By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
FAITH — Ms. Frizzle is known for taking her students on highly unusual field trips courtesy of her magical school bus.
The fictional character, created by writer Joanna Cole, has transported them inside the human body, to the ocean floor and to outer space to explore the solar system.
Students at Faith Elementary School got to board Ms. Frizzle’s Magic School Bus Tuesday, getting an interactive look at how science works.
Although it didn’t take off as the students finished climbing the stairs, their eyes widened at the sight of colorful displays featuring information about everything from the human body to volcanoes.
“I think it’s awesome,” third-grader Kacie Overcash said. “It has lots of cool stuff.”
Third-grader Colton McCartney said his favorite part of the bus was a display about bats, reptiles and bugs.
“The scorpion was neat. I liked seeing the tail and pinchers” he said. “I thought they were big. I didn’t realize they are actually so small.”
Dakota Hill, another third-grader, said the rock collection was “pretty cool.”
The bus, provided by Scholastic, includes lessons from the popular Magic School Bus children’s book series. It features various buttons students can press for information and stations with videos about different subjects.
Deona Doby started reading a Magic School Bus chapter book to her kindergarten class in preparation for Tuesday’s visit.
“We talked about the different places they would like to take the Magic School Bus,” she said.
Doby said her students would also be writing about where they would like to take the bus.
She said she hopes Tuesday’s visit to the bus will motivate students to read and learn.
Faith received the stop from the Magic School Bus as a prize for having the highest student attendance at the family reading night during the school system’s Reading Matters initiative in December.
Karen Moyes, Faith’s media specialist, said she scheduled the bus to come during Read Across America week so the entire week would include a reading aspect.
“I want to look at any angle I can to get these kids into reading, and this might be a way to grab the most reluctant readers,” she said.
The school is hosting a family reading night today and encouraging students to dress up as their favorite book character Friday.
“We want to celebrate reading and let students know why it’s important,” she said.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
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