  This
journal entry was written April 22.
THE END IS IN SIGHT! Both classes are focused on
reaching the finish line on the beach at Cape Henlopen
near
Lewes, Delaware,
and it appears that the 5th grade class (of 41
students) will reach there first. They are a
mere 150 miles from the finish line and ended
this week in the nation's
capitol, Washington
D.C.. They only have two states to complete on this 15-state
trek, those states being Maryland and
Delaware. The 4th grade class has
made a very impressive comeback and is currently
1½ weeks ahead of schedule to complete this
virtual U.S.A. journey by the last day of the
school year, June 9th. They are in the state of West Virginia and are only 414 miles from the Atlantic
Ocean!
 At
times like this it's hard not to reflect
back on such a journey. As the finish line draws
near many memories come to mind of the past 8
months on this virtual trek. When they cross the
finish line, these students will always have the
memory of this incredible challenge. They will
also have the satisfaction of knowing that they
succeeded. We've said since the first day (on
September 7, 2005) that our research has shown
that no individual class has ever taken on a
run/walk across the entire United States and
successfully completed it within a school year.
Countless teachers have followed this trek
throughout the year and not one has reported to
us that they know of another individual class
that has done it. Based on our research, we
believe that the Russell Elementary 4th grade
and 5th grade classes will be the first to
complete a documented 3,200 mile coast-to-coast
journey as individual classes during a
single school year. And that is based on actual
steps taken for measurable distance, not by
converting 20 minutes of an activity (such as
bicycling or basketball) to running/walking a
mile. This trek has truly required putting the
"rubber to the road" to complete this
ultra-distance endeavor across America. For the 5th grade class of
40 students, that averages to be 80 miles per
student during the 9-month school year (or 3
marathons each!). For the 4th grade class of 56
students, it averages to 57 miles per student
(or 2 marathons each!). That's quite an
accomplishment for students 10 and 11
years of age!
A
BIG thank you must be given to the wonderful
classroom teachers of these students. The 4th
and 5th grade teachers at Russell Elementary
School have supported this virtual trek
curriculum and have helped to keep the students
on pace by taking them outside to run/walk on
non-P.E. days. That has truly helped the kids
this year. If you're reading this and are not
familiar with how we structured our virtual
trek, you'll want to review our
guidelines for the
curriculum.
 We
also want to send a thank you to Ann Denzer of
Tacoma, Washington for sending the students
boxes of Almond Roca and Cashew Roca. What a
nice treat to celebrate their progress!
The picture to the right shows some of what the
students enjoyed.
There
has been a noticeable decline during the past
couple of weeks in the amount of encouragement
notes the students receive from visitors to this
web site. Now that they're nearly done with this
incredibly long journey, how about sending them
a note of congratulation as they approach the
finish line? Just go to our
encourage page and send the
students a note today! These kids deserve a pat
on the back, so please take a moment to do that.
Please
also visit
www.pacerun.com to learn
all of the details About Paul Staso Staso's upcoming
run across America (for real) that begins on
June 23, only 2 months from now. Paul's run is a
direct result of the fantastic effort made by
Russell Elementary's 4th and 5th grade students
during this Run/Walk Across America curriculum!
|
Some Encouraging Notes
We Received This Week: |
We
love your idea and wish our school would do something like this!
Great Job!
Kylie and Tracy Crane
3rd
Grade Student and Mommy
Manteca, California
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey
Kids, This is awesome!! I found this site and what can I say? Keep
up the awesome job. We are supporting you totally. And when you get
back to our town [virtually speaking] I would love to meet all of
you! Keep it up!!
Robyn Malek
Mrs. Montana
United States 2006
Alberton, Montana
_________________________________________________________________________________________
WOW!
You guys have been doing a great job! I'm so proud of all you fourth
graders for getting back ahead of pace! And do you realize how
close you are to the finish line!?! What a great accomplishment!
And now that the weather has turned nice again, it'll be a snap to
get to Cape Henlopen!
Jan Bixler
Missoula, Montana
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Congrats! You guys
and girls passed your goal. Don't look back... leave it all
on the track.
CJ
5th Grade
Student - Beaver Acres Elementary
Beaverton, Oregon
|
Quote
To Think About: "Man who
say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it."
(Ancient
Chinese Proverb)