Mustang students rebuild Europe

MUSTANG - Forget building Rome in a day. Try constructing landmarks such as the Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica in less than 40 minutes.

Students enrolled in an advanced European history class at Mustang High School were faced with these deadline pressures during a recent showcase of their creative and engineering skills for the benefit of charity.

Groups of six or more students were required to research popular landmarks and re-create them by using canned food or other non-perishable food items. An estimated 2,000 canned goods used in the project then were donated to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

About 40 cereal boxes were used by one group of students to build the Parthenon. Another group sandwiched small cans of tomato paste between 2-pound coffee cans to give the Eiffel Tower its signature arched base. A couple hundred more cans were used for the upright portion of Paris' most famous structure.

"This is one of those ways we could give back to the community as well as kind of take history out of the textbooks and bring it to life," class instructor Greg Oliver said. "This really shows the creativity. Some of these students are future engineers and designers, and it brings out all of that."

Mustang offers a dozen courses similar to the European history class. They afford students an opportunity to earn enough college credits through demonstrated proficiency in advanced placement courses.

Advanced placement coordinator Sharon Ramirez said last year's graduating seniors earned enough credits to save roughly $130,000 combined in course fees, based on tuition of $150 per hour.

One student, Jess Chen, earned enough college credits to reach junior status at Southern Nazarene University.

"Some will take three or four AP courses as seniors and then go off campus and take concurrent courses," Ramirez said. "It's a way to serve gifted students, but it's also a way to serve highly motivated students."

Other structures erected by students included Notre Dame Cathedral, the Tower of London, Big Ben and The Louvre Museum.

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