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Indy 500 princess Kylie Heagy stood in front of a group of Lewis Cass fourth-graders, asking them history questions about the world’s greatest spectacle in racing.
“Do you know who won the first 500?” the IU-I and Zionsville High School graduate asked.
“Ed Carpenter?” shouted one of the students.
“The first 500 was in 1911,” Heady laughed. “How old do you think Ed Carpenter is?”
The correct answer was Ray Harroun, but beyond that misstep the Lewis Cass students knew their Indy 500 trivia.
Lewis Cass Elementary and Fairview Elementary were treated to a fast paced preview of the Indy 500 Friday when the 500 Festival & Indianapolis 500 Education Program stopped by both schools for a visit.
Fourth-graders studying Indiana history visited six stations during a two-hour stretch and learned about the history of the race and the science and safety behind racing.
Station topics included science of an IndyCar, need for speed, health and nutrition, driver equipment, medical safety, timing and scoring, flag meanings and different careers in racing.
“The exciting part of fourth grade is that we study Indiana history and the speedway is obviously part of that history,” said fourth grade teacher Cindy Leduc. “This helps brings that alive to them.”
Both Lewis Cass and Fairview took fieldtrips to the speedway in the past but transportation and funding has made fieldtrips a challenge.
The 500 Education Program is funded with a grant and brings the speedway directly to schools.
“This lets us bring the fieldtrip to (the students) instead of us going down there,” Leduc said.
Fairview fourth grade teacher Jamie Seibert said that at the end of the year she does a fun Indy 500 project with the students that includes the children watching a past race.
“This is kind of frontloading for us and then when we come back from spring break and after our state testing we do some fun Indy 500 follow up with them,” she said.
At one station, the students split into teams and planned out how they would build a race car. At another station they learned about the safety equipment used by drivers while another station taught them about what the different flags mean during a race.
Heagy, who did not get to attend the Fairview presentation, taught the students about the history and traditions of the Indy 500 such as drinking milk and kissing the bricks.
The students also got to go outside and see a life-sized replica of an Indy car.
Leduc said she taught for nearly 40 years and had since come out of retirement. She said past students would feel comfortable stepping into the Indiana history curriculum today.
“The historical part of it is still the same and then we will pull some things in to look at how things have changed over time,” she said. “But it’s still very much like it was when all of us were kids.”
Continue reading...
“Do you know who won the first 500?” the IU-I and Zionsville High School graduate asked.
“Ed Carpenter?” shouted one of the students.
“The first 500 was in 1911,” Heady laughed. “How old do you think Ed Carpenter is?”
The correct answer was Ray Harroun, but beyond that misstep the Lewis Cass students knew their Indy 500 trivia.
Lewis Cass Elementary and Fairview Elementary were treated to a fast paced preview of the Indy 500 Friday when the 500 Festival & Indianapolis 500 Education Program stopped by both schools for a visit.
Fourth-graders studying Indiana history visited six stations during a two-hour stretch and learned about the history of the race and the science and safety behind racing.
Station topics included science of an IndyCar, need for speed, health and nutrition, driver equipment, medical safety, timing and scoring, flag meanings and different careers in racing.
“The exciting part of fourth grade is that we study Indiana history and the speedway is obviously part of that history,” said fourth grade teacher Cindy Leduc. “This helps brings that alive to them.”
Both Lewis Cass and Fairview took fieldtrips to the speedway in the past but transportation and funding has made fieldtrips a challenge.
The 500 Education Program is funded with a grant and brings the speedway directly to schools.
“This lets us bring the fieldtrip to (the students) instead of us going down there,” Leduc said.
Fairview fourth grade teacher Jamie Seibert said that at the end of the year she does a fun Indy 500 project with the students that includes the children watching a past race.
“This is kind of frontloading for us and then when we come back from spring break and after our state testing we do some fun Indy 500 follow up with them,” she said.
At one station, the students split into teams and planned out how they would build a race car. At another station they learned about the safety equipment used by drivers while another station taught them about what the different flags mean during a race.
Heagy, who did not get to attend the Fairview presentation, taught the students about the history and traditions of the Indy 500 such as drinking milk and kissing the bricks.
The students also got to go outside and see a life-sized replica of an Indy car.
Leduc said she taught for nearly 40 years and had since come out of retirement. She said past students would feel comfortable stepping into the Indiana history curriculum today.
“The historical part of it is still the same and then we will pull some things in to look at how things have changed over time,” she said. “But it’s still very much like it was when all of us were kids.”
Continue reading...
