Indiana’s fourth grade students will once again be able to learn more about the 500 Festival and the Indianapolis 500’s place and importance in Indiana’s rich culture as the 500 Festival and Indianapolis 500 Education Program gears up for its ninth year.
Last year nearly 24,000 Indiana fourth graders from 321 schools and 79 Indiana counties participated in the award-winning program.
More than 154,000 have participated since its inception in 2004. Teachers can register their school’s fourth grade classrooms at www.500festival.com between now and Dec. 1.
The 500 Festival and Indianapolis 500 Education Program strives to educate and foster creativity in Hoosier fourth-grade students by using the historical, social and economic significances of the 500 Festival, Indianapolis 500 and the thriving motorsports industry of Indiana in the curriculum.
The program is packed with information including an Indiana Academic Standard based curriculum, teacher materials, a video and the opportunity for an educational study trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in April or May. Students will receive a study book and additional reading materials.
The program is free to all schools in the state of Indiana. Schools must be registered for the program to be eligible for the study trip to the Speedway track; not all schools are required to attend the trip and further registration is required. Schools participating in the trip are eligible for a stipend to offset travel costs.
During the study trip, students apply lessons learned in the classroom with on-site programming and experiences designed to further educate them on the significance of the 500 Festival and Indianapolis 500’s heritage and place in Indiana’s history. The program is only offered to students in the fourth grade as this is the year students learn Indiana history.
