Editor's note: The following was provided by Elmhurst District 205.
Students in Marti Good’s fifth-grade Extended School Year program put their research skills to the test when they organized a scavenger hunt expedition via railroad this summer.
After analyzing train schedules and fares in class, they walked from to board a Metra train to Wheaton, where they visited both the DuPage Historical Museum and The Little Popcorn Store.
The train ride was an adventure. As one student said, “We came close to the train going the other way and it looked like it was going to hit us!”
Students also described The Little Popcorn Store in Wheaton as an “itty-bitty store” boasting an itty-bitty address, 111-¼ W. Front St., but what kids found inside was, “so much candy … candy I haven’t seen in a long time.”
The next stop on the trip was the DuPage County Historical Museum, where students saw a miniature train exhibit.
“It’s like ants carved the little houses and people. I had to squint to see the details,” one student remarked after he completed his scavenger hunt.
Students are recommended for participation in District 205’s Extended School Year program by an educational team to help keep them structured, engaged and learning during the summer months. When not riding the rails, students are engaged in other learning activities, such as seeing if it really was hot enough to fry an egg in a frying pan outside on the playground. It was, indeed, they concluded.
This year, there are 195 students in the program, which spans from early childhood (beginning at age 3) through the transition program (ages 18-21). Kimberly James is serving as the District 205 ESY coordinator.
