Students take musical journey

Over the years, Dennis Houchin has directed his students in three different plays having to do with Idaho history.

But he keeps coming back to the one with “catchy tunes.”

When he flips on the CD player in his fourth-grade classroom at John Brown Elementary to demonstrate, students break out in song.

Students performed “The Adventures of Lewis and Clark,” a musical, for fellow students and parents Tuesday. The show was the culmination of yearlong studies of Idaho history, a required subject for Idaho fourth-graders.

Houchin said students learn so much through doing the play that if he gave students a pop quiz about the explorers they’d easily get an A-plus.

“We certainly have lived it through this play,” he said.

Owen Shelton, who played the role of Napoleon Bonaparte, said he didn’t know much about his character, who has no lines in the play, but he learned a lot about Lewis and Clark.

“It’s pretty fun,” he said.

Brooklyn Bunch (Sacajawea) agreed.

She wore braids, a brown “buckskin” dress and red flip-flops.

Students stride for peace

Timberlake High students are hoping to raise $500 for the Human Rights Education Institute when the pledges are counted for this year’s Walk for Peace. The high school’s Club PEACE (People Everywhere Are Created Equal) organized Tuesday’s event at the high school.

Students spent an hour walking the school’s track with pledges collected for each lap they completed, said club adviser Jacqui Duran.

The student club, formed in 1999, was started to encourage students to be more aware of human rights issues, she said.

Each fall the club sponsors a Friendship Week to help new students get to know their classmates. Club PEACE raises money for college scholarships through a donkey basketball game and faculty basketball club. This year $3,000 was raised for scholarships. Three scholarships will be awarded during Timberlake’s May 30 awards night.

Timberlake student wins art award

Holly Lodoen, a senior at Timberlake High, won second place in the Idaho Human Rights art contest for grades 10-12. She received a hat, shirt and certificate. She was the only student in North Idaho to win a prize in the statewide competition.