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Students compete at regional learning fair Kevin Allerston Northern News Services Published Friday, April 27, 2012
William McDonald School Grade 6 student Nicolas Bennett was presenting his project about Second World War bombers because his grandfather and uncle both flew Avro Lancasters in the war. "I just wanted to learn more about the Lancasters because of my grandfather and uncle and all that," said Bennett. He said he has enjoyed learning about history, particularly military history, for most of his life. "I've always had an interest in this stuff, since I was maybe three years old," said Bennett, who was competing against 74 other projects on topics ranging from head lice to the Great Depression. He said he spent two months in total working on the project, a month doing the research and a month constructing an elaborate diorama. The presentation included a model of a Lancaster flying over a German dam in a Second World War battle. He said he created a 30-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on the subject to allow more room on his backboard for images. "I wanted lots of pictures on my backboard to give the judges a better view of what I'm talking about," said Bennett. He said he enjoys school and especially doing large projects like this. "I guess working on projects like this is a little bit of stress relief for me," said Bennett. Bennett, 11, said he spent weeks practicing presenting his project to his parents, and that by the end of it he no longer needed any notes. "I started off with papers with information from my slides, but one day I forgot them at school ... and while practising I got everything right and I did it really well without the papers, so I just decided to throw them out and say, 'What the heck, I'll do it without the papers,'" said Bennett. In the end, Bennett's hard work paid off, with him receiving a gold medal for his project and a spot at the territorial learning fair with nine other students, set for May 10 to 12 at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. "I was the only one from William MacDonald School who won, so it felt pretty good," said Bennett. As for the territorials, he said he is confident. "Well, you never know. It only takes one bad judge, but yeah, I feel pretty confident about the territorials." Monique Marinier, chair of the Yellowknife Learning Fair, said even those who don't receive a medal have a lot to be proud of. "Just by completing a project like this makes them winners because they've learned a lot not only about what they're researching, but also about themselves," Marinier said. "Whether they walk away with a gold medal or not, what's important is what they've learned about their subject, what they've learned about themselves and what it means to manage time."
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