Happy birthday

Teresa Hinds

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Every Nevada historian knows that to properly tell the history of the Silver State one must include the Indian influence, the Donner Party tragedy and ... Elvis?

Well, if you're a member of the fourth-grade classes participating in the 10th annual Wasden Elementary School Nevada Day program, you throw a trio of Elvis impersonators into the show and you know you've got a hit.

Clad in trademark white Elvis jumpsuits with guitars slung across their bodies -- complete with the Elvis sneer -- Travis Metoxen, Jordan Salazar and Mike Mummey stole the "Trailblazing Through Nevada" program Tuesday as they gyrated through "Viva Las Vegas."

But the program didn't just concentrate on the commercial history of the state. Students from Wasden and Richard Bryan Elementary, whose students are sharing the Wasden campus until Bryan opens next year, entertained parents and dignitaries with a program that covered Nevada's past, present and future.

Incorporated into the almost hour-long program were skits and songs about early settlers, the struggle for women's rights, the Pony Express and the presence of the railroad and how these events shaped Nevada's history.

The students infused a good dose of humor and popular music into the program with the present-day Nevada segment.

To illustrate the big wedding business in Nevada, Sasha Haupt and Alex Lee, dressed as a bride and groom, paraded down the middle isle of the audience to the strains of "Chapel of Love," and Katie Thomas struck movie star poses as "camera person" Erica Patterson took pictures while the tune "You Ought to be in Pictures" was played in the background.

They even acknowledged Nevada's "faraway visitors" with a brief skit about Area 51.

To address the future, a student told the crowd of about 200, "In the year 2020 we will be wearing your shoes and doing your jobs ... With the education we receive, we will change the world."

That's exactly the message one guest speaker, Olympic gold medalist Lori Harrigan, hoped she got across to the students in her pre-program speech.

"If you work hard and are dedicated, nothing is impossible," Harrigan said. "Never give up. Whatever you want in life, it's not impossible."

Harrigan went on to underscore the importance of getting good grades and to strive for a college education.

A giant cake with candles was wheeled through the auditorium as the students sang "Happy Birthday" in celebration of Nevada's 132nd birthday, to close the program.

Guest speaker Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said he thought the program was wonderful.

"I wish every adult could be here today. This is what going to school in Clark County is all about," Bryan said.

Bryan said Tuesday's program was particularly meaningful to him because one of the classes participating in the program is from the school named after him.

The program is a culmination of a month of study about Nevada's history, part of the fourth-grade curriculum in Clark County. In addition to the program, individual student research projects were displayed throughout the auditorium.

Projects included complex miniature replicas of Hoover Dam, a trivia game about Nevada, re-creations of Indian pottery, illustrations of the pets and kids in the Governor's Mansion and pictures of birds and plants found throughout the state. Each project included a report, which averaged about five pages.

One project, a map of the counties of Nevada, was done by student Melissa Mims.

She said it took her about a week to complete the map. "It was fun because I had to learn all the names of the counties and the famous things about them."

Mims glued each differently colored county onto the state map and said the best part of the project was "putting the puzzle together."

Mims' teacher, Cheri Weller, who has been at Wasden five years, said the program "was definitely a community effort between teachers and kids." Weller explained the teachers and students brainstorm ideas for the yearly program and the teachers write the script.

She was proud of the work the fourth-graders put into the show.

"Their little hearts are in it and they really learn a lot," she said.

The main emphasis of the program, Weller said, is for the students to learn about Nevada history, self-concept and pride in a finished project.

"It's so important to see something from beginning to end," Weller said. "To see the end of it is a wonderful thing."