SHS Wins Heritage Competition

To appreciate where you are, you need to know where you came from, what affected society.

Sidney High School students took part in the Journey Through Our Heritage program this fall at Metropolitan State University in Colorado.

The program is a way for students to study their culture and how culture has developed, according to Alec Johnson. Johnson is one of the Sidney students who participated in the program. He said the program also studies how culture has developed. He has been participating in the voluntary program for three years.

"For a lot of people, it is sort of emotional," he said, "because they don't participate in other things."

Several other students from the team agreed that it is an emotionally-charged experience.

Yoselin Parra, who also has three years in the program, compared the experience to a big family.

"Sometimes we don't agree with what we do, but we work through it," she said.

The JTOH team is composed of 15 students exploring the history of Nebraska from the Paleozoic era to present time.

"It is a place which binds our team, and it is one of the many lenses through which we perceive the world. The mural concept is designed in the form of a map that transcends time and direction," the team said in the presentation.

The JTOH experience included research, planning, designing and composing a mural and the presentation. It was in these stages that students learned how to work through conflicts and staying focused on the team's objective. This year was more difficult because there were fewer students wearing more hats.

"I think this year was ver challenging," Parra said, because there were fewer students on the team.

The surprise of the experience was receiving the Grand Champion award.

Johnson said they were confident in their presentation, but some of the students felt the team faced strong competition for the mural.

The presentation is a quick history lesson, from the time the North American land mass was waiting for the first sign of humanity to the impact of Cabela's and then Bass Pro on the Sidney and Cheyenne community.

The theme of the mural focused on the state of Nebraska, formed in the shape of the state map. The mural includes symbols of what the students defined as factors impacting society.

Ella Miller, who also is a member of the team, said it is nice to interact with other people. Tiara Ginther said meeting other people is one of the best parts of the JTOH experience.

"I just really enjoy hearing everyone's ideas, what they have to say," she said.

Johnson said there are individual competitions in the JTOH program at Metro State in the spring.