Today, the third and fourth hour American Studies class brought the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair to Prospect, displaying 15 interactive booths, as a culmination to their unit on Erik Larson’s “Devil in the White City.”
The exhibits, which featured games, food and even scale models, brought life to the type of displays that would have been featured over a century ago, while allowing students to add a modern twist.
Among the many exhibits, juniors Kendall Doerr, Lydia Kafader and Bailey Rosauer’s exhibit featured a miniature model of serial killer H.H. Holmes mansion. The tiny rooms showed the Holmes’ process of burning victims in his oven, and consequently their activity was decorating cookie people and baking them in a tiny oven.
Juniors Peyton Eckert, D.J. Konczyk, and Will Benisek called their booth “Cracker Jacks,” which allowed students to win caramel corn after competing in a pitching contest.
The most noticeable display at the World’s fair was a tall model of the original Ferris Wheel: a symbol of Chicago unleashed at the 1893 World’s Fair. Juniors Robert Conrad, Angela Lee and Tanisha Johnson gained a new respect for George Ferris through the construction, using foam board, wood, “and lots of effort,” Conrad said.
Though social science teacher Frank Mirandola has assigned this project for the past three years, he said the exhibits get better each year, with his rising expectations. This year he was particularly proud with the group’s “energy and work ethic.”
While the fair was enjoyable to all students and teachers who attended, for the Am Stud students, it is a competition. Each attending student received tickets to use at exhibits of their choice, and the booth with the most tickets wins.
This year’s most popular booth was “Cracker Jack,” created by Peyton Eckert, D.J. Konczyk, and Will Benisek with 216 tickets . In second place, was “The L Train” by Jimmy Gately, Brandon Larocca and Cathy Krus with 148 tickets. In third was “Hamburger” by Meg Dix, Sarah Penze and Kate Schroeder with 144 tickets.
The seventh and eighth hour American Studies World Fair will be held next Tuesday, December 15.
To see additional photos from the World’s Fair, click here.