Montezuma hosts its first academic fair

Cami Shaver works on her academic fair project that incorporates history and photography to demonstrate the history of camera angles.

by Kayla Werner

Last year, Montezuma held Pi Day, a math fair, but this year they decided to change it up by hosting an academic fair including all subjects.

Students are allowed to choose a topic that includes any two academic subject areas that they want to focus on and incorporate into their projects. 

School officials decided to change from Pi Day, the math fair, because they knew some students had a hard time with the total focus on math. This year it is easier because they have the freedom to choose the subjects that they would like to use and really catch their attention and imagination. 

One example of a project is senior Cami Shaver, who will combine the subject areas of history and photography to develop a project on the history of specific camera angles.

The students have a schedule that they will need to follow if they want to complete the project in time for the juding and display. On Feb. 17 students need to have their supplies and models organized.  The school will supply tri-fold boards for the students to use for their presentations.  The students should be ready to assemble their display boards by Feb. 20. 

From Feb. 27 through March 2, students will practice their presentations, and they will present to their adviser classes March 5 through March 9. During the week of March 12 through March 16, the projects will be presented to judges, who will judge on criteria including the information or experiment procedure, presentation, and bibliography. Finally, students will be presenting to the public at the school from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on March 20, taking the place of the usual parent-teacher conferences for an evening.

The display board is required to be no more than three feet in length, at least three feet tall and has to be free standing. They must also include the title, a brief overview of the project, research, materials, procedure, data, conclusions and acknowledgements. 

While some students aren’t thrilled about the academic fair, others are ecstatic. A few have really gotten into their projects and can’t wait to present them. The projects have many different themes, from video games to genetics and anywhere in between. 

Senior Bridgette Moore said, “I’m glad that we actually got to choose something that interested us, instead of just math. I am working with health and anatomy to research how organic and non-organic foods affect your body.”

Students will be dilligently working on their projects during adviser time and free time during school to create presentations for the public to enjoy as the day of the Academic Fair nears.