The annual science fair. It evokes so many memories for so many people. But for me? Not really. I recall a sort of “Creative Fair” at one of my elementary schools that allowed projects of all kinds, from science experiments to creative writing. This gave students of all experience and knowledge levels the opportunity to participate.
I always enjoyed being creative—even when it came to writing book reports. I know, admitting you loved book reports is a great way to ensure you eat lunch alone, but I stand by it. For me, summarizing stories into quick snippets to encourage others to read them was a fun challenge. Maybe that’s why I prefer short-form writing now: it allows me to write this and talk about specific moments of childhood as if they are scenes from a movie.
My middle sister, “Jan,” has a creative mind too, but in a more scientific way. At least, that’s how I recall it. For example, she loved the strict regimen of school band—following the notes on the sheet music and staying perfectly in step with the other members. She eventually worked her way up to leadership roles in the band; she just had that friendly personality that naturally drew people in.
It is well documented that students involved in music often excel in science and math. Both of my sisters are perfect examples of this, having been assigned to the advanced classes throughout their school years.
Long story short: Jan and I are not twins. She is 11 months older than I am, but because of a silly Texas school enrollment rule with birthday cut-off dates at that time, we were destined to be in the exact same grade for twelve straight years. We spent a lot of the first few weeks of each grade explaining, “No, we aren’t twins, Texas just had a frustrating enrollment requirement.”
When we were in the upper elementary grades, we attended a school in Nebraska that had only two classrooms per grade. To help ensure our individuality, the school assigned us to separate classrooms. I loved this. Being the younger sister, this gave me a sense of independence, which is so important when you’re 10 to 12 years old.
So, back to the school creative fair. Everyone was required to participate by submitting a project to their classroom teacher, who would then select the top projects from the class to enter for the fair. I submitted a poem recapping Michael Turner’s The King Bear (published in 1968). I was incredibly proud of it, especially after my teacher praised it and said she would enter it into the fair. My poem received an honorable mention, which I held as if it were a treasure.
Jan, on the other hand, built a computer.
Okay, so it wasn’t a real computer—there was no such thing as a home computer outside of books and movies at that time. Instead, she created an impressive replica of a mainframe computer using a cardboard box, making it look like a massive wall of computer components. Because the box was the size of a small refrigerator, she had a lot of drawing and coloring to do!
To make it interactive, she added two cut-out slots and prepped small rectangles of cardstock. (There may have also been some knobs people could turn, but I am not sure if I’m remembering that correctly.) Someone would write a simple question on a card and insert it into the first slot. Lo and behold, after some appropriate computer sounds—“blip, beep, boop”—the correct answer would pop out of the second slot!
How did she do it? Well, I can’t give away her secrets! Let’s just say the “processor” inside landed in the top three winners of the school fair!
Jean's Movies 