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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2003
Since seeing Titanic five years ago, Jackie Frankovich has been fascinated by the ill-fated ship. The 15-year-old can talk for hours about the injustices experienced by the third-class passengers and the mistakes by the crew.
On Wednesday, she did just that. She also showcased an impressive three-dimensional model of the ocean liner, the result of several weeks of research and 100 hours of hand building.
It was one of dozens of exhibits at the annual Pinellas County History Fair at Dunedin High.
About 200 students from Pinellas middle and high schools presented their ideas and creativity with research papers, plays and skits, documentaries and three-dimensional exhibits.
The History Fair is a competition, and students are asked to follow specified themes. This year it was "Rights and Responsibilities in History." Students produced work on Roman aqueducts; the Civil War battle at Antietam, Md.; Women's Rights in the 1900s; and the Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"It brings everything we want to teach them into one big project," said School Board member Nancy Bostock, a contest judge.
Students also must defend their ideas to the judges, which requires them to think on their feet, said judge Cathy Fleeger, assistant superintendent for high school education.
"All of those things are skills they have to have in the future," said Randy Lightfoot, director of African-American curriculum for Pinellas County Schools, also a judge.
First place among high school students went to an exhibit titled Dunedin: A Journey through Racism. It traced the history of segregation and featured swinging doors mounted on a brick-textured display board. The doors, labeled "white" and "colored," opened to reveal posted historical facts and quotes from role models such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.
In the school's auditorium, students presented plays. In one scene, a young man wearing a straw hat and a young woman in a flowing skirt received communion as another woman clutched her baby.
In the background, a guy strummed a somber tune on his guitar as the group joined in: "Is there no one who can hear our cry, sunrise and sunset. We all wonder why, although we go about our daily lives. Please, I need to feed my children."
Guitar player and songwriter, Kenny Scherer, 18, and his fellow cast members from Dunedin High won first place in the play category for their production about Archbishop Oscar Romero, an advocate for the lower class and victims of terrorism in El Salvador.
"The beauty about history day is its independent study," said Veronique Conus, 19, an actor in the winning play.
"You get to do a project on something you actually like," said fellow cast member Lauren Perkins, 17.
The top two projects in each category will go on to the state competition in May.
When Dunedin High teacher Alan Kay began the fair five years ago, 30 students competed and none went on to the state contest. This year 48 made the cut for the trip to Tallahassee.
All middle and high school students are eligible to participate, but only five schools did: Dunedin and Largo High, Oak Grove and Southside Fundamental Middle and Shorecrest Preparatory.
Kay was delighted by the support from school officials and history enthusiasts. Dunedin Commissioner Deborah Kynes, a veteran contest judge, was back for another year. And schools superintendent Howard Hinesley stopped by.
"The fact is these people took time out of their day to come and see what it was all about." Kay said. "I hope that this will grow more now that I have their ears."
-- Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com .