In the classroom

Mike Sciacca

If only the rest of the nation could get along the way a group of

fifth-grade students did Wednesday at Pegasus School in Huntington Beach.

These youngsters dug into this country’s past, presented its present

and gave a glimpse of what the future may hold in a well thought out and

researched State Fair project presentation that involved all 50-plus

fifth-graders, their three teachers and the lower school director.

In this topic of exploration, the students, after drawing a name of a

state of the union out of a hat, studied that state and covered such

topics as state symbols, state government and politics, early history,

settlement, exploration, physical features, weather and natural

resources.

The students began the project in September and it culminated in

Wednesday’s State Fair where they were able to display their work and

present a famous person speech to the audience on hand, which included

several enthusiastic parents, teachers and fellow students.

There also was food representative of each state. Each student was

required to provide enough food for 40 people to sample. There was Boston

baked beans from Massachusetts, Johnny Cakes from Rhode Island and honey

dressing from Utah.

“These kids really took this project to heart and did a wonderful,

wonderful job,” said fifth-grade teacher Riva Lippincott, who helped

start the State Fair six years ago.

There were Pilgrims touting the beginnings of our nation. Former

presidents and generals, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Richard Nixon,

sports stars, including baseball’s Roger Maris and tennis stars, Arthur

Ashe and Chris Evert and cowboys and Indians.

They mingled freely. There were no state boundaries, there was no

Mason-Dixon line.

Sitting Bull would have been proud of the fine portrayal Alex Rios

gave of the Teton Hunkpapa Sioux leader.

Poised and prepared as history reports Sitting Bull to be, Rios, in

full headdress, was eager to talk about what he learned about the state

he was representing -- Wyoming.

“I learned so much about the state, its beauty and that it is home to

Yellowstone and Glacier national parks and the Battle of Little Big

Horn,” said Rios, who scored a 96 on the project.

Rios and his fellow fifth-grade students had to meet minimum

requirements for the project, such as notes, a bibliography, research on

natural resources and economy. They also had to come up with a state

travel brochure, which was completed in technology class and advertised a

state’s tourist attractions through photos from the Internet and books.

Wendy Bennett and Kristen Brady, the two other fifth-grade teachers at

Pegasus, were impressed with the depths their students went to in order

to complete their projects. Some made license plates with their state’s

motto, each had in-depth political maps on scale, weather charts, state

flags and a timeline of historical events.

The teachers were amused with a piece of research that Blake Peterson

came up with. Peterson, dressed as General Dwight D. Eisenhower and

representing Kansas, called the state’s tourism office to get its take on

what attracts visitors to the Jayhawk State.

Eisenhower, he said, was Texas-born but Kansas-bred.

“They don’t take tourism seriously,” he said smiling, without any

trace of puzzlement. “I sent them three letters and called about three

times before I got an answer. Their office said that they don’t expect

many people to come visit Kansas.”

* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.