Expo showcases Oakdale’s talents

‘‘We’re trying to showcase our students’ and teachers’ work,” Hajjar said. Thirty-five staff members and many more students participated in the expo, which was in its seventh year. Hajjar said the event grew out of a program designed to increase literacy in the school and blossomed into a cross-curricular showcase of projects from all grades and disciplines. Among these were examples of the school’s prize-winning technology fair entries, artwork made of food, creative writing samples and dishes from various cultures.

‘‘Initially it was just a reading night. Now it’s curriculum-wide,” she said.

Students were busy looking for teachers to sign extra-credit forms for attending the open house or trying to pose with Keyote, the Frederick Keys’ mascot, who was on hand as well.

One of the students acting as a greeter for the expo was sixth-grader Katie Goetz. Katie was making beaded bookmarks, which consisted of a leather lace with three red, white, and blue beads on either end, for anyone who asked. She said she had made about six by the early part of the evening. Katie is a member of the school’s Reading Rally team, a group of students that reads about 10 books and then must answer questions about them in a competition. Hajjar said the school has been participating in the competition for nine years, and the group usually has about 12 students as members.

There was also a great deal of interest in the students’ art work. A station was set up near the school’s Media Center for students to display their own ‘‘Manga” drawings, which were inspired by Japanese comics and cartoons popular among children. But perhaps more exotic was the ‘‘Play With Your Food” display. Students had assembled various figures and tableaus out of food. One of the more detailed entries was ‘‘Guppie Pond” by Aliie Johnson, which depicted a pond made of blue gelatin, with greens and mushrooms for watery foliage and a baby carrot with ‘‘eyes” cut into it, standing in for a fish.

Liz Cochran, a media specialist at the school, said it was the first year that students had been allowed to use toothpicks in their artwork, which vastly improved the entries.

There were also demonstrations of more practical skills. The life skills class did a project which educated students about just how many calories and how much sodium was in fast food. ‘‘They were surprised to find that you could eat a whole day’s worth in one meal,” Cochran said. The students then designed a more balanced alternative to fast food meals.

Science and technology projects at the expo showed a wide variety of student interests, ranging from projects such as ‘‘How High Do Balls Bounce,” to projects comparing human and animal genomes based on information from the internet. One student, Ryan Griebenow, looked at the often-debated question of whether music can help a student study in ‘‘Rock, Bach, or Block.” He found that music can help the average person study – based on samples taken from other students – but his rationale for studying the question was uniquely honest. ‘‘I wanted to prove my parents wrong. ... They are always saying that music distracts me and affects my concentration,” according to Ryan’s poster board.

The expo is usually held in either April or March – depending on the spring sports schedule – and takes about three to four months to organize.

Hajjar said that she invited the incoming sixth-graders – those students who will begin school at Oakdale Middle in August – to see the expo as well this year.