Award Winning Mission Comes from Barnard Elementary

Ashlee Alaoan, fourth grader in Ms. Cornell’s class at Barnard Mandarin Chinese Magnet School, has received the top prize from the San Diego History Center's Fourth Grade Mission Construction Contest.

Ashlee’s construction consisted of plastic foam blocks, cat litter, string, cardboard and painted toothpicks. She modeled the Mission Santa Barbara.

The contest is designed to help students understand San Diego's Spanish colonial period; California history is the fourth grade social studies curriculum. The mission projects give students a concrete understanding of the early settlement of California and the impact these missions had on the Native people, land and culture.

The San Diego History Center collaborated with San Diego Unified School District for this first annual event.

Ashlee's mission and five other winners will be displayed at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park and at the Junipero Serra Museum in Presidio Park. For more information on the contest go to http://www.sandiegohistory.org/missioncontest