Science Fair features exceptional projects
By Michelle B.

The Science Fair began bright and early the morning of February 12. Participants were there by 8:30 a.m. setting up their various projects. One hundred students with their seventy-four projects were assembled in the gym waiting to be judged at 9:00 a.m.
Mr. Fred Maier, head of the Itasca Nature Center, was one of the judges. Mr. Maier offered some tips on what the judges were looking for. He advised students to have a variable and a control, and to focus on only one thing.
Eighth grader, Liz F., won the Golden Test Tube, the highest award for Peacock students competing in the fair, for her project which tested to see which orange juice brands lived up to the claims made on their labels.
Mrs. Kohles, a parent, particularly liked the Vitamin C experiment. She commented, "it was unique, as a consumer, it is something you don't often see."
According to several observers, there were many interesting projects at the fair. Seventh grade social studies teacher, Mr. Peel, commented that along with Liz F.'s experiment, he thought that fourth grader, Julia N.'s density power point analysis, and sixth grader, Anthony M.'s germ experiment were exceptional.
Anthony's experiment proved that the most germ contaminated places at Peacock Middle were computer keyboards. "If Mike can develop a non-water based spray cleaner," said Mr. Peel, "he will make a lot of money!"
Peacock principal, Dr. Nickisch was particularly intrigued by fifth grader, Ashley D.'s project examining the differences in what boys and girls fear. He also stated that this year the projects were of a much higher quality than last year's. "I'm glad I'm not a judge!" he said.
Mrs. Krefitz, the eighth grade science teacher, also had her eye on the "Vitamin C" project. She commented that not enough eighth graders participated in the Science Fair.
Mrs. Krefitz and the majority of the seventh grade girls thought that the mouse in seventh grader, Matt C.'s project, "The Effects of Music on Mouse Intelligence" was extremely cute.
Franzen students were also there, and so was Dr. Medwick. She was happy that most of the participants were able to answer questions about their projects, which showed that they did most of the work themselves, not their parents. Dr. Medwick thought that the quality of the projects was excellent, with a "cool" variety.

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Peacock is definitely reaching for the blue, the Blue Ribbon award. Peacock Middle School has been nominated for the first time to receive this nationally recognized award.
The Blue Ribbon award, which was established in 1982 by the Secretary of Education, is used to "identify and give public recognition to outstanding public and private schools across the United States." Peacock is one of one hundred and ninety-nine schools eligible to receive this award.
Getting this far in the competition is considered an achievement in itself. The application process took almost a year to complete. Some of the people involved in this project were teachers, Mrs. Angello, Mrs. Butler, Mrs. Karttunen, Mrs. Bernahl, Mrs. Crown, Mrs. Laughlin, Mrs. Leikin, Mr. Loest, Mr. Poremba, Mrs. Slykas and counselor, Dr. West.
The application was a thirty page paper describing Peacock in great detail, including information about the various departments, testing, extra-curricular activities, and technology.
Staff and teachers from different departments collected information over a period of six months, then it was all edited over the summer.
Eighth grade language arts teacher, Mrs. Leikin, was on the original committee to gather information, and an editor along with sixth grade language arts teachers, Mrs. Agnello and Mrs. Laughlin.
Mrs. Leikin commented that Peacock's principal, Dr. Nickisch, deserved the most credit for putting the Blue Ribbon application all together.
Mrs. Betty Lewis is coming to Peacock for a site visit to make sure that all the information in the application is accurate.
Mrs. Lewis is a principal in a school in Maryland and works for the United States Department of Education. When she comes to Peacock on March 13 and 14, she will walk around the school to view and talk to students.
Dr. Nickisch commented that he thought Peacock had a very good chance of winning the Blue Ribbon award. He said that he "couldn't wait for the site visitor to see all the students and teachers and all the good things in this school."
If Peacock does receive the Blue Ribbon award it would mean that Peacock is a very elite and excellent school in the eyes of the United States Department of Education. Peacock would become a role model for other schools.
Mrs. Leiken commented that she also thought Peacock had a good chance of getting the award, but if not, "we'll just reapply."

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Today's students are tomorrow leaders
An interview with the mayor of Itasca
By Liz F., News Editor

According to Claudia "GiGi" Gruber, the mayor of Itasca, middle school students should be interested in politics even though they couldn't vote. All the issues raised now will eventually affect them.
Students, she said, are our leaders of tomorrow. If they couldn't understand what was going on today, how could they lead tomorrow? She also thought that it was very important for students to read newspapers and to stay informed about politics.
A Republican, Ms. Gruber, has been mayor of Itasca since 1998. She began her political career when she ran for village trustee and was elected in 1993 to be on the village board.
Mayor Gruber is not actively campaigning for any candidate in the primary, but she did say that she was personally supporting Texas Governor, George W. Bush.
When asked, "What is the local party doing for the national candidates?" Her reply was, "I really don't know. I haven't received any information. This must be very unusual, but we are not very active."
According to Mayor Gruber, the problem with Senator John McCain of Arizona as compared to Governor Bush was that while they were both Republicans, McCain was for O'Hare Airport running unlimited export and import flights.
McCain, therefore, she said, was clearly not concerned with the impact on the local environment and the safety of local residents. Having the airport running flights twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, she argued, would keep residents awake and increase the probability of accidents.
Mayor Gruber's position on national politics was clearly set by her interests and responsibilities as a local public official. Local politics were affected by national politics by way of laws that were passed at federal level. She cited, as a negative example of the interaction between national and local policies, the federal mandate concerning the blowing of train whistles.
That law states that every time a train passes a crossing it must blow a whistle. The congressional legislators who passed that mandate, the mayor argued, did not take into consideration its impact on people in towns like Itasca, as compared to rural areas where there was farmland instead of urban residences near the tracks.
The only way to be exempted from the whistle blowing mandate was to pay eighty thousand dollars for crossing gates at each crossing. But the national government did not fund Itasca, said the mayor, and the town budget did not have an extra eighty thousand dollars to pay for the four crossing in town.
Another issue that pointed out the big difference between national and local politics was the question of campaign financing. There is a lot of money spent at a federal level for campaigning.
Lobbyists for all different interest groups, everyone from big businesses to national teachers unions, give money to people campaigning for office.
However, if someone is running at a local level, there is hardly any need for money. Ms Gruber's campaign cost was $500. It is widely believed that to run for federal office, you have to raise a lot of money, while at a local level it is more important if a person was well-known locally.
One national issue that did concern Mayor Gruber was health care. Some senior citizens, she said, had to choose between eating and buying their medicine. She commented it was sad to know that some senior citizens would have to be bussed to Canada, where they would be able to afford medication.
For the mayor, none of the candidates for president this year have really sparked her interest. She said, "they have taken all the wind out of the sail." When asked, "what president do you think the national candidates should idolize?" she answered Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln, said the Mayor, stood up for what he believed in. Unlike many other presidents he wasn't born with the proverbial silver spoon.
Mayor Gruber admired the fact that President Lincoln had many failures but he always got back up. His beliefs for example, were not popular, and he filed for bankruptcy twice, but he went on to be one of the greatest if not the greatest American president.

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