Celebrating Local Students’ Yellowstone Exhibits

Each year the Buffalo Bill Center of the West partners with 5^th grade teachers and students from Westside Elementary in Powell, WY. This past May, students visited the Center on a field trip to learn about the geology and biodiversity of Yellowstone National Park. Then a couple weeks later they headed into Yellowstone for a multi day excursion. Much of their work in school leading up to these experiences was in preparation for students to spend the end of the school year designing and creating exhibits and videos about Yellowstone National Park. Their teachers then chose finalists from these two categories based on a rubric or set of guidelines students were asked to follow.

This year’s finalists created amazing projects! Megan Smith and Corey Anco represented the Center in choosing the winners. Korbyn Warren created the 3-D exhibit about the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and Ethan Frame designed an exhibit about Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. Both students approached the design and storytelling of their subject matter differently, yet the culminating projects are phenomenal. These two exhibits are now installed in the Seasons of Discovery gallery at the Center’s Draper Natural History Museum. In addition to these two exhibits, Megan and Corey, also chose a digital presentation that highlights the hot springs of Yellowstone. It was written, acted, and directed by Melissa Merritt and Bree Dutson.