The Madison School District's mentoring initiative, the SOL Mentor Program, had its 2006 Fall Educational Outing in September. Accompanied by their mentors, students participating in the program traveled to Chicago's Field Museum.

As students and mentors walked through the King Tutankhamen exhibit, they listened to the Spanish translation of the item descriptions through headsets. These were items that were found in his tomb, and students were amazed that such intricate items could be made without the use of our modern day tools and machinery. They also wondered how they could look so beautiful and be in such good condition after all of this time.

Students also walked through the Underground Adventure exhibit where they were slowly given the illusion of being reduced to the size of an ant. They explored underground life including close-up looks at common insects, roots, fungi and soil composition. They also learned how life underground sustains the life above it and why it's so important to us. A favorite was the moving earwig! And the scariest was the big hairy spider!

Mentor matches had the opportunity to visit other exhibits in the museum including Sue T-Rex where they found out that the skull on the skeleton was a replica because the real one was too heavy to keep on display. In the Ancient Egypt exhibit, they were all amazed at the wonders of mummification. Students learned about the mummification process and got to see many real mummies!

"I'm glad I got to see this because in school we are learning something about Egypt and pyramids." - K. Espinoza (Cherokee student)

"We had a blast! I'm happy that the kids were so curious and actually asked questions!" - M. Garcete (SOL Mentor)