APPLE PROJECT TEACHES REAL-LIFE LESSONS

More than 200 eighth-graders in schools at Perryville are engaged in a educational undertaking for young teens: They hope to make the apple the official fruit of Missouri.

The eighth-grade social studies classes at Perryville Middle School, St. Vincent Junior-Senior High School and Immanuel Lutheran School initiated the project. The students mailed petitions to apple growers across the state last fall and circulated petitions at local businesses. They collected more than 1,300 signatures from people in support of designating the apple the state fruit. They got state Rep. Patrick Naeger, R-Perryville, to sponsor a bill in the Missouri House.

Then, six of the eighth-graders, two from each school, testified in support of the bill at a hearing at the State Capitol before the House Tourism and Cultural Affairs Committee.

Tom Rowland, a social studies teacher at Perryville Middle School, got the idea for the campaign from a student, who asked him why Missouri doesn't have an official fruit.

That little question brought about the big effort and could lead to the apple's actually becoming the state fruit. Regardless of the campaign's success, when all is said and done the undertaking will prove to be an eye-opening experience for these youngsters in how the legislative process works and a real-life lesson in social studies.