Students at Hygiene Elementary School traveled thousands of miles without leaving campus Thursday during the school’s 10th annual Hawk Air event.
This year’s two-day educational affair has seen the school transformed into Australia, complete with a tunnel representing the Great Barrier Reef, a room outfitted to look like the outback, a gym filled with landmarks like the Sydney Opera House and more. In the past the school has transformed into Brazil, the ocean, Egypt and even the planet Pluto.
Thursday morning, students lined up at the entrance to the school’s cafeteria with paper passports in hand, waiting in line to get them stamped by customs before heading off. The students then filed into a white tent set up inside that served as an imaginary airplane, and once the “flight” was over, they stepped out into the school’s gym that was dressed up to look like Sydney, Australia.
According to Sherry Legrand, the school’s science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — or STEAM — coordinator, the wheels behind this year’s Hawk Air began turning in October. Since then, students have been learning all about Australia.