1 Due in Kea'au, HI 8/16/02 and arrived 8/15/02
Click here for more information about Hawaii.
Owney arrived Thursday as school was letting out. We had Friday, Admission's Day, off so Owney spent the weekend with me at my house in Hilo. He helped me clean house and pick pineapples and lilikoi (passion
fruit) from my yard. Mostly he supervised.
Monday bright and early Owney was back in school and visiting all of Kea'au Elementary students and staff. He read with my students, we sent the book along so he can read with everyone too! The Preschool and Kindergarten students were thrilled to meet Owney. Some of the first through fifth grade students remembered Owney from before. Owney was looking a little worried so we took him to the Health Room to see the nurse. He was fine, probably alittle tired from meeting everyone. He visited with our office staff, librarian, kupunas (Hawaiian Studies teachers), custodians, and our mascot, Nene.
Everyone was so happy to see Owney again and wished him much aloha on his way to Texas. He went to the Post Office Monday afternoon, but probably didn't fly out until today. Our school is looking forward to following Owney on his travels this year!
2 Due in El Paso, TX 8/21/02, arrived 8/23/02
Click here for more information about Texas.
The anticipation was really building this week. Owney finally arrived today during lunch time. I waited to unpack him with my class. As soon as I walked
outside the class ran to the box excitedly. They had been waiting for him since Wednesday. We hurried up to our classroom and opened him up. We were very happy to see him. He had on a beautiful lei from Hawaii. We posed for a few pictures and then busily visited many people on our campus who were expecting him. First, we visited (and posed) with our Assistant Principal, Mr. Tice who matched very well in his Hawaiian shirt. Then we sent Owney to our nurse, Mrs. Cordero, because we think he looked jet-lagged. We then paid a visit to our counselor, Mrs. Frizell who gave him a big hug. Next, we were very surprised to find our new Superintendent, Dr. Aguilar with our Principal, Mrs. Wulff. Owney was very excited to meet a Superintendent! They were both very excited and honored to meet Owney. We then let Owney pay a visit to our library and he "checked out" our librarian, Mrs. Barton. We went on to give Owney a singing lesson with Mr. Ritchey our music teacher. Owney was feeling a lot better so we took him to PE and visited with Coach Perez. We then went on to show Owney one of our three wonderful and high tech computer labs and visit with Mr. Ryan our computer teacher. We also paid a visit to the students in last year's class that remembered Owney and are now in 3rd grade. Owney had a very busy and exciting afternoon! We gave him a cowboy hat with a Helen Ball Elem. pin and boy does it look good! After school I took him to the post
office and said "Farewell and until next year!" He was eagerly off to pay a visit to Illinois on Monday as scheduled.
3 Due in Flanagan, IL 8/26/02, arrived right on time!
Click here for more information about Illinois.
Owney arrived in Flanagan, IL this morning, August 26. He was right on time & we had a delightful visit with him. We opened up his box during milkbreak & passed him around our class for personal introductions while Mrs. Montgomery read The Owney Story. He took a spelling quiz and then joined us for science. At lunchtime, he toured the cafeteria and later met the secretary and several teachers. This afternoon, he showed us how well he can count by 2's, 5's, and 10's during math. He joined us for P.E. with Mrs. Gordon and later for computers with Ms. Gaspardo. We gave him a Flanagan Pride pin, a map of Illinois (so he can find his way back next year), and a special Flanagan pen. Mrs. Montgomery mailed him off to Las Vegas, NV this afternoon & he should be there soon.
Love, Mrs. Montgomery's 2nd Grade
4 Due in Las Vegas, NV 8/30/02, arrived 8/28/02, 2 days ahead of schedule. :)
Click here for more information about Nevada.
Dear Friends of Owney,
Owney arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada, today at Tomiyasu
Elementary School, about 10:00 a.m. As we were coming
in from music special, the office clerk was walking
down the hall with a box in her hands. Yes, it was
Owney! The children were so excited.
Owney's blue eyes sparkled as he was taken out of his
box. He was very quiet and allowed the students to
take turns holding him.
The story of Owney the Traveling Dog by Lynn Hall was
read to Owney and the class. Owney was able to visit
children from the last two years in the lunchroom. He
played a math game with us and helped write poems.
The day ended by watching the story of Owney on Animal
Planet. The bell was about to ring. The students
said their good-byes to Owney. We made him our Dragon
of the Month and put a pin on Owney with our school
name.
He is now off to Tennessee.
5 Due in Shelbyville, TN 9/4/02, arrived 9/3/02 and still ahead of schedule! :)
Click here for more information about Tennessee.
Owney arrived to our TN classroom today at noon. Students had a blast visiting with him. They begged me to not send him on his way so soon. I didn't want him to get behind so I mailed him to PA immediately after school. He is on his way! We put Tennessee Titans socks on his little paws. With our Walking Horse Celebration over for the year, we all voted to dress Owney for the football season! It's now Tennessee football time!
Thanks for sharing Owney with us!
Betsy Norris and class
6 Due in Johnstown, PA 9/9/02, arrived 9/5/02
Click here for more information about Pennsylvania.
Dear Friends,
My stop in Johnstown is just a memory now, but I am happy to share it with you. I arrived on Thursday afternoon, and the children welcomed me with lots of pats and hugs. They were curious about the states I had already visited, and figured out Hawaii and Texas without any coaxing, but they needed a little help with the rest. After that, they went on with their lessons. On Friday the students made postcards for all the other states, and that's when I learned a lot about Pennsylvania. They have a lot of interesting things going on here! I found out Heinz Ketchup and Hershey bars are made here. I found out that the Liberty Bell is in this state, and that the Declaration of Independence was signed here. There are big amusement parks and State Parks, and many famous people are from PA, from Ben Franklin to Dan Marino. When the day was coming to a close, every child in St. Clement's Fourth Grade got to pose with me. Then the children went home and Mrs. Samo took me to the Inclined Plane, the steepest in the world, and to Burger King before my final stop--the post office. The clerk almost gave me a new box for free, but changed her mind when she saw all the nice decorations on it. Anyway, I'm almost in South Carolina now. I can't wait to see what this state has to teach me.
Your traveling friend, Owney
7 Due in Charleston, SC 9/13/02, arrived 9/11/02
Click here for more information about South Carolina.
Owney has made it to Charleston!!! Ms. Essenberg's 4th grade class and Ms. Granger's 2nd grade classes were happy to find a box waiting for them when they arrived at school on Wednesday! The two classes met early in the day and opened the box. As we had expected, it was OWNEY!!! We loved looking at all the nice things that Owney had brought with him. Owney began his visit at Memminger by meeting our lead teacher and principal. They loved all of his pins, books, hat and lei. Ms. Oplinger, our principal, gave him a Memminger Pride pin. He spent the morning with Ms. Granger's class. They took him to the nurse for a check-up and we are happy to report that he is
doing great! Then Owney went to P.E. to stretch some after his long trip from Pennsylvania. In the afternoon Owney went to Ms. Essenberg's class. They were on their way to see one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence. Owney was quite the patriotic dog. He watch a big presentation. Then he got to see the Declaration of Independence. We brought him back to school and told him all about the Riverdogs baseball team that we have here. We gave him a Riverdogs sticker and key chain. After school he went home with Ms. Essenberg so he could meet her dog, Charlie Brown. They watched a tribute to those we lost on 9-11 last year. Ms. Essenberg dropped Owney off at the post office this morning. We were sad to see him go. We hope Wisconsin is ready for a wonderful visit!
8 Due in Milton, WI 9/18/02, arrived 9/16/02
Click here for more information about Wisconsin.
It was an exciting day when Owney arrived in our second grade classroom. We watched the video on Owney and read the book Owney the Traveling Dog. Of course, we took many pictures so Owney got lots of hugs. The children were anxious to sign the book, too. We donned Owney with a Wisconsin cheesehead pin and sent him on his way to our neighbors in Minnesota. The
next day, we worked on our postcards. Each child received 2-3 states to send to. They had to identify the state from the large wall map and show the class where their postcard was going. One little girl could hardly contain herself. She got the postcard for Texas and she was born there!! We have another wall map that we color in each state as we receive the
postcard. We only have seven states filled in. We are anxiously awaiting more. Good luck on your travels, Owney!
Your friends in Wisconsin
9 Due in Waconia, MN 9/23/02, arrived 9/20
Click here for more information about Minnesota.
Owney arrived in MN sometime Friday afternoon.
We are enjoying him very much. The postcards have been sent, and we will take care of our journal page tomorrow.
For those of you who are new to the project, we have a Dog Day. Parents can bring in dogs anytime during the day.
During the day I read The Strange and Wonderful Tale of Robert McDoodle, the Boy Who Wanted to be a Dog, by Steven Bauer I also read Dog by Gail Gibbons. After we read the book, the kids make a venn diagram, one circle labeled dogs, the other people. The students complete the Venn diagram and then use their ideas to write three brief descriptions-dogs, people, common characteristics of both.
We also read I am the Dog, I am the Cat by Donald Hall. After that story, the kids write lists of characteristics of both dogs and cats. They choose one of the pets and write a persuasive letter to their parents, asking for the pet.
We make our postcards, watch the movie Dog, by Dorling Kindersley, and write a memory book page about the day.
Just some ideas if anyone is interested, easy to adapt to different grades.
Have a fun day with Owney!
10 Due in Cresco, IA 9/27/02, arrived 9/26
Click here for more information about Iowa.
Owney arrived in Iowa on our Homecoming day, so he got to participate in many Cadet activities. The students really enjoyed reading all of the enclosed materials and discovering all the momentos on his body. They decided to include Iowa corn as our symbol. I sent him on to Missouri on Friday, Sept. 27. He is really speedy this year!! What a fun project. We'll be sending out our postcards soon.
On to page 2 of Owney's 02/03 Journal.
