Canton Sixth Graders Perform Dust Bowl Dramatization

(NEW: The Canton students won third place in the Junior Group Performance category out of 84 entries from all over the world in the National History Day Program, held June 10-14, 2012! )

At the monthly meeting of the Conservation Commission on June 5, 2012, three sixth-grade students from Canton Elementary School performed a dramatization representing the cause and effects of the Dust Bowl. The performance, “Six Million Tons: Earth’s Revolt that Inspired Reform,” outlined the events that led to the creation of the Dust Bowl and the beginning of the conservation movement that lead to the area’s recovery.

The students were Hanna Hood as “the Earth,” Brock Hutchison as “a Farmer,” and Donovan Rogers as “Hugh Hammond Bennett, father of soil conservation.” They were accompanied by  Dora Fuqua, history teacher; Penny Heath, history day coordinator; and Tina Rogers, science teacher. Tina Rogers is also the mother of Donovan Rogers and was named as Outstanding Conservation Educator for Congressional District III during Conservation Day at the Capitol in 2010.

The group of students began their research in October 2011and has thus far accumulated a 21-page list of annotated bibliographies. They performed the dramatization at district and state levels in the National History Day program and were named State Champion for a Junior Group Performance. They also performed at the Oklahoma History Center during an event in which producers Ken Burns and David Duncan screened segments of their new documentary “The Dust Bowl” to be debuted in November on OETA television and other PBS stations across the nation. The students are headed to the University of Maryland to compete in the National History Day contest the week of June 11, 2012. OETA  is scheduled to film the performance for inclusion in the “The Dust Bowl” DVD set.