Blair Fair attracts many

Blair's sixth annual Blair Fair began promptly on April 16 at 5:00 p.m. and lasted well into the evening. The Fair attracted students, staff, families and friends to take part in the activities featured along the school's main hallway.

Blair's jazz band and chorus performed selections throughout the evening and kept attendees entertained with background music as they explored the many showcases of the event.

Academic displays seemed to dominate the night's exhibits, with information presented on topics ranging from details of Blair's foreign language department to Blair's different academies. Student-made, water-operated hand robots from Technology Education were on display as well as student-made cardboard chairs, all of which were comfortable and allowed people to sit down, relax and view episodes of BNC shows like Double Overtime or watch scenes from past Blair theater productions.

Child Development softened the crowd by way of a video of students working and playing with the young children. The English department focused on student projects as well and displayed several books that students have read, such as A Lesson Before Dying, The Scarlet Letter, Malcolm X and a few plays by Shakespeare.

The Chemistry exhibits greatly appealed to the audience with fascinating experiments. Science teachers such as Dr. Rock demonstrated the interesting properties of liquid nitrate, also known as dry ice. Rock showed and allowed volunteers to eat half a cookie dipped in this chemical and observe the effects of their mastication. To everyone's amusement, biting into the cookie and chewing rapidly caused smoke to billow from the person's mouth and nostrils.

The Horticulture section had a similar effect on viewers. In one display, two two-liter bottles were attached to each other, one on top of the other with the bottom one filled with water. The liquid had an hourglass effect when flipped over and caused the water to rapidly stream out from the top to the bottom container, creating an almost tornado-like effect.

Other demonstrations included the marvels of (pink) magic sand, which never gets wet because of its chemical properties, and a love meter, an instrument that shows how much heat a person possesses.

Blair academies set up exhibits and presented the public with information on what the programs have to offer. Available literature about the Entrepreneurship Academy stated that students will learn the basics of entrepreneurship and will participate in activities such as a Business Plan Competition, Future Business Leaders of America, In-School Business and an Off-Campus Internship. The Human Service Professions Academy (HSP) offers courses on education and social services, public safety and law and human performance. The HSP exhibit provided posters entitled "ligaments of the joints" and "hip and knee."

Art exhibits were also on display throughout Blair Blvd. "Blair Blazes," the table featuring Blair's music department, had a CD sign-up sheet and information on Blair's band and orchestra patrons. The group attracted attendees by displaying photos of the students and staff from past performances.

Blair Fair kept people refreshed by serving free hot dogs, potato chips, lollipops and lemonade. People were also able to win prizes by spinning the WB prize wheel. Prizes included "Fresh from the Frog" hats, key rings, posters, T-shirts, CDs, lanyards, magnets, sweats and pens. Inside the display wall, a flat-screen TV played an episode of the WB's Steve Harvey's Big Time.