On your mark, get set, race your worms
The worm race is on.
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At right, Second Grader Logan Vance meets the worm he will study and eventually race.
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Above, First Graders participate in the worm race, as worms.
May 26, 2021
Ezra DeVore
As a finale to their Nature Week, a worm race was conducted by some of the grades K - 2 Cassville school children. Through the week leading up to the big race, the children enjoyed a fair amount of worm-related content: namely, the book “Diary of a Worm,” a tale depicting the fictional life of a worm alongside his best friend Spider, and videos documenting the real-world behavior of worms. The children interacted scientifically and with night-crawlers; conducting experiments to discover if they prefer light or dark environments, and forming hypotheses accordingly, and, then, the race... was on.
Friday afternoon, each of the children selected specific worms to be theirs in the race, and decorated banners for their chosen racer. Within a hand-drawn chalk circle, the racers set off, sparked by cacophonous cheering.
The race was threefold, with a trinity of worm groups participating respectively.
The winners of each group were Mr. Wormy, the champion of Charles Epperly; Joe Dirt, the champion of Bill Davis; and Luke Jr., champion of Luke Darbro.
Upon the final victor’s triumph, the worms were then given freedom - discharged from athletic duty to once more roam the earth.
“It’s the most fun they’ve had and the most engaged they’ve been all year,” boasted Drake Thomas, an instructor at the event.
Geri Wilson, another instructor, added that “It was exciting to see kids who don’t normally like to write get really excited to write about their worms.”
Furthermore, according to Drake and Geri, upon the night-crawlers’ liberation, the children were still so enthralled with their experience that they ran a race of their own, however, with a twist inspired by the day’s former excitement; they behaved as worms the entire time. With stomachs to soil, they scrambled through the grass, and with laughter’s brush, painted the afternoon as a joyous one.
Ezra DeVore
As a finale to their Nature Week, a worm race was conducted by some of the grades K - 2 Cassville school children. Through the week leading up to the big race, the children enjoyed a fair amount of worm-related content: namely, the book “Diary of a Worm,” a tale depicting the fictional life of a worm alongside his best friend Spider, and videos documenting the real-world behavior of worms. The children interacted scientifically and with night-crawlers; conducting experiments to discover if they prefer light or dark environments, and forming hypotheses accordingly, and, then, the race... was on.
Friday afternoon, each of the children selected specific worms to be theirs in the race, and decorated banners for their chosen racer. Within a hand-drawn chalk circle, the racers set off, sparked by cacophonous cheering.
The race was threefold, with a trinity of worm groups participating respectively.
The winners of each group were Mr. Wormy, the champion of Charles Epperly; Joe Dirt, the champion of Bill Davis; and Luke Jr., champion of Luke Darbro.
Upon the final victor’s triumph, the worms were then given freedom - discharged from athletic duty to once more roam the earth.
“It’s the most fun they’ve had and the most engaged they’ve been all year,” boasted Drake Thomas, an instructor at the event.
Geri Wilson, another instructor, added that “It was exciting to see kids who don’t normally like to write get really excited to write about their worms.”
Furthermore, according to Drake and Geri, upon the night-crawlers’ liberation, the children were still so enthralled with their experience that they ran a race of their own, however, with a twist inspired by the day’s former excitement; they behaved as worms the entire time. With stomachs to soil, they scrambled through the grass, and with laughter’s brush, painted the afternoon as a joyous one.
