8th-graders participate in local variation

of ‘The Amazing Race’

    PRESQUE ISLE – In the spirit of the CBS reality television game show “The Amazing Race,” about 85 eighth-graders at Presque Isle Middle School recently took part in their own unique adventure, “History of Presque Isle Amazing Race.” 

    “In the past I’ve done some things with historical walking tours and a scavenger hunt, and I was looking to do something different,” said Bill Guerrette, eighth-grade social studies teacher at PIMS. “I think a lot of us take for granted what we have here and not realize that a lot of interesting things happened here; you don’t have to go away to find interesting stories.
    “Over the last few years I’ve done more with the history of Presque Isle and the kids have been very receptive to it,” he said. “They want to know about where they live because they can make connections … ‘Oh, my father works there,’ ‘My mother’s related to so and so,’ or ‘I know them, they go to our church.’ I knew I wanted to use bikes and set out clues and it just kind of evolved.”
    On the television show, teams of two people race around the world competing against other teams. Contestants attempt to arrive first at “pit stops” at the end of each leg of the race to win prizes and to avoid coming in last, which leads to the possibility of elimination or a significant disadvantage in the following leg. The clues in each leg lead the teams to the next destination or direct them to perform a task, either together or by a single member. Teams are eliminated until three are left. The team that arrives first in the final leg is declared the winner and receives $1 million.
    With the “History of Presque Isle Amazing Race,” one eighth-grade class went each of the four days. While the school has 30 mountain bikes, students could bring their bikes from home if they wanted.
    “Each team consisted of no more than five students and we had five groups per class. We had an adult chaperone with each group. Before we started, we went over the rules of the road and then I gave the kids their first challenge,” said Guerrette, who with permission from the Presque Isle Historical Society placed an envelope with clues at different historical markers in town. “They had to find the classroom number that I gave them – which was actually hard because they’re familiar with rooms based on the teacher’s name not the number – and had to sing ‘The Maine County Song’ in front of the class that was there. When they did that, the teacher gave them their clue.
    “We had about 20 stops,” he said, “and I had to come up with five different routes because I didn’t want the kids following each other.”
    Stops included the Phair House, Cook House, Wilder’s Jewelry Store, Eagle Hill Stamps & Coins, Governor’s, the site of the former B&A Railroad near Riverside Restaurant, Presque Isle Congregational Church, State Street Baptist Church, Maine Public Service, the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library, the Estey House, Downing Park,  City Hall and the site of the former Cunningham Middle School.
    “We got eight businesses involved and the kids actually had to go inside and answer a trivia question,” said Guerrette. “At the Presque Isle Rec Center, if they answered the trivia question correctly, they went into the gym and they had a physical challenge, which was archery. They had to hit a certain place on the target. Once they did that, they got their clue and were ready to leave. If they got the question wrong, they had to hit it twice.
    “I supplied the businesses with the trivia questions and it was information that we talked about in class,” he said. “The kids took notes during class and some brought their notebooks with them to find the answers. The other physical challenge was at Governor’s where they had to eat a piece of pie or cake. After the first couple of days, they had to eat a whoopee pie or a cupcake … it was easier to hand out. The kids all got a kick out of that.”
    In addition to exercising their brains, the activity proved to be physical, as well, as the students rode a total of 7.6 miles.
    “I think things went very well,” said Guerrette. “Eighth-graders are finicky. They sometimes think things are hokey or beneath them, but that wasn’t the case with this activity. They complained that the bike seats were hard and that they were sore, but that was the only downside. Most said they’d like to have the activity be longer with more physical challenges.
    “The businesses were great and were excited to see the kids,” he said. “When I went around to thank them personally and give them thank-you cards, they said, ‘If you’re going to do this again, let us know. We want to do it again; it was fun.’ I’d like to thank the businesses, the parents who volunteered, the PTO and the Student Council for making this such a positive, end-of-the-year activity.”
    The students thoroughly enjoyed the friendly competition.
    “I thought it was really fun and I learned a lot,” said Hannah Guerrette. “I learned that my church – State Street Baptist Church – is the second oldest building in Presque Isle. It was a good team experience. Going up an down Academy Street was a little tougher than I thought it would be, but it was great to get out of the classroom; it’s easier than taking notes and you learn from experience.”
    “We watched a slide show of all the buildings in class and then got to visit them on the bikes which was really cool,” Elena Ford said. “I had never been in the Maine Public Service building and I didn’t even know it was historical, so that was neat to learn about.”
    The physical aspect proved to be a challenge for Ford.
    “That was the worst thing ever,” she laughed. “I’m not really in shape, so biking from the school to Academy Street was a drag, but other than that it was a lot of fun.”
    Jeremy Shaw said he had no problem with the trek.
    “I like to bike ride so that wasn’t bad; but the ride back was harder because it’s all hill coming back to the school,” he said. “I liked having to eat a piece of pie at Governor’s … it was peanut butter and chocolate cream and it was really good. That was a fun challenge.
    “The race was definitely a learning experience,” said Shaw. “I liked how it was hands-on … it makes it that much easier to remember things. Thanks to the businesses for letting us come in.”
    Unlike the television show, there were no winners or losers with the eighth-grade event.
    “I ended up giving them a grade, which was based on giving me some feedback,” said Guerrette, who also gave each student a 4-by-6-inch team photo. “I needed to get their perspective on how things went. If they gave that back to me, they got an ‘A.’”
    Before biking back to the middle school, students met at Riverside Park where they were treated to pizza donated by Pat’s Pizza. Prior to the race, teams designed their own T-shirts, which were purchased with money from the PIMS Student Council.
    Due to the overwhelming popularity of the activity, Guerrette said he will likely hold the event again next year.

Photos courtesy of PIMS

    CELEBRATING AFTER RECEIVING THEIR LAST CLUE at the site of the former B&A Railroad near Riverside Restaurant are, from left: Savannah Braman, Mason Burns and Jocelyn Hewey. The Presque Isle Middle School eighth-graders took part in a local variation of the CBS reality television game show “The Amazing Race” entitled, “History of Presque Isle Amazing Race.”

 

    LISTENING TO THEIR TRIVIA QUESTION at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library are Presque Isle Middle School students, from left: Karson Eaton, Aaron Kofstad and Ryon Basu. The eighth-graders had to answer their question correctly in order to receive their next clue as part of the “History of Presque Isle Amazing Race.”

    READING THEIR NEXT CLUE in front of the Presque Isle Congregational Church are Presque Isle Middle School eighth-graders, from left: William Popov, Josh Gordon and John Shemkovitz. The boys were among the 85 students who recently participated in the “History of Presque Isle Amazing Race.”

 

    THE PRINCESSES, a Presque Isle Middle School eighth-grade team comprised of, from left: Lauren Shiff, Erikka Murley, Clarissa Buck and Shannon Sweeney, pose in front of the Cook House during a recent end-of-the-year activity, “History of Presque Isle Amazing Race.” Teams traveled from PIMS to downtown Presque Isle on bicycles where they made 20 stops answering trivia questions and completing physical challenges during the more than two-and-a-half-hour event.