The Era of Elaborate School Projects

Before the days of Wikipedia and instant internet research, school projects were massive family undertakings that required library visits, encyclopedias, and a lot of hands-on construction. Dad spent countless hours helping the older boys with these endeavors.

In the spring of 1984, Peter entered the science fair at Knox Elementary with a project on prisms and the dispersion of light. Dad noted with satisfaction that Peter "won first prize for the fourth grade for his Color & Light (Prisms & the Dispersion of Light) project". The previous week had been a rush of last-minute work: "We finished Peter's Science Fair project," Dad wrote, grateful to have it done in time.

Nicky was equally ambitious. For a January 1987 science fair, he decided to study "The Inheritance of Eye Color in Drosophila melanogaster" (fruit flies). The research took multiple attempts. Dad and Nicky first tried the Mesa Public Library, but they'd barely walked in when Dad's beeper went off, calling him to deliver a baby at CRH. "When we got there, she was almost complete, but took almost two hours to deliver," Dad recorded. "By that time, the library was closed".

The next day, a Sunday, they tried again at the ASU Science Library, and Dad was floored by the resource. "I had no idea that such a fantastic resource is so freely available to the people of Arizona," he wrote. "If you have a valid Arizona Driver's License and $2.00, you can get a year-long courtesy card that entitles you to the use of all the ASU Library facilities on the same basis as full-time students". He described "six libraries, including a science library that is simply out of this world," with "an on-line card catalog, a vast number of study cubicles, private conference and study rooms in abundance, copy machines everywhere and quiet, comfort and, almost, ambience".

The project took weeks. "We finished Nicky's science fair project last night," Dad noted on February 9, 1987. The title was formal and scientific: "The Inheritance of Eye Color in Drosophila melanogaster". Dad made no note of the result, but the entry for two days later records "Science Fair, other entries, Nicky's disappointment at not winning".

Dad also helped with the classic scouting traditions. When it was time for Nicky's Pinewood Derby in April 1986, the whole family pitched in. "He and Peter had already carved it, and Peter hollowed out the cavity on the racer's belly for the lead," Dad wrote, "so Nicky and I cut, melted and poured lead this evening". The next morning, they were at it again: "I got up early today, after a quiet night, and helped Nicky finish his Pinewood Derby Racer, which ended up occupying the whole family for a couple of hours".