco), and it has the
largest
public library in the world
(containing over 2 million books). The world's first
skyscraper was built in Chicago (back in 1885), and the
first Aquarium was opened in the city of Chicago (in 1893).
It has been called "The Windy City" and on Saint Patrick's
Day the
Chicago River is dyed green! Chicago is truly a city
with interesting facts and was a neat place to begin this
journey.
The kids will be logging about 289 miles in the state of
Illinois, and they'll be learning about the state as they
run/walk along Route 66. For instance, the ice cream
"sundae" got its name in
Evanston, Illinois...
a little-known fact. This is a state of about 13 million
people and there's interesting facts and stories around
every turn in the road. Learn more at our page of
Illinois Facts.
This was a good first week and over the next 7 months the
kids will run and walk through 8 states, 3 time zones, and
along the historical "Main Street of America". Please check
back weekly to watch their progress. Also, you can encourage
the kids through our
encouragement
guestbook! Anybody can leave an
encouraging note... even the kids participating! Beginning
in the next couple of weeks we'll be posting pictures of the kids
in the
student photo gallery.
If you're a kid and "Route 66" sounds familiar, you may have
heard it from the Disney movie "Cars".
Route 66 is where that animated movie took place!
There's a lot of information in this web site about Route
66. The students will be receiving worksheets to complete
for each state as the school year goes on. They'll be able
to use this web site in class and in the computer lab in
order to find information to complete the worksheets. Also,
be sure to click on the "Rest Area" button to play some fun
games! We've included the button below, so check it out!
Thanks for stopping in and visiting the kids as they
virtually travel through Illinois!
Click Here To Read The Next
Journal Entry > >
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5th Grade (41 students): They
did 18 miles this week.
Their total
is 18 miles.
