European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday May 13, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 9 education swarm of bees keeps students buzzing by Jimi Jones education writer when l3-Yeaw&Gtld Jeff Sellars Heads off to Washington to represent the overseas school system in the National spelling Bee later this month hell be Tak eng part in a Competition that dates Back 64 years. But Sellars who won his trip by correctly spelling Mega Cephalic a meaning Large headed a is just one of hundreds of department of defense dependents schools students taking part in a swarm of springtime academic competitions. Among them is the citizen Bee held last month at Ramstein High school in Germany and involving nearly 50 students. The. Event tested children in grades nine through 12 on their knowledge of history geography Lameren government economics culture and current events. A held recently or still in Progress Are a civics Bee the annual math counts contest a Junior science and humanities symposium latin bees and a geography Bee. A a. A  a a a. A there seven the National historical map drawing contest an event launched in 1989 by. The . Commission on the Bicentennial. At the National level the math counts Competition held earlier this month in Washington included four Dodds students. Maps made by military school sys Tern students have also been entered in the cartography contest. And 17-year-old Micah Cheatham the Winner of the Dodds level citizen Bee will compete nationally in Washington late next month. In the Dodds Germany Region recent contests have included a Young authors fair held last month in Baumholzer and an Oral Reading storytelling festival held april 19 at Aukamp elementary school in Wiesbaden. A tech . Pupil to represent Dodds in geography Bee. Me with Hill England a sixth Grade Pupil at me with Hill elementary Middle. School will represent the overseas military school system at the National geography Bee held in Washington this month. John Taylor the son of Harvey and Anne Taylor will receive an Allex lenses paid trip to Washington to participate in the Bee set for May 22 and .2,3. Taylor who is representing the department of defense dependents schools system will pit his knowledge of geography against 56 other finalists representing the 50 states the District of Columbia and the five . Territories. The Winner gets a $25,000 College scholarship. Taylor 11, has been attending the me with Hill school since kindergarten. He will be a accompanied by David Lefevre the school s a a social studies teacher. The Bee is sponsored by National geographic world Magazine am Trak and kudos snacks. Quot contestants will be hosted by Alex Trebek the Host of television s a jeopardy Quot game show. Participants must be pupils in grades four through eight. This is the second consecutive year that the Dodds representative has come front an Atlantic Region school. Last year Chris Duncan a student from Alconbury High school represented the system. Ology fair will be hosted by the Heidelberg officers club on thursday. The sudden popularity of such contests stems largely from the fact that they Are viewed As fast Low Cost solutions to americans education problems educators say. Bees concentrate on a Given academic subject offer the winners Money for College and provide Bright youngsters a spot in the Public a Eye that has traditionally been reserved for athletes. Despite the pressure the contestants seem to enjoy the contests. A i just loved the spelling bees a said Lynn Cabral who placed second in the Dodds citizen Bee and is a two time contestant at. National level bees. A even though they Are horrible and they Are nerve racking and they make you feel awful afterwards you know you be accomplished  bees which sometimes Lead to the Ere action of new school curriculum also distribute big prizes. The map contest for example awards the winners school a $5,000 prize for the Purchase of history and geography materials. National geographic offers a $25,000 scholarship in its Bee which was launched in the Wake of a study that showed that Many american adults and children could not identify America or the Pacific Ocean on a map. Awards at the local level vary but some offer savings Bonds of up to $500 As a top prize. Cheatham said such programs Are also a very Good for the Community a since they allow various groups to perform Community service. The citizen Bee he participated in a heightens awareness of United states history and More Specif. Mically current events in the United states and american born policy of the present world and the past. A a i d  see More of them perhaps in the Field of science and  Cheatham said. For. All their benefits bees and other such com be t i t ions a re not Broad of t re Ach programs and they  Large numbers of students. An inescapable fact of Bee season is the High percentage of repeat winners and1 finalists a it was Sellars fourth try at the spelling Bee and Cheathams second time at the citizens Bee. Last years fifth Grade readers returned this year As sixth Grade . A a a a a.  a a a a a a at the storytelling festival one. Mother said shed made the five hour drive from osterholz in Northern Germany to Wiesbaden because her daughter a just had to come Quot the girl had been in the spelling Bee Competition about a month earlier in Heidelberg. Cabral said her spelling Bee fever started in the second Grade. In addition bees and other contests can be painful affairs for students accustomed to performing successfully in the classroom. For every child earning a prize at such events 20 will be  at the pressure packed National spelling Bee for example hundreds of finalists wait for their one word flub if under Bright lights and Are led off to what the organizers Call the Comfort room. On the other hand ambitions always carry a risk once an ii year old has stood on a stage in front of a Large audience hearing the applause and cheers of family and friends its an experience that Civ never be taken away. Cabral is a witness to that. Quot i did t think id go As far As i did a she said at the contest at Ramstein. Quot i just enjoyed the expert Cocci and in a really glad i had the Chance to  and she added the $300 prize toward College tuition Wasny to bad either. Contributing to Thea report the Washington  t give up children s author urges pupils a amps. Lynda Davidson author Deborah Lattimore Speaks with elementary pupils in Heidelberg Germany. By Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau Heidelberg Germany a when author Deborah Nourse Lattimore scanned a room filled with third and fourth graders at Mark Twain elementary school last week she did t wonder about their grades. She wondered How Many in the group liked caramels. Or How Many had recently run out of tape. Lattimore readily admits she looks at the world differently than mos people. And the Best Selling authors advice to the pupils was to do the same a and to not give up even when facing what seems like overwhelming rejection. Quot i told them to persevere and done to let anybody Tell them they done to have Talent Quot she said. A if you re not Good enough for yourself then you can work a on it a she added a but the main thing is not to give up. I Tell a them if they get turned Down and they get depressed Over rewrites or revising their work they should enjoy themselves for awhile a then get Back to  Lattimore who writes and illustrates books for Young people faced 150 rejections before the first of her books was published in 1987. She now has 15 books published or about to appear in print and several More under Way. The books that Lattimore creates Are on subjects that she grew up with. Quot it Ike ancient things Quot she  grandmother s Mother was an Amateur archaeologist we had a lot of archaeological things in the House. I grew up with sculpture in the living room paintings chinese Memorabilia and All sorts of things. I thought everyone lived in a  a her love of museums and things ancient was the key to Lier creating books such As a a the dragon s Robe Quot a chinese Story a a i he Maine of peace Quot based on the aztecs and a Why there is no arguing in i leaven Quot a mayan myth. Each Book is meticulously researched to Infin Tain authenticity of the time and culture she is depicting Lattimore said. T he Art is designed with the same care. Lattimore. Does no to hesitate using unusual methods to produce the effects she wants. A when i worked on a the flame of peace a i stained All the paper with potatoes so it would look like  she said. A some of the potatoes were cooked potatoes so i clogged a lot of pens. I  it also decays a Little so i used raw potatoes after  in a Why t Here is no arguing in heaven Quot Lattimore sculpted mud men in her Yard so she would have a Model to draw from. In the Story the mud men melted so Lattimore hosed Down her models to see How they would look in her Art. Lattimore a Way of looking at life and history from oblique angles will keep her writing and drawing for quite awhile. An eight Book series on ancient Art history around the world is in the works she said. She also Hopes to write books on the history of London s old Globe theatre and the mythology of new zealand. Lattimore said that her Book called a the winged cat Quot about the ancient egyptian Book.  dead is due but next year. Following that she said is a the True Story of Zorro. And this is my favorite part Zorro is a  /