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Flint Hill students show what they know
Flint Hill Elementary School students got the chance to show off last Wednesday.
“We removed all the boundaries. ... We didn't want to set out any rule about what you could do,” said PTA parent Lori Wood, explaining Show What You Know Expo, a voluntary exhibition for students in every grade to showcase their interests and creativity.
Think of it as a science fair, but different.
The familiar display boards pasted with pictures and charts lined the walls of the expo and while some of them featured the life cycle of the shark, others detailed the accomplishments of Chicago Bears kick returner Devon Hester or explained the rules to Space Adventures, the board game invented by second-grader Devon Hunt.
“He made up his own rules and questions, everything,” said Victoria Hunt, Devon's mother. "He loved it, it wasn't like homework at all."
According to Flint Hill Principal Sal Rivera, that enthusiasm is what the Show What You Know Expo is all about.
“With the science fair, we would have had half this participation, and this takes the focus off the parents. Everything is education,” Rivera said.
Even though the show wasn't a science fair, many kids did science-themed projects. Third-grader Melissa Olson built a display of rocks she collected that would be at home at any science fair but, in this case, represents her interests more than her desire for a grade.
“I really like rocks,” said Olson.
A similar feeling must have inspired Neil Clark, a fourth-grader, to do a project about his cousin Jerry, an engineer whose exploits constructing potato guns and modifying foam dart guns were detailed in photos on Clark's project.
“Jerry's potato gun can shoot hundreds of yards so I think he's a good cousin,” reads Clark's project.
“It's fantastic,” said Flint Hill first grade teacher Jeff Bechtle. “All the kids got involved, and it was less stressful for them and us.”
Bechtle's own son Ross, 7, did a project for the fair about the care and feeding of his hamster, Cardinal. As students explored the Expo, Ross showed visitors to his project an electrical cord that Cardinal had bitten clean through.
“Sometimes, that word 'science fair' can be intimidating. With this, the kids can do anything they want, and that's exciting for them,” Bechtle said
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