Photograph by Robert Scheer
Jenna Goodyear props up Bob, a stuffed friend who was carried all over the world--and who documented his journey--before arriving at Sunnvyale Middle School.
By ILENE V. MEEKS
Bob probably couldn't tell you how many sheep he saw in New Zealand, or how he wound up on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or how that crack found its way into the Liberty Bell located in the "City of Brotherly Love," but Bob has been to all these places, and he has pictures to prove it.
Bob, a purple teddy bear, is a part of the Travelmate Project at Sunnyvale Middle School--a fun and interesting way to teach sixth-graders in Julianne Zimbler's class about geography in connection with the social studies curriculum. Journal entries are recorded as Bob travels throughout the world. The idea for the Travelmate Project came from another teacher at a workshop Zimbler attended.
"I think [the students] gained an appreciation for how people live in different parts of the world," Zimbler said.
Once the class selected a stuffed animal and agreed on the name Bob, the next step was finding a student to start Bob on his first big adventure. "I started talking with the kids about it in October, figuring that someone [in the class] would be going on a trip between then and the end of the year," Zimbler said.
The student, Ben Elliott, 11, was taking a trip from San Francisco to Denver in November. "I learned that people can work together to do a big project like this to teach us many things from [Bob's] travels around the world," Elliott said.
Once Elliott returned to San Francisco, he gave Bob to a United Airline flight attendant who took Bob to Philadelphia. Bob's journey didn't stop in Philadelphia, but continued to many destinations inside the United States and abroad.
One journal entry reads: "I met Bob while working on the flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia with Linda. Bob has been enjoying his chicken dinner on the airplane. I've been telling him what a neat place Philadelphia is. The Liberty Bell is there. It is a great big bell, and it has a big crack in it. Do you know why? Betsy Ross lived in Philadelphia. She sewed the American flag. It is much colder in Philadelphia than in California. Bob says he will be happy to be home in sunny California after his travels..."
Another traveler wrote in Bob's journal: "We left Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 16, and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday, Nov. 18. Crossing the International Dateline, you lose a day going west. In order to adjust to the 21-hour time change, [Bob] took a little nap and started to explore the city.
"Auckland and New Zealand are very clean. The population of Auckland is about 1 million. The population of the whole country is 3 million. New Zealand is famous for sheep. There are more sheep than people in this country."
Bob's month of travels greatly depended on strangers to write journal entries about the places Bob visited, take pictures and send Bob back home. "I was really impressed with what people were willing to do for kids they never met, for kids that lived thousands of miles away," Zimbler said.
The journal entries are very important because they give the class valuable insight into the different places Bob visited. "It's almost like were traveling with him when we read the notebook," said Katy Malatesta, 11.
Plans are in the works for Bob's next big adventure--a European vacation. In April, Malatesta and her family will take Bob to Europe for two weeks. From there, she will start Bob on his second month-long journey by giving him to an unknown traveler. Bob is expected to return home in May.
"I am very happy that Bob's last trip turned out to be very successful," said Julie Fylstra, 11. "I think people can benefit from this valuable lesson, because lots of people can learn to be more responsible by caring for Bob."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.