Calling ALL students!

by Abigail & Mari Davis | February 26, 2022

The 2nd Annual Wallace County Academic Fair has been scheduled for March 19th 2022 at the CAB from 9am-3pm, MST. The Homeschool Educators would like to invite all area students to participate at no cost! 
In speaking with Debbie Frasier, the goal behind the Academic Fair is to give students the opportunity to showcase something they are learning through a talk, poster, or booth. Creating something to reflect their learning or giving a talk in front of an audience builds confidence. 
Why participate?  
If you’re in 4-H, this could be a good practice to prepare for Club Days.  If you are not in 4-H, this could be a good opportunity to gain some presentation skills and to be judged on your work. 
Thinking of participating but are not sure of what topic to pick? 
We had a wide range of interests presented at last year’s Academic Fair.  
Sisters Briar and Ailey Richardson, dressed in pioneer costumes for their Show & Tell and created a booth based off of “Little House on the Prairie”. Lex Richardson’s talk and booth was about bees. 
Children 6-8 yrs old may sign up for Show & Tell, but there’s a lot of flexibility in this age range (eager preschoolers and timid 9/10 year olds are welcome to participate at this level also). Young students may choose to share about a favorite animal, toy, or a craft they made. 
Another way to showcase learning is through posters or presentation boards- which can be about anything! 
Last year, Alivia Davis created an interactive question and answer posterboard about dinosaurs. Others displayed posters on topics ranging from people, inlcuding President Abraham Lincoln and Amelia Earhart, to practical how-to guides including Caring for Baby Rabbits. 
Think about what interests other stud have: slime, art, and animals. Books make a great topic to discuss.
Siblings can work together as Aubree and Pearce Richardson did with their interactive booth on biomimicry. 
There was a booth on paper sticker making and one on carbonation last year.
 Earning “Best of Show” was Sophora Welsh for her hummingbird exhibit. 
Booths can be interactive (as in the student is present to answer questions and discuss it) or stationary (for viewing only.) 
Students can also sign up for time slots to present a topic or to do a demonstration. 
Last year Khristian Welsh captivated his audience when he demonstrated a simple electric circuit. 
Aliza Davis invited a handler and her service dog-in-training for use in her talk on Service Dogs. 
Zuri Spresser joined in the talk/demonstration line-up and showed how to prepare her “famous” chocolate chip banana bread and Abigail Davis demonstrated how to make no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. 
Kallie Richardson earned a top ribbon for her demonstration on carbonation.  
As you can see, these students were creative with their ideas. 
There were approximately 20 show & tell/talks/demonstrations, and about 15 booths and/or posters. in total last year.  
We were fortunate to have Brenda Tropf, Bev Elder, Rachael Dorman, and Toni Eder as our judges last year. 
Debbie Frazier said, “We tried to pick people who had a little background in what to look for.”  Our judges brought valuable expertise and constructive critiques. 
Melinda Daily was a good resource for us offering lots of tips to help get ready for the event and to make it a rewarding and growing experience for all.   
All participants receive a drink coupon to Towns End Tavern to be used the day of the fair, receive a scoring sheet from a judge, and will be awarded ribbons.  
Refreshments and lunch will be available for purchase from Towns End Tavern at the CAB the day of the Academic Fair. 
We invite everyone in the community to come on out and see what students are learning about and then try your smarts in an Academic Quiz, open to adults and children.  
Academic Quiz winners will receive prizes and will be grouped in this way: K-2nd,3rd-5th,6th-8th, High School and Adult.  Academic Fair is open to students Kindergarten (and eager PreKs through Show & Tell) up through High School. 
Please sign up through Debbie Frazier (719) 659-8659.  Set up will be on March 18th beginning at 3pm.