By: Abby Davidson

As the first quarter comes to an end, the deadline for the Mount Vernon U.S. History project comes closer. Freshmen had three choices to choose from for Mount Vernon History Night. Some chose to present a project based on the history of Mount Vernon, others chose to interview veterans or someone who experienced something significant in Mount Vernon history, and the last choice was community service.

Students that chose to do an interview were given someone, or found someone of their own, to interview. Students were given the task to come up with their own questions and record it. Freshman Haley Hepker chose to interview Coe College professor and Odyssey Theatre director Karla Steffens-Moran.

“Karla is honestly a great person, with a fantastic personality,” Hepker said about interviewing Moran. “She’s inspirational and has a lot to say about theater.”

Ones who chose to research an event or a point of significance in Mount Vernon history are to create a document to present that will teach other students about their topic. Participants in the project will provide the audience with their presentation after the due date.

“The hardest part was finding the time to work on it with other things going on besides the project,” Erin Fencl said, who is researching about the Lincoln Highway.

Others that completed community service were to sign up for a task and complete it. Some including volunteering at the Chili Cook-Off, cleaning up at football games or nature parks, or a simple task of scanning historical documents.

Many students dread the thought of a project and getting it done on time, especially when it’s so difficult to set up. Then, there is the thought of how many points the project is, and how it’ll affect your grade. For most students, the 100-point project could make or break the grade they’re holding in U.S. History for the first semester.

Projects will be presented at Mount Vernon History Night on Nov.5 in the high school commons.