With proud family members looking on, participating students in the Eighth Annual EdCom Expo marched into the Tiger Den Saturday morning.
They represented every Warsaw Community school - from Madison Elementary to Warsaw Community High School - as well as area homeschooled students and Sacred Heart.
WCS Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth, in his welcoming remarks, compared the EdCom opening ceremony to the Summer Olympics opening ceremony that will take place later this year."It's good to see you here today," said Haworth. "It's good to see the Tiger Den full for educational purposes."
At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Haworth said the world's best athletes will parade into the stadium for the opening ceremony under their countries' flags. It will be the most watched event, and Haworth said he will be one of the billions watching.
Why do people enjoy watching them so much? Haworth asked. "I think it's in anticipation of greatness," he answered.
The Olympic athletes will be giving their best. They have prepared for a long time and are at their peak. They are ready to go, he said. So, it's natural to get excited about people getting ready to hit their stride and be at their best.
Like watching the Olympics, Haworth said he was excited to see the students march in under their banners. Like those Olympians, Haworth said you have a sense of expectancy that something great is about to happen.
"Students, be like those Olympians," Haworth charged them. "Dive into your presentations." He told them to reach out for that baton and explode with greatness.
After telling the students their time was now, Haworth said whether it was their first time at EdCom or eighth time, "Expect the best today. Give your best today. Be the best you've ever been.
"Now is your time. It doesn't get any better than this. It's EdCom."
After Haworth's speech, a fashion show of past EdCom shirts was given by the school principals. There was blue in 2001, red in 2002, yellow in 2003, green in 2004, rainbow spiral in 2005, fluorescent green in 2006, orange in 2007 and white this year.
The annual slide show was shown before students and parents were dismissed to their presentations.
While there were many presentations to sit through, this year featured more browsable projects.
Warsaw Community High School fine arts students presented their projects on various artists and art styles from Roy Lichtenstein to Latin American art. FCCLA students from WCHS presented their projects on stopping violence.
Long lines flowed to get into the Black Box Theatre in the WCHS Performing Arts Center. There, Eisenhower students were "wax statues" and gave their presentations on famous Hoosiers. Spectators also could ask them questions. The "wax figures" ranged from Mason Metzinger as Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Haley Wickens as James Dean, to Jennifer Katris as Jane Pauley and Devin Masterson as John Dillinger among others.
If math was your thing, the Edgewood Middle School geometry students had exhibits on everything from imaginary numbers to Mauritis Cornelis Escher. Those presentations were in the upper north gym of the Tiger Den.
In the upper south gym, Lakeview Middle School students had their science fair projects on display. While spectators could listen to student Austin Vitoux explain how dams work, students Liesl Schroedl and Rebeca Garcia had a science fair project on different types of bridges and how they support weight. The Lego® Robotics table also was in the upper south gym.
Outside of the Performing Arts Center was elementary art on display. From 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. inside the PAC, WCHS students gave performances that ranged from duets and scenes to songs by Evan and the Penguins.
Author Web sites by Washington sixth-graders could also be browsed. In the Media Center, people could learn about unsolved mysteries.
One of the unsolved mystery was Noah Scott's and Andrew J. Bryan's presentation on "What Happened to George Mallery and Andrew Irvine?" Mallery and Irvine climbed Mt. Everest in 1924, but were never heard from alive again. Mallery's body was found 75 years later in 1999, but Irvine's body is still missing, according to Scott and Bryan. They have their theories on what could have happened up on Mt. Everest.
EdCom started in 2001 in the Edgewood Middle School gym with 200 Warsaw students participating. After the second year of EdCom, it moved to the high school. It is a celebration of students' learning over the past school year.
This year, about 900 students were expected to participate.
