  This
journal entry was written November 19. This week both
classes did a great job of accumulating miles toward the Run/Walk
Across America! For the first time since this journey began, both
classes are ahead of the pace needed to finish the trek by the end of
the school year!
This
week the students traveled through such towns as Avon, Elliston,
Helena (Montana's capital city), Winston, and Townsend. Prior to
reaching Helena the students conquered the 6,320-foot
MacDonald Pass -
which is the Continental Divide. Although the conditions were quite
snowy, the students persevered! They ran through the
Helena National
Forest and then parallel to the
Canyon Ferry Lake as the terrain
became more flat and the mountains got smaller in the distance behind
them. The students did run over the
Big Belt Mountains and are
currently near the
Lewis and Clark National Forest as they are
approaching White Sulphur Springs, Montana.
Stacey
Rossmiller, Russell Elementary PTA President, arranged a
donation from
Frito-Lay Company
for bags of baked chips for each student to celebrate our successful
crossing of the state of Idaho a couple of weeks ago. Baked chips are
healthier than fried!.Thank you so
much Frito-Lay! We waited for the chips to arrive before having
our "Idaho Celebration" and it was a crunching success!
We truly appreciate the 'behind the scenes' efforts of Stacey
Rossmiller, Diana Sontag, and Martha Robertson
 who continually do so
much to encourage the students in this trek and to be the "brainstormers"
for such fun celebrations!
We
also want to extend a HUGE thank you to both the 4th and 5th grade
teachers at Russell Elementary School who periodically take the
students outside to walk a 1/2 mile or a full mile.
This truly helps the kids to stay on track with the target pace needed
to complete the journey. The P.E. curriculum is scheduled to include a
gymnastics unit for three weeks prior to Christmas vacation (and it
won't involve a lot of running/walking), so such occasional "outings"
by the classes with their teachers is truly helpful for keeping on
pace.
In
the coming week the students will only have one day of school (Monday)
due to Parent/Teacher Conferences - followed
by the long Thanksgiving weekend. So, the students are being allowed
to run/walk outside of school through the extended weekend and they
will turn in mileage slips to Mrs. Staso on Monday (Nov. 28) which
will be signed by their parents as verification of the distance they
covered over the weekend. We will count those miles toward the trek
across America. We hope that the students will not only gobble up
their Thanksgiving dinners... but also gobble up the miles!
Click
here to view some pictures from our "Idaho Celebration" with baked
Lays potato chips!
|
Some Encouraging
Notes We Received This Week: |
Last
year we crossed America -- Matt ran the whole distance like you are
doing, and Laura rode her bike alongside him! We think that what you
are doing is great, and it is amazing that you are basically right
on pace!!! Keep up the good work.
Laura Shipler Chico and Matt
Chico
Silver Spring, Maryland (but currently
working in Rwanda, Africa)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi
4th and 5th graders - You are all doing so well and are actually
less than 400 miles from Miles City. What a big state we live in!! I
look forward to checking on your progress and seeing the pictures
that have been added. Keep up the good work.
Karen Huckins
The
participating student's former Librarian
Miles City, Montana
_________________________________________________________________________________________
GO
GO GO GO GO GO GO GO KIDS.
Tamara
4th Grade Participating
Student
Missoula, Montana
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Good
Job! Keep running! We can make it. Make sure to use yellow slips!
Ashlin
5th Grade
Participating Student
Missoula, Montana
|
|
Paul's Run
|
Media
|
Encourage
|
Contact