Students at Moscow Middle School Expo show what they’ve learned

The smell of grilled hot dogs and the pleasant sounds of the Moscow Middle School orchestra greeted parents who stopped by the school Thursday to see what their children have learned throughout the school year.

The school staged its first Moscow Middle School Expo since the COVID-19 pandemic to show off each classroom and the projects the students have completed in those classes.

“It’s been a good year,” said seventh grader Alina Bowersox. “I’m proud of all the things that I’ve accomplished.”

Bowersox and fellow seventh grader Mia Modad particularly enjoyed their social studies class, where the students showed off posters they made about different countries.

“You got to learn about a whole different side of the world that we’ve basically knew nothing about,” Modad said.

Bowersox said it provided her a different perspective of the world.

“I didn’t know a lot of stuff that I do now,” she said. “And a lot of stereotypical things that I thought were true I realized were not. So I thought that was cool.”

Sixth grader Kellan Wakefield used his favorite sport as a gateway to learn about the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

For his project, Wakefield researched why a baseball team called the Rizzlers decided to play in the Dominican Republic instead of Cuba because of the country’s favorable climate, economy and standard of living.

He enjoyed using poster board for the first time to complete his project, he said, and he had fun debating the pros and cons of the two countries.

Social studies teacher Matthew Haley said every classroom is full of interesting projects and smiling parents.

“I am always very impressed with the transformation of all of our kids,” he said.

In Lori Lawton’s physical science class, parents got to see complex Rube Goldberg machines made up of dominos, levers and pulleys. Hot air balloons that the students had made hung from the ceiling.

Down the hall, a school choir serenaded visitors with songs, and the middle school gym was available for pickleball games.

Outside, Principal Bill Holman was in charge of serving grilled hot dogs to hungry visitors.

Seventh grade English teacher Tiffany Scripter organized the expo, which she said began seven years ago.

She said individual classrooms used to show off their projects to parents during separate events throughout the year. Then it dawned on people that they should all present the projects at once during one night. Thus, the expo was born.

“And the kids love it, it’s a great event for the kids,” she said.

Scripter was happy to see the school building fill up with families for the first time since the expo was shut down amid the pandemic in 2020.

“It’s fabulous,” she said. “It’s really fabulous.”

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.