An award-winning presentation

I felt the ground quake beneath my feet.

In the sky overhead, a large flock of birds momentarily blocked out the sun as they frantically flew away from the immediate area; and a herd of nearby goats furiously stampeded down the hill in an attempt to flee an unknown threat.

With widened eyes and dilated pupils, the little hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Something ominous was about to happen.

Without warning, a dormant volcano which could be seen for miles around erupted with molten lava flowing down the sides of the mountain destroying every living thing in its path.

At first glance, you might’ve thought I was witness to one of the worst volcanic disasters in world history just like when Mount Vesuvius totally obliterated the ancient city of Pompeii in the first century AD.

However, this mild-mannered sixth grader and his usual cohorts had their classmates undivided attention while conducting an exciting demonstration with the most coveted of all science projects – a scale model volcano – as an avalanche of manufactured lava oozed down the engineered mountain burying a miniature-sized village at its base.

The collaborative enterprise was a smashing success!

A short two weeks earlier, these top bananas at Northside Elementary School cheered with great enthusiasm when Mr. Tim Sberna – their sixth grade teacher – announced he would be dividing them into groups of four to complete the annual science project that would be worth a quarter of the final grade for the last six weeks grading period.

“It’s time to put on your thinking caps,” challenged the brawny schoolmaster as he distributed the name specific worksheets to his young scholars. “While I’ll provide you with a list of necessary items, it’ll be up to the members of each group to collect them for the assignment; so, now you’ll have the opportunity to become Dr. Frankenstein and create your monster.”

Go find the other members of your group and use this time to strategize.

This excited young stripling lit up like a Christmas tree upon noticing his full name next to the words – scale model volcano.

While slowly making my way around the neatly decorated classroom, I spotted a certain trio – Alan Franz, Jeff Olinger and Shane Spielberg – in the back corner near the door with a joyful expression splashed across their little faces as if they had just won the “Mega Millions Jackpot;” and I knew we were lab partners for the best science project ever.

We are the kings of the castle!

“Our first order of business is to divvy up the supply list,” announced Shane when underlining a few key items on the checklist. “Since my father works for the Ellwood City Ledger, I can rummage up as much newspaper print as needed; and I’ll also bring a bag of flour and a large mixing bowl to make papier-mâché.”

There’s masking tape and aluminum foil in my dad’s workshop as well as a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola in the fridge which will be emptied by night’s end.

“Just call me the explosive specialist,” proclaimed Jeff upon letting his comrades know about his unique proficiency for blowing things up. “Considering my mother’s an avid baker, I’ll bring all the ingredients – baking soda, dish soap, food coloring and vinegar – that are needed for a volcanic eruption that will blow the lid off this schoolhouse.”

“I’ll get a two-foot by two-foot piece of wood from my garage,” I proposed while thinking how to make our project a cut above the rest. “With regard to setting the stage, I’ll figure out a way to have some hula dancers for our fifteen minutes of fame; and if we can each bring a boxed fan from home the day of our presentation, they can be used to mimic a cool breeze to complete our Hawaiian theme.”

Spoken like a true patron of the arts!

Mr. Jim Heckathorn, the school’s art teacher, will provide the various colors – black, brown, orange, red and yellow – of acrylic paints which are needed to put the finishing touches on our final product.

Each day’s science class period drew us one day closer to the completion of our project.

Shortly after securing the empty plastic 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola in the center of the wooden board to create a volcano chamber, this little band of brothers crumpled up the newspaper into baseball size chunks – the biggest spit wads ever – and used masking tape to mold them into a cone shape around the container; after which, they covered the entire structure with aluminum foil.

Once the flour and water mixture – papier-mâché – was stirred until it became a gooey texture, our talkative crew dipped strips of newspaper into the pasty substance and layered them over the foil-covered structure; but before it was all said and done, we looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy covered in white from head to toe.

I’m glad I wore my play clothes to school that day.

Following countless hours of preparation, the big day finally arrived as the acrylic paint – brown and black for the mountain and red, orange, and yellow around the top to simulate lava – dried overnight.

Upon strategically placing boxed fans throughout the classroom to mimic a cool sensation, a tape recorder began emitting “Tiny Bubbles” from the Don Ho Show as a trio of prearranged hula dancers – fifth graders – donning grass skirts shook their hips across the imaginary platform to create an authentic ambiance of the Hawaiian Islands.

Now that the stage was set, it was time for the pièce de résistance.

As soon as Jeff poured vinegar into the volcanic chamber which was mixed with baking soda, dish soap and food coloring, homemade lava bubbled to the surface and slowly oozed down the sides of the faux mountain scorching everything in its path; whereupon the little village at its base was totally destroyed.

By the sound of the enthusiastic applause, our science project was definitely an ace in the hole!