| Introducing Mystery Class #10 Albany, U.S.A. (Oregon) 44.63 N, 123.10 W |
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| You Found Us! We are 28 fifth graders in Mr. Koontz's class at North Albany Elementary School (NAE). Do you remember back in the first Mystery Class update, there was a photo of kids' on a playground with long shadows? That was us and we didn't show our faces. Here's a new photo and you can see our faces. How about the shadows? Have they changed? We’ve had so many cloudy days that it’s hard to see but the shadows on our human sundial have gotten shorter since January. |
Photo: Craig Koontz |
| Our School NAE is a K-5 school with two classes in each grade and about 300 students. It’s one of 15 elementary schools in the Greater Albany Public School district. |
 Photo: Craig Koontz |
Our School Mascots |
Favorite Clubs |
 Photo: Craig Koontz |
| Science and Field Trip
In the fall, we went on a field trip to the Santiam River where we watched Chinook salmon spawning. When we were there, we were able to also do hands on activities to assess the health of the river and riparian zone (that's the land along the banks). As a follow up on that field trip, this winter the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife brought trout to our class room so that we could dissect and study them. In addition, they also brought us one hundred trout eggs to raise in our classroom and then release them later. |
Photo: Craig Koontz
Photo: Craig Koontz Here we are looking into the aquarium where the eggs are. |
Dr. Suess Lorax Science Project |
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| Favorite Sports, Books and Games We love sports and fun extra-curricular activities. Some of the activities we do before or after school include basketball, baseball, swim team, volleyball, soccer, football, dance (hip hop), roller derby, gymnastics, band, Lego robotics and scouts. When it comes to games, we love Roblox, Minecraft, the Sims 4, Pokemon. For books, our favorites right now are Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Clatter of Jars, Miss Spitfire, Septimus Heap, Warriors, and Ice Fire series |
Photos: Simon & Schuster, Amulet BooksBooks and Scholastic Publishing |
| Our Favorite Local Foods Are . . . Here in Oregon, there many great foods. The marionberry, developed and grown in the Willamette Valley, is used to make delicious syrup, jams and pies. And the Willamette Valley is also one of the few places in the United States that produces hazelnuts, which can be used in cooking, eaten plain, or, as we recommend, covered in chocolate! |
Marionberry
Hazelnuts
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| Seafood Too! Seafood dishes are popular here because we are close to the ocean. Razor clam fritters and Dungeness crab are two of our favorites! |
Photo: Michelle Grimord Eggers/CC BY-NC 2.0
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| Our Historic City on the Rivers Albany was founded in 1847, so it's been here a long time as a historic river town at the confluence of the Willamette River and its tributary, the Calapooia River. Our city of 51,270 sits in the heart of western Oregon’s Willamette River valley. |
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| Our Train and Bus Station From its river town beginnings, Albany has grown south and east with the railroads, state highways and Interstate 5, and across the Willamette into the farms and wooded hillsides of North Albany. One of the classic images of our city is Albany Station where you can catch Amtrak trains and also catch buses too. |
Photo: Oregon DOT/CC BY 2.0 |
| Talking Waters Park One of Albany’s newest parks is the Talking Waters Garden, a series of ponds, waterfalls and hiking trails made on an old industrial site. The park provides habitat for many native waterfowl like these in the photo, plus songbirds, mammals, and plants. It also filters, cools and adds oxygen to our city’s treated sewer water before it enters the Willamette River. |
Photo: Craig Koontz
Photo: Craig Koontz |
| "Here Kitty Kitty!" Cougars, or mountain lions, like this one have occasionally been seen around Albany, and even in the woods by our school; but they are usually only active at night and avoid humans. They prefer the deer that wander through North Albany neighborhoods eating roses and garden plants along with their native diet. |
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| Albany's Festivals Several large events and festivals are held in Albany each year, including the Linn County Fair and the Veteran’s Day Parade, which we claim is the largest Veteran’s Day parade west of the Mississippi River. And of course, don't forget the hot air balloon photo we started off with, because that's a photo from our annual Art and Air Festival, which features not just the colorful hot air balloons, but also music concerts, art, food, and fireworks. The festival has been hosted by us since 2000. |
Photo: Oregon National Guard/CC BY 2.0 |
| Carousel Museum Project Builders are making progress on our new carousel museum in Albany, scheduled to open this summer. It is located in our historic district right next to Monteith Park, where free summer concerts are held every Monday and Thursday, and not far from the Monteith House, pioneer home of the two brothers from Albany, New York, who founded our city. |
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| Cascade Mountains and Crater Lake Not far from us, Oregon's Cascade Mountains create a year-round playground with snow-covered peaks for winter sports and summer activities like camping, mountain biking, water recreation or hiking to your favorite scenic waterfall, mountain or lake. This is Crater Lake, a national park, and the deepest lake in the United States at 594m (1,949ft). |
Ray Bouknight/CC BY 2.0 |
| The Oregon Coast On summer days, when valley temperatures go over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, many people head for the cooler ocean breezes of the Oregon coast. Many spend the day having fun on a sandy beach, or playing on massive sand dunes with their off-road vehicles or sandboards, while others prefer exploring the shops, restaurants and tourist attractions which many coastal towns offer. |
Photo: Kirt Edblom/CC BY-SA 2.0 |
Flag and Farewell You can find out more about our school by visiting our website. |
The back of our flag:
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