The Students Steal the Spotlight
Kennewick’s youth outshine the annual Grape Carnival with a massive industrial fair of their own, proving their mettle in cooking, agriculture, and craftsmanship.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Sixth Annual Boys’ and Girls’ Industrial Fair of the Kennewick schools, held Thursday and Friday, was not only a great success, but to many people, a pleasant surprise. In former years the school fair has been rather swallowed up as a result of the Grape Carnival and it was not until this year that the real significance and uniform excellence of the exhibits were truly appreciated. Every available foot of floor and wall space in the Commercial Club rooms was utilized to display the work in educational, art, domestic science and manual training departments, while the Annis building across the street was filled with fruits and vegetables. The pig club's results were rowed in pens along Second Street. Honors went to Gladys Motter for cooking, canning, and needlework, and to Russell Lawson for his large industrial display. The pig-raising students were also highlights, with Marion Crutchfield showcasing a porker that grew from 38 pounds in May to 255 pounds by September.
“The unanimous verdict of the many visitors seemed to be that every exhibit... not only reflected credit alike upon teachers and pupils but evidenced the general high standard of modern education.”
Long before Kennewick’s modern industrial and agricultural curriculum, students were treated as serious economic contributors. This 'Industrial Fair' reflects a time when children were expected to master the land and trade skills early, a precursor to today's CTE programs that still aim to bridge the gap between classroom and economy.
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