Hays Arts Council

    All Fifth Grade classrooms in Ellis County are invited to participate in this
    project which involves researching, developing, costuming and performing as
    a famous historical character. This respected and very popular county-wide
    competition (following spring classroom preparations) will be held in early May
    at the 12th Street Auditorium.

Spring 2009 (character and contest preparation) for 5th grade students

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 (county-wide contest at 12th St. Aud.)

All Fifth Grade classrooms in Ellis County were invited to participate in this project which involves researching, developing, costuming and performing as a famous historical character. The county-wide competition was held Friday morning, May 2nd at the 12th Street Auditorium with the support of the Hays Rotary Club and the FHSU departments of Theatre and History.

The schools participating this year included O’Loughlin, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Wilson, Washington, and Holy Family from Hays, Victoria Elementary School and Ellis Grade School & St. Mary’s Grade School of Ellis. Each 5^th grade classroom was entitled to two finalists and there will be a total of 30 students in this final competition. Wednesday’s participants each received a gold medal and the 1^st through 5^th place finishers also receives trophies as determined by the panel of three judges.

Serving as the judges were Bruce Bardwell - HAC board member & FHSU Theatre instructor, Henry Schwaller – HAC board president & Rotary representative, and Ellen Veed – HAC member and retired FHSU faculty

2008 Contest Winners
Click on any photo to enlarge

Hays Arts Council 2008 "Famous Figures" contest winners (from left):
Casey Dinkel from Wilson Elementary - 1st place (as David Letterman), Alexis Wasinger from Wilson Elementary - 3rd place (as Marlo Thomas), Gradon Olson from O'Loughlin Elementary - 5th place (as Wilbur Wright), Bethany Staab from Holy Family Elementary - 2nd place (as Irena Sendler), and Andrew McGinnis from Roosevelt Elementary - 4th place (as David Beckham)

Presented by the Hays Arts Council, this project is being made possible through the support of the Hays Rotary Club and Fort Hays State University departments of Theatre and History.

5^th Grade Participants and their Characters

Roosevelt
Molly Pitcher – Trystan Knapp
David Beckham – Andrew McGinnis
Princess Diana – Savannah Chauffe
Michelle Kwan – Matea Gregg
William Shakespeare – Kahlil Mishref
Lucille Ball – McKenna Duffy

Wilson
Deborah Sampson – Stepheni Peltier
David Letterman – Casey Dinkel
Marlo Thomas – Alexis Wasinger
LeBron James – Sam Sage

O’Loughlin
Nadia Comaneci – Lexie Summers
Wilbur Wright – Graydon Olson
Merryweather Lewis – Alex Crowley
Deborah Sampson – Erin Pennington

Lincoln
Jackie Kennedy – Mattie Schlaefly
Annie Oakley – Kristina Herl
Davy Crockett – Connor Custer
Arnold Schwartzenegger – Max Stieben

Washington
Molly Pitcher – Britney Werth
Katie Couric – Brittani Mills

Holy Family
Fred Smith – Matt Mindrup
Maxine Andrews – Grace Volker
Irena Sendler – Bethany Staab
Walt Disney – Adam Flax

St. Mary’s
Nelson Mandela – Eli Lohrmeyer
Nadia Comaneci – Sarah Mick

Victoria
Shirley Temple – MaKayla Crawford
Jackie Kennedy Onassis – Haley Robben

Ellis
Anne Bonnie – Sara Hinman
Martha Stewart – Ashley Butler