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43 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, November 14, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 2, 2004 Clockwise from bottom left are Meghan Steiner, Megan Rice, Kyle Dunlap, Gregory Scholom, Conrad Hulen, Peter Williams, Daniel Giardina and Roxanne McKee. These students are part of the Talent Middle School team that placed at a state history competition Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Becoming history Talent Middle School students take home honors at state history competition By BILL CHOY Mail Tribune TALENT — Fourteen years after open-heart surgery as an infant, eighth-grader Megan Rice’s desire to learn more about her experience has turned into a state academic honor. Rice, 14, did a research paper on the history of the procedure for the Oregon State National History Day competition and won third place in her category. She is among eight of her Talent Middle School classmates who also won top awards for a impressive presence in a state competition held in Salem. Three of the five local students who advanced to a national competition hail from the Talent school. "I was trying to show a different view of history," said Rice, who had the operation when she was 4 months old. "I think it really helped me because I had a personal experience. ... It drove me to do my very best." In addition to taking third-place, Rice also won a $100 cash prize for the Junior Division Sidemen’s Innovations in History Award — given to an outstanding individual project that documents and analyzes how technology or an innovation has influenced history. Since last fall, teacher Kathy Williams has had her sixth- through eighth-grade history students participate in the History Day program. Advertisement Projects were taken first to a local competition at Southern Oregon University, with eight advancing to the state competition in Salem on April 17. The national finals will be at the University of Maryland near Washington, D.C., in June. Students tackled their projects in a variety of ways, from papers and exhibits to making a documentary or re-enacting a historical figure. "One of the biggest things I’ve found is you can’t teach history to someone and expect them to retain it if there’s not some type of emotional connection," said Williams, who has taught in Talent for six years. "My hope is this program starts a spark that motivates them to learn more." Daniel Giardina, 12, a sixth-grader, found a connection to history doing an exhibit on Polynesian odysseys. Their wide-ranging explorations across the Pacific are important to him because his mother is of Hawaiian descent. "I’ve learned a lot, mostly because it was about my origins because I’m Polynesian-Hawaiian," he said. "I thought it would be a good experience learning about myself. ... Before, I never knew about all the stuff they did. I didn’t think people would voyage the way they did." Giardina, who won first place, was impressed that the Polynesians were the first people to colonize islands across the Pacific Ocean. Rice said being a part of the competition was important because it prepared her for high school work and made her think about the importance history plays in her own life. "It opens your mind to a whole lot of different things," she said. "You realize that history can be fun and interesting." The intensive work required for their projects gave students a jump on a variety of skills needed in high school and college, Williams said, such as researching, writing and organizing thoughts. "The presentations they do are high quality and very thorough," she said. "I knew if they follow the steps, they could become very successful. It also builds self-esteem, which kids need in this time in their life." History came alive for eighth-grader Kyle Dunlap as he became one of his favorite singers, the late country legend Johnny Cash. He took a third-place honor. Dunlap, 14, became Cash in a historical re-creation of the singer for the state competition. The scene was set at the intermission of a Cash concert, as interviewers asked questions about his life. "I wanted to doing something out of the box, rather than just Lewis & Clark," he said. "I felt that with his recent passing, since I’m a big fan of his, to pay homage to him." While it took months of work to perfect his act, Dunlap said it was worth it. "I never did a project like this before," he said. "And I don’t think a lot of kids ever have or ever will." Seventh-grader Meghan Steiner, 12, delved right into her research on Jane Goodall. She also took a third-place honor. The experience was made more special when she was able to submit questions to Goodall while the scientist was in Africa studying her beloved chimpanzees. A friend of Steiner’s family knows Goodall and submitted the questions to her. "It was cool," Steiner said. "I was able to get questions answered that I hadn’t found in my research and wanted to know � like her personal feelings on things, like how she dealt with all the criticism from the scientific world when she first started. It took them three years to accept her." She chose Goodall because she loves animals and admires the scientist’s work. "Women weren’t doing anything like that back then," Steiner said. "They were performing, waitressing or doing secretary duties, but she went out and did what no one had done before." Conrad Hulen, an eighth-grader at the middle school, spent months perfecting his eight-page research paper on famed undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. His work on the project, which earned him a first-place honor, was one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences in his academic life. "I went to the library and checked out as many books as I possibly could," he said. "I had to find all the facts, all the quotes for my paper. Without National History Day, I would never had written a paper like the one I did write. It taught me a lot about writing skills." Second-place winners were Lindsay Gehres and Alex Wise of Applegate School for junior group documentary "Fritz Haber," and Roxanne McKee of Talent Middle School for her junior individual exhibit "Jacques Cousteau: Undersea Explorer." Hulen, Giardina, McKee, Gehres and Wise will go on to the nationals in June. "It’s going to be a great experience," Hulen said. "The nationals are the best-of-the-best, the cream of the crop. You get to see all sorts of writing styles from around the country. It’s going to be a great experience." Top honors Rogue Valley students won 11 awards at a statewide National History Day contest in Salem on April 17. The Oregon Historical Society sponsored the competition, which was at Willamette University and involved 88 students from 15 schools. Entries included tabletop exhibits, historical papers, dramatic performances, documentary video and computer presentations. A total of 43 awards were given for original research and creative work. First- and second-place winners are invited to compete at the National History Day contest June 13-17 at the University of Maryland. Five Rogue Valley students advanced to the nationals. First-place winners included Daniel Giardina of Talent Middle School for a junior individual exhibit "Wayfinding � A Polynesian Voyaging Odyssey," and Conrad Hulen of Talent Middle School for a junior paper "Jacques-Yves Cousteau: Constructor of the Gateway to the Undersea World." Second-place winners were Lindsay Gehres and Alex Wise of Applegate School for junior group documentary "Fritz Haber," and Roxanne McKee of Talent Middle School for junior individual exhibit "Jacques Cousteau: Undersea Explorer." Third-place winners were Meghan Steiner of Talent Middle School for junior individual exhibit "Jane Goodall: Exploring the Wild Chimpanzees"; Kyle Dunlap of Talent Middle School for junior individual performance "Johnny Cash: A Story of a True American Hero"; and Megan Rice of Talent Middle School for junior paper "A Cut to the Heart: The Exploration of Open Heart Surgery." Fourth-place winners include Rose Ballard, Kamela Culver and Ashley Ellis of Illinois Valley High School for senior group documentary "An Exploration of Animation: The Story of Walt Disney"; Gregory Scholom of Talent Middle School for junior individual documentary "Robert Ripley: The Marco Polo of the 20th Century"; and Peter Williams of Talent Middle School for junior paper "Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Incredible Expeditions to the Bottom of the World." 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