ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 16, 1996 TAG: 9607160031
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: class notes
SOURCE: HALE SHEIKERZ
The long-awaited Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta begin Friday. Thousands of spectators, media, volunteers (about 40,000) and of course the athletes (10,700) and their families will attend the games. Athletes from 197 countries will compete in more than 271 events - 26 sports and 37 disciplines. In addition, 1,838 medals will be awarded - 604 of them gold medals.
To celebrate the Olympics, students attending the Montgomery County Summer Reading and Math Program at Falling Branch, Kipps, Shawsville and Riner elementary schools are focusing this month on learning about the Games. The students are learning about the various sports, countries and Olympians. They also are going on a field trip to the athletic department at Virginia Tech to see the various sports and the equipment the athletes will use. In addition, the students also are "cooking" Olympic-style food, such as pizza discus and energy mix. (see Olympic Treats for recipes.)
This past school year, students at Harding Avenue Elementary in Blacksburg and Prices Fork Elementary celebrated a yearlong study of the Atlanta Olympics by designing, creating and producing an Olympic of their own. The students learned Olympic theory and tradition, with a focus on the opening and closing ceremonies. The students even had their own opening ceremonies at Harding Avenue. Students paraded into the opening ceremony with flags and banners they had designed and Harding Avenue students welcomed their guests from Prices Fork by performing choreographed routines.
In addition, roller speed skating medalist Keith Turner attended the ceremony as the guest speaker. He administered the Athlete's Oath to the 600 students. Afterward, the students participated in outdoor games. More than 100 volunteers helped supervise the 44 play stations. The students completed the day with closing ceremonies.
IZZY THE MASCOT
A rising fourth-grader at Prices Fork Elementary is one of 150,000 students who wrote an episode for "The Great Adventures of Izzy," the 1996 Olympic mascot. In February 1995, when Barek Caldwell was a second-grader in Peggy Gray's class, he wrote an episode for the story as part of a writing class project. Gray had seen a Parade magazine article that asked students to submit their own version of "The Great Adventures of Izzy." The tales had to involve Izzy in an Olympic event.
Of the hundreds of thousands of entries received, Barek's story was one of six featured in the June 16 Parade (included with The Roanoke Times and hundreds of other Sunday newspapers across the country). Barek's story was summarized as "Izzy traveled back in time and outran a Tyrannosaurus rex."
All 150,000 entries will be displayed on the seventh floor of the Merchandise Mart. The entries cover the walls and columns and fill several oversized books. Barek is the son of Donna and Bill Caldwell.
OLYMPIC INFORMATION
If you are interested in learning more about the Olympic Games, there are several books and magazines available. Students in the Summer Reading Program are using the Sports Illustrated for Kids July issue and "Story About Courage" by Joel Vecere.
In addition, there are several World Wide Web sites on the Internet that provide up-to-date information about the Atlanta Games. The sites provide everything from news stories, to information about the athletes, facilities and events (including times). The official Atlanta Olympic homepage also includes Olympic facts, such as the number of volleyballs the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games will provide athletes (750).
The Web sites are:
The official Atlanta Olympic homepage - http://www.atlanta.olympic.org/
Homepage for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games - http://www.ajc.com/oly/olyacog.htm
The 1996 Summer Olympic Games information - http://www.intadv.com/olympic.html
Guide to the Olympics - http://www.mindspring.com/~drysdale/olympics.htm
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Caldwellby CNB