It started off as another wild idea (as most of my ideas usually do). As a true Amazing Race Canada fan, I loved sitting back with a bowl of popcorn and watch groupS of adventurous Canadians battle through extreme challenges and road blocks as they traveled through our beautiful country.
When creating our "Lakewood is Happy" video last spring, it amazed me of how much of our unique city, our kids don't get the chance to see. Heck, I haven't even seen a lot of these places.
I was sitting back one day thinking... how amazing would it be to load up a bus of kids and run around exploring the city of Winnipeg... PRETTY AMAZING!
It started off with a wild idea that I brought to my dear friend and colleague, @syard2. In absolute no time, and I mean, literally that day, we had started drafting locations, times, routes and letters to send to different locations around Winnipeg.
Within the next 3 weeks, we emailed, phoned and corresponded with a variety of different locations. All that responded with: Yes! Of course you can stop off here... I wish I was in your class - this sounds amazing!
The best part.. the kids had NO IDEA where we were taking them. As we stayed up until 12:30am the Friday before, we created official clues that students had to figure out so that they could get to the next location. During bus travel times, we had created a "route information" folder that where shared different facts and information about the location we were going to. But.. sometimes..we also had ROAD BLOCKS! Students were given yes/no cards and they had to guess whether or not the fact/statement we shared was true or false.
Not only did we, as teachers HAVE SO MUCH FUN PLANNING & GOING ON this adventure, our STUDENTS had even MORE FUN.. and most importantly REALLY GOT TO KNOW THEIR CITY! What better way to learn the curriculum than by jumping on a bus and exploring their Winnipeg community.
We also didn't realize that we'd be taking parents on our field trip! As we tweeted out our clues and locations throughout the day, parents and everyone in their office were following along with us! They would comment and make guesses for different locations. One parent stated "that the whole office was asking where they were headed to next and to keep them updated as they went into a meeting!"
A TRUE FIELD TRIP FOR ALL!
We have to of course thank our administrator for letting us "run with this amazing (and wild) idea!"
We also need to thank:
- Tony's Team Transport and our bus driver Robert
- Ace Burpee, LTI and Chrissy Troy from Virgin 103 Radio
- The Manitoba Museum and its staff
- The Royal Canadian Mint and its staff
- The Legislative Building (and our amazing tour guide Daisy)
- The Winnipeg Airport (and its staff)
It took a lot of planning, A LOT! ... but it was absolutely SO WORTH IT in every single way!
As students reached their final pit stop, they were exhausted .... but also excited. Many of them thanked us for an exciting day and for creating this adventure for them.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR ANIMOTO VIDEO (video coming soon.....check back last week of Nov)
Until next time.... :)
-N
