Students can compete to have Wright brothers project displayed at Transportation Museum

Friday, May 29, 2009 3:00 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend | SPENCER — The N.C. Transportation Museum is inviting students to help tell the story of the Wright brothers' first flight in association with a new exhibit, "The World Aloft."

This student competition will allow middle and high school students a chance to win a laptop computer and have their project displayed at the Transportation Museum.

The museum's "The World Aloft" exhibit celebrates May 14, 1908, as the day Wilbur and Orville Wright were first observed by credible witnesses as the official pioneers of flight. It was also the day the first photograph of the Wright brothers airplane flight was published.

"The World Aloft" is based on a similar exhibit displayed at the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk. Sixteen photo panels plus period artifacts and memorabilia will take center stage in the N.C. Transportation Museum's exhibit. It's official unveiling is Dec. 17.

"The World Aloft" competition is designed to complement the Transportation Museum's exhibit by allowing students to create their own diorama, model, costume, art or project celebrating some facet of Wright brothers history in North Carolina.

Rising sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders (based on the 2009-2010 school calendar) are eligible to compete in the middle school competition. Rising ninth-, 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders are eligible to compete in the high school competition. Any student in North Carolina is eligible, including public and private school students and home school students.

Interested students should submit to N.C. Transportation Museum staff a project proposal detailing the type of project, the relation to Wright brothers history, the size of the project and how the project will be presented. The proposal deadline is Aug. 31. Completed projects must be delivered to the Transportation Museum by Nov. 1. Contest winners will be announced Dec. 1.

The awards ceremony will be held in association with the Dec. 17 unveiling of "The World Aloft." All contest participants are eligible to attend the awards ceremony. The students submitting the best middle school project and the best high school project, as determined by Transportation Museum staff, will receive a laptop computer. The winning projects and several others will be displayed alongside the museum's exhibit.

For more information or a project proposal form, contact Vickie Peacock at the N.C. Transportation Museum at 704-636-2889 extension 232 or vickie.peacock@ncdcr.gov or LeAnne Johnson at 704-636-2889 extension 258 or kathryn.l.johnson@ncdcr.gov.

The N.C. Transportation Museum, located in historic Spencer Shops, the former Southern Railway repair facility, is part of the Division of State Historic Sites, Department of Cultural Resources.