TULSA, Okla. — Fourth- and fifth-graders at Lindbergh Elementary School in Tulsa are celebrating the Route 66 centennial by learning about the historic highway and leaving it better than they found it.
"That's Route 66 right there," said Deon Turner.
WATCH: “LUCKIEST IN TULSA!” Students with school on Route 66 take centennial adventure
Their school is located along the Mother Road, and that inspired a journey they’d never forget.
Retired educator Rebecca Harris and school librarian Victoria Ellington took the Changemaker after-school club on a year-long Route 66 adventure.
"It's not about the destination, it's about the journey with Route 66," Harris said.
The project started just outside the school's front door.
"It began with a pollinator garden. I walked by the TV at my house and heard three golden words: Route 66 pollinator garden and free grants, and I was like yes, please," Harris said.
Harris secured the grant and, with the help of the club, built a pollinator garden on school grounds. The club spent weeks cultivating its corner of Route 66.
"I really hope 1,000 monarch butterflies come," student Mason Agero said.
The students expanded their efforts by creating nostalgic Burma-Shave roadside signs and posting them along stretches of the highway. They also learned songs, listened to special speakers, and visited iconic restaurants.
"We got to put up Burma-Shave signs, we got to go on really long trips, it's really, really fun," said Deon Turner.
"We went to Ike's Chili. That is the oldest restaurant in Oklahoma. It was built in 1908. Their food is delicious," student JoeLeah Jackson said.
The enthusiasm spilled into the surrounding community. A neighbor invited the students to plant another garden and create a Route 66 fence. While working on the fence, the students unearthed a rock they named the "Oklahoma rock."
"Because it's in the shape of Oklahoma," a student said.
"It's just really cool," Turner said.
Across the street at a car dealership, the club created "The Route 66 Happy Tree."
"So now this is deemed by me Route 66 Lindbergh corner," Harris said.
Harris said the year of learning has been 100 years in the making. "So now they'll not only know about Route 66, they're going to remember it for years to come. They're going to have something to tell their children, their grandchildren that they were part of the Route 66 centennial," Harris said.
"It makes me feel like I'm one of the luckiest people in Tulsa," said Jackson.
The students will take a culminating field trip on May 14 to talk with folks who have lived along Route 66 over the past century. Some also plan to attend the Capitol Cruise this May. You can learn more about the Guinness World Records attempt online.
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