March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, was a busy day for the walkingman. The morning was spent with the 5th graders at Woodhill Elementary school in Gastonia, and after a quick lunch, on to Bessemer City to Tryon Elementary to talk to the 5th graders there. Eating lunch with a teacher is an interesting event.....they are accustomed to 20 minutes for lunch, so not much time for talking! I have a connection to Woodhill....my son attended many years ago when the school first opened. In fact, Ms Upchurch had found a picture of him helping plant a tree at the school.
I was greeted at Woodhill by Ms Angela Upchurch, who coordinated the events for the day, and also was the driving force behind the students following the walk. Mr Jacob Barr, principal, of Woodhill, was also on hand to present me with a Woodhill Hornets t-shirt. As we walked down the hall to the room, I saw a poster and messages on the wall about the walk. Good work by the students.
I was impressed by how the students used the walk as a learning experience. In addition to social studies and geography, they used it for reading and grammar. Hopefully the blog didn't teach them any incorrect grammar. They had lots of questions, and each of them had kept a journal of the walk....very impressive. After talking to the class, two student reporters, Jennifer and Madison, interviewed me for a school paper. The interview will also be included in the school section of the Gaston Gazette.
Then to lunch (20 minutes), and then a short drive to Tryon. I was greeted by the principal, Mr Terry Usery. Whereas most students at Woodhill live in the city, most at Tryon live in the country....many of them on farms. So, each group had a different perspective of the walk. The Tryon students also used the walk in many different ways. Each of them has created a chart of the places I visited, with information such as temperature, altitude, terrain, etc., about each. It was a great learning experience for them. It seemed like no time when the school buses were arriving, and the students had to leave.
As I said, it was a busy day. I had been invited to talk to the Men's Bible Class at First Presbyterian Church, in Cherryville, NC. My brother-in-law, Roger Davis, was a member of this class, As you may remember, Roger died of cancer during the walk. My sister Nan was invited to attend the meeting. I was greeted by Dr Bill Lowe, Pastor of the church, and other members of the class. I know many of you are probably Baptist who pride themselves in their dinners, but these Presbyterians really did it right. The menu: country style steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, biscuits, and cake! Southern comfort food at its best.
Talking with the men was different than with the students. Many of them had been to the places I visited, plus a couple of them were truck drivers who understood about the long, desolate, stretches in the western states. So, lots of good discussion and questions. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures from the men's class. I always take out the camera, then get to talking and forget.
I hope everyone is doing well.....it's getting warmer here in VA, so Spring is a-coming. I go to Greenfield school each Tuesday afternoon, and walk with the Trekker's Walking Club. They love to walk, and love to talk. This week I took a compass and showed them how to determine the direction we were walking. They caught on pretty quickly. After showing one student that we were walking west, I told him, "if we keep walking West we will find the teacher and other students." His response, "yes, I can see them up there!" Well, I meant if we couldn't already see them!
About the pictures:
Principal Barr and some Woodhill students,
The hall decoration at Woodhill,
Some gifts from Woodhill and Tryon school students and teachers,
The Trekker's Walking Club with the walkingman.
Tuesday, March 15, was a busy day for the walkingman. The morning was spent with the 5th graders at Woodhill Elementary school in Gastonia, and after a quick lunch, on to Bessemer City to Tryon Elementary to talk to the 5th graders there. Eating lunch with a teacher is an interesting event.....they are accustomed to 20 minutes for lunch, so not much time for talking! I have a connection to Woodhill....my son attended many years ago when the school first opened. In fact, Ms Upchurch had found a picture of him helping plant a tree at the school.
I was greeted at Woodhill by Ms Angela Upchurch, who coordinated the events for the day, and also was the driving force behind the students following the walk. Mr Jacob Barr, principal, of Woodhill, was also on hand to present me with a Woodhill Hornets t-shirt. As we walked down the hall to the room, I saw a poster and messages on the wall about the walk. Good work by the students.
I was impressed by how the students used the walk as a learning experience. In addition to social studies and geography, they used it for reading and grammar. Hopefully the blog didn't teach them any incorrect grammar. They had lots of questions, and each of them had kept a journal of the walk....very impressive. After talking to the class, two student reporters, Jennifer and Madison, interviewed me for a school paper. The interview will also be included in the school section of the Gaston Gazette.
Then to lunch (20 minutes), and then a short drive to Tryon. I was greeted by the principal, Mr Terry Usery. Whereas most students at Woodhill live in the city, most at Tryon live in the country....many of them on farms. So, each group had a different perspective of the walk. The Tryon students also used the walk in many different ways. Each of them has created a chart of the places I visited, with information such as temperature, altitude, terrain, etc., about each. It was a great learning experience for them. It seemed like no time when the school buses were arriving, and the students had to leave.
As I said, it was a busy day. I had been invited to talk to the Men's Bible Class at First Presbyterian Church, in Cherryville, NC. My brother-in-law, Roger Davis, was a member of this class, As you may remember, Roger died of cancer during the walk. My sister Nan was invited to attend the meeting. I was greeted by Dr Bill Lowe, Pastor of the church, and other members of the class. I know many of you are probably Baptist who pride themselves in their dinners, but these Presbyterians really did it right. The menu: country style steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, biscuits, and cake! Southern comfort food at its best.
Talking with the men was different than with the students. Many of them had been to the places I visited, plus a couple of them were truck drivers who understood about the long, desolate, stretches in the western states. So, lots of good discussion and questions. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures from the men's class. I always take out the camera, then get to talking and forget.
I hope everyone is doing well.....it's getting warmer here in VA, so Spring is a-coming. I go to Greenfield school each Tuesday afternoon, and walk with the Trekker's Walking Club. They love to walk, and love to talk. This week I took a compass and showed them how to determine the direction we were walking. They caught on pretty quickly. After showing one student that we were walking west, I told him, "if we keep walking West we will find the teacher and other students." His response, "yes, I can see them up there!" Well, I meant if we couldn't already see them!
About the pictures:
Principal Barr and some Woodhill students,
The hall decoration at Woodhill,
Some gifts from Woodhill and Tryon school students and teachers,
The Trekker's Walking Club with the walkingman.
