The Chicago Studies classes are recreating the Chicago History Fair as they present their final exam projects today. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend.

The fair will be directly outside the PAC and will be held during first through third periods today, Thursday, May 12. Presentations will be given “gallery style,” according to Steve Jeretina, social studies department chair, said.  

“This is the first year that we’re doing something like this. So what it actually is is where students research a topic related to a theme and they apply it to the Major Metropolitan area closest to them,” Jeretina said. “So as we are closest to Chicago, the projects will focus on a theme pertaining to Chicago’s past.”

As long as students cover “events that take place in Chicago or things that would impact the city itself,” according to Jeretina, they can be as creative as they want and are encouraged to make the projects interesting for viewers.

“It’s new. We’re hoping that there is a turnout of people to see what’s going,” Jeretina said. “It’s something that we’re hoping that people see, are interested in doing, and therefore will end up taking the class.”

Ryan Lilly, junior in Chicago Studies, says he finds history to be more of a “hobby,” but that he enjoys the class and is both nervous and excited to display his project to others.

“We started working on this project at the beginning of the class, so this semester, but on and off. So more recently we have been working every day in class,” Lilly said. “Mine is on the Black Hawk War. I’m excited to show what I’ve learned to other students who will not know about it.”

After the Chicago Studies classes have worked so hard all semester on this final project, both Lilly and Jeretina are excited for the outcome in different ways.

“I’m excited to just see what some of the topics are.  I’ve seen a few of them, but there’s so many options of what people can do and how they can create the question to demonstrate the knowledge of it.  It’s going to be pretty broad in terms of the things that we’ll see because you can demonstrate in a variety of different ways.”