GET THE LEAD OUT!

Found in a rainbow of colors, a variety of sizes, sometimes disguised as a pen, shaped like a heart, sometimes scented, it's the mainstay of writing instruments -- the pencil.

Sixth-graders at Alma Schrader Elementary School say the pencil is the writing tool of choice.

The youngsters are right. The World Book Encyclopedia says the pencil is the most widely used writing and drawing tool in the world. More than 10 billion pencils are produced each year throughout the world. The United States leads the world, producing almost 2 billion pencils yearly.

And the traditional Number 2 yellow pencil is the most common pencil used today. However, the youngsters in Mary LeGrand's sixth-grade prefer mechanical pencils. With a metal or plastic case, mechanical pencils need no sharpening. The lead is forced out by twisting or other mechanical means.

Younger students often aren't allowed to use mechanical pencils because they are prone to play with the mechanics rather than do their work.

Pencils write words, numbers, music and poetry and draw pictures. Special pencils are made to write underwater. Others are used by physicians to mark their patients' skin before surgery. Astronauts use pencils in space because pencils are unaffected by gravity.

The earliest pencils date back to ancient Greeks and Romans who used flat cakes of lead to make black lines on papyrus. The marking ability of graphite was discovered in the 1500s. The first modern pencil, one with a wood case glued around a stick of graphite, was made in the late 1700s. The first mechanical pencil was patented in 1879.

"I like mechanical pencils. They help me write better," said sixth-grader Kelley Green. Green keeps five pencils in her desk, but uses the mechanical one most often.

The sixth graders are allowed to use erasable pens, but most opt not to. The ink doesn't erase as well as pencils, leading to messy papers.

Rebecca Beiser said the mechanical pencils offer more control. "The other pencils come out too heavy with big black marks," she said.

Once Rebecca had a rubber pencil. "It could stretch all over," she said.

Collin Giles said the erasers attached to pencils never last long enough. "I always use them up," he said. In fact, he said add-on eraser tips still don't last long enough. Sixth-graders make mistakes, he said.

Collin's pencil is decorated with cartoon characters. "I like the ones that are a little unusual," he said.

Amanda Short said mechanical pencils are especially handy when taking tests. "You don't have to get up to sharpen your pencil," she said, holding out one decorated with splattered paint. Amanda once had a pencil shaped like a heart and another that started out only an inch tall.

Amanda said another benefit of mechanical pencils is that they never irritate the edge of your finger like a wood pencil does.

The youngsters prefer colored pencils over crayons also. "Crayons leave all that little stuff all over the paper," Amanda said.

Colored pencils, popular in art and mapping classes, come in more than 70 different colors.

Latoya Chambers said using a mechanical pencil means she never has to write "with a little bitty stub."

"Once I had a black pencil with little yellow peace signs and smiley faces," Latoya said.

Keith Griffor saves his favorite mechanical pencil for special projects like reports, opting for a traditional pencil for all his routine classroom chores.

Pencils have a nasty habit of disappearing, the youngsters have discovered.

Amanda said, "I just bought me a whole new pack. I don't know where they are."

Latoya agreed. "I just bought five and I can't find them." She added that the little ledge built into their school desks will not keep pencils in line. Pencils roll away always to the back and bottom. At the end of the year, Latoya expects to discover a hidden store of pencils in her desk. But she can't find one now.

Rebecca said she often finds a stash of pencils in the bottom of her backpack. Kelley said, "Pencils always fall into little spaces and cracks."

Keith said sometimes pencils are stolen. "It makes me want to install a security system around the pencils or maybe put them in a safe so I don't lose them."