By Erika Anderson

Staff Writer

ATLANTA-Third-grader Bradley Mathews can tell you off the top of his head that it was Clifford M. Holland who designed the Holland Tunnel, an underwater tunnel built in 1927 through New York's Hudson River.

Without checking their notes, fourth-graders Emily Clarke and Emma Barton will tell you that in 1947 the Boulder Dam was renamed to honor President Herbert Hoover.

In discussions with family and friends, Teddy Williams, a sixth-grader, may recount the history of the Oreo cookie or the strides women made in the early 1900s to gain their right to vote.

These students are not alone at Christ the King School. Because of a school-wide, year-long millennium project, students are not only learning about history, they are living it.

In January 1998, curriculum director Joy Wood received information about a Georgia Independent School Association grant that would be offered to a school who designed a creative way to celebrate the millennium with its students. After brainstorming, Wood, vice-principal Tricia Ward and other faculty members created "From One Turn to Another."

Though the school did not win the grant, Wood decided to pursue the project anyway, believing the students would benefit from this unique educational experience.

"I thought it would be nice to have the entire school participate," she said. "It would also give us the chance to celebrate the millennium throughout the whole year."

It also gives them a chance to learn. Each grade is assigned a decade of the 1900s. The students must research the various highlights of that particular decade, including major events, influential people and inventions, and present their information to the rest of the school. The presentations to date, Wood said, have been highly creative.

"What we've had so far has just been incredible," she said. "Everyone has truly risen to the occasion and I couldn't be more pleased."

The eighth grade began working last spring on their decade-1900-1910. Recreating the Ellis Island immigration experience, eighth-graders dressed as tour guides and immigration officials, dressing the younger children as immigrants and giving them a passport. The younger students then had to go through all the checkpoints that immigrants had to go through in the early 1900s.

Eighth-grader Gil Boland, dressed as a Jewish tour guide complete with an authentic Jewish prayer shawl and yarmulke, said dealing with the younger students showed him "how hard it is to be a teacher." Gil also has a greater appreciation for his ancestors.

"It helped me realize how real it was and how frightened the immigrants were," he said. "Doing a live walk-through gave you more images than just reading about it."

Each month a different grade, in sequential order of years, presents their decade to the school. The faculty and staff will be the last to present their decade-the 90s.

The sixth grade was the second class to present its decade. With a giant replica of the New York Times as a backdrop, the sixth grade performed a "Ragtime"-style musical with car inventor Henry Ford as the narrator. Students broke into groups and presented mini-skits, recounting the history of major highlights, including the Coke bottle, the Oreo, the Titanic, the assembly line, World War I, the zipper and women's voting rights.

Teddy Williams, who was in the Oreo group, said that being in a skit made learning easier.

"When you work with a group it makes you remember because you are involved with learning," he said.

Third-grader Bradley Mathews played the role of Babe Ruth when he and fellow classmates presented the 1920s in a theater-in-the-round fashion. The presentation included inventions, sports, politics and entertainment.

"It was great," Wood said. "They educated themselves tremendously."

A baseball fan, Bradley was excited to take the role of one of his heroes.

"I never thought I'd play such a big character," he said. "When you're in a play, learning is more fun because you can show it to other people."

The next decade was presented by the fourth-grade, which designed a 1930s newspaper and delivered it to the various classes.

Emily Clarke and Emma Barton worked together to write and present a story about the Hoover Dam. Emily said they did "lots of research."

"It was fun because you had to imagine you were in the 30s," she said.

"It's all up to you to make the story," Emma said. "The teachers only helped a little."

The fifth-grade was scheduled to present its decade, the 1940s, on Feb. 4. Leslie Trammell, a fifth-grade student said that learning about the decade has brought her closer to her family, particularly her grandfather.

"I'm learning a lot about what my relatives went through," she said.

Leslie said that her grandfather has relived a lot of his World War II memories because of the project. He has taken out old pictures of friends, and Leslie and her family are working to publish letters that her grandfather wrote during the war.

"He has really enjoyed it," Leslie said. "He's told us a lot of amazing things."

Ginny Phillips, a fifth-grade teacher at CKS, said that many of her students are connecting with their families as a result of this project.

"I think they really are appreciating what this generation of people did for the world," she said. "This generation of children are so privileged and this helps them to really appreciate what their grandparents' generation went through."

Phillips said that her students are "having fun" learning in this way.

"It's a painless way to learn facts," she said.

The Parent-Volunteer Association has even gotten involved, putting together a "Dinners of the Decade" cookbook.

The project has truly become a school-wide undertaking, Wood said.

"What better way for us to celebrate the millennium," she said.