The Amazing Race Begins
“Sixth graders have fun be safe and enjoy your time at the amazing sixth grade race. Team leaders you may now give your team their start cards and go,” announced Jennifer Wikoff the assistant principal at Gregory Middle School.
And with that, teams were off. Navigating through Gregory’s hallways trying their best to win the amazing race. The second annual event is meant to ease sixth graders’ transition from elementary to middle school.
“In elementary there’s no transitions – you don’t switch classes very often, you don’t have a locker, [there’s] more choices at lunch. So some of those things we want to give them exposure to before they step foot [here] on day one,” said Wikoff.
Group of students were divided up into teams going from one end of the school to the other.
More Details About The Race
Students used a travel guide, to hit key locations throughout the school: the gym, the nurses’ office, the cafeteria, and even the library. While there, teams completed several tasks along the way, at times some puzzles, and collected clues that pointed them to their next location.
What Did Students Get Out of It?
They also did physical exercises and students had to open up several lockers.
Students came away feeling confident for the upcoming school year.
“I think I’m going to be better at knowing the school, like the combination for the lock and knowing where the classrooms are” said Ian, an incoming sixth grader at Gregory.
Though there was a winner, student volunteers from last year’s race said at the end everyone walks away winning.
“I felt like a winner because I got to know a bunch of kids,” said Logan, a seventh grader at Gregory. “I got to make new friends and I felt like, no matter what, it was a win for me because I got to know my way around the school, I met my teachers, and I got a lot of good friends out of this.”
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
