Senior Daphne Cockerham and sophomore Nevaeh Payne will be bringing Big Red spirit to the Wood County Social Studies Fair on Feb. 8. Cockerham will present her project, “The Iroquois Theater Fire” in the American History category. In the Psychology category, Payne will present her project, “How Has Mental Health Changed?” The pair qualified for the county fair after competing in the school fair Jan. 27.
“My dream career for now is to be a psychiatrist, so I have to know a lot about mental health and how things have changed,” Payne said.
In preparation for the county fair this weekend, Payne planned to spend this week improving her display. To do so, she had to make time in her busy schedule after school of doing homework, watching her siblings and more.
“I had to do it (work on the project) over the weekend and watch the kids, and it was hard to do all that together,” Payne said. “This week, I have specialized time at home just to work on this project.”
Cockerham already knows a lot about the deadly 1903 Iroquois theater fire that caused 602 casualties, influencing fire-related safety requirements in the present. She even won a state title at the 2024 WV Thespian Festival for a play she wrote on it. However, she knows she still must make improvements on her presentation to meet her goal of placing at the state social studies fair in April.
“I need to cut down on my speech a little more and I need to add some things to my board, but other than that, I’m really excited because, again, I know so much about it and I’m just excited to share,” Cockerham said.