This
unique history fair project required the Carnahan sisters to do some
50-plus hours of research and work outside of class. By using books
and information from the Kraft Foods and Oscar Mayer Web sites, Kelsey
and Kaylee were able to document the history of the company and trace
the evolution of the Wiener Mobile promotional vehicle. They
incorporated actual product labels into their project and even
obtained a stuffed Wiener Mobile from a Bloomington grocery store to
accent their display.
![](../images/061400pics/history1.jpg)
[Kaylee and Kelsey Carnahan with their display.]
This
week, visitors to the Logan County Courthouse will be able to view the
stuffed Wiener Mobile alongside displays on Bethel Church, Elkhart
Hill, Wrigley Field and the Trail of Tears.
Participation
in the State History Fair is the culmination of a yearlong project
assigned by Zion Lutheran School teacher Steve Schumacher. Early in
the fall, Schumacher assigns the project and suggests possible project
topics that deal with some phase of Illinois history. As the school
year progresses, students rack up library hours researching their
topics. And, even though the emergence of the Internet offers easy
access to information at ones fingertips, Web sites can be used
only as secondary sources of information.
All
work on the project is completed outside of class. Most students spent
about 50 hours researching and constructing the projects.
Schumacher
explained that the projects might take one of several forms. The
students may choose to construct a visual display of their research,
write a research paper or even dramatically interpret an event from
history.
The
first competition was a school-wide history fair. Forty projects from
Zion were then sent to a regional history fair in Macomb. Fourteen
projects from Zion School were awarded superior rankings in Macomb and
were chosen to compete in the State History Fair in Springfield.
![](../images/ads/neal_tire/KeepCool.gif)
"Having
14 projects qualify for state competition with 600 total entries
really says a lot for our little school," boasts Schumacher.
At
all stages of the competition, students are evaluated by a pool of
professional and novice judges on their creativity, completeness of
historical research and presentation.
Eighth
grader Jennifer Methling chose to document the famous people who lived
on and around Elkhart Hill. She actually created a replica of the hill
from moss-covered Styrofoam to accompany her collection of biographies
and pictures from the Elkhart cemetery.
Zion
student Lynne Davidson earned a very special award at the state
competition. Lynne conducted an in-depth interview with her neighbor,
who was a World War II veteran. She was recognized a exhibiting the
best World War II project and received a U.S. savings bond and a set
of books on World War II.
(To
top of second column)