(The following story by Keith Uhlig appeared on the Wausau Daily Herald website on May 7.)
WAUSAU, Wisc. — Wausau’s historic Grant Street train depot played a key role Thursday in an Antigo teacher’s imaginative lesson plan.
Connie Miller, a sixth-grade teacher at Antigo Middle School who specializes in working with learning disabled students, has spun her lessons this year around a train theme. As part of her project, Miller sent a stuffed dog – named AMS, after Antigo Middle School – to ride the rails of Amtrak. She and her students followed his progress across the country, with a jaunt to Great Britain thrown in, as workers for Amtrak shepherded him from train to train and town to town.
AMS joined the students after a Wisconsin Central locomotive made a stop with him at the depot. Canadian National Railway, owners of Wisconsin Central, also delivered 100 railroad spikes that were donated by the Union Pacific Railroad. On Monday, the students will re-enact the ceremony that celebrated the completion of the transcontinental railroad 135 years ago at Promontory Point, Utah.
AMS traveled 28,804 miles, and his travels helped Miller’s students learn about geography, math, language arts and other subjects. His journey caught the imagination of people and news organizations across the country.
“So much of this has been networked, and so many have jumped on board,” said Miller.
The project gave students real-life applications for their classroom endeavors.
“It helped them make connections,” Miller said. “It really helps them remember.”
Doug Knol, principal of Antigo Middle School, said the project gave his school plenty of positive attention.
But most importantly, “the kids have gotten a lot out of it,” he said. “The geography part, the math part, this has made it a lot more real. … The more hands-on, the more real you can make it, the better.”