Teaching students that social studies is more than just ancient history. That was just one of the goals of the social studies fair at Ironton High School Tuesday.

About 109 students from grades nine through 12 presented projects on topics ranging from local historical figures like Nannie Kelley Wright to human experimentation and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

“It’s very exciting for us when this happens,” teacher Tim Thomas said. He added that the student usually start off dreading the project. Often times though, they get exited about it before it’s over, he said.

Thomas said he hopes working on the projects helped students value the social sciences.

“I hope they take away (that there is) a wide range of social sciences and they affect us in every day life. It’s not just ancient history.”

The students were required to find a topic, research it and be able to talk about it to the fair’s judges, who included past teachers as well as members of the community and teachers from other districts.

Tenth grader Madison Jackson studied the question, “What if Shakespeare had never learned to write?”

“I really love the work of Shakespeare,” Jackson said. “People don’t realize the importance he had.”

Shakespeare contributed words and expression to the English language. His stories are the plotlines for countless movies and books as well, she said.

‘I think it’s interesting that one man has influenced our culture that much even though it’s been 500 years,” Jackson said.

Sophomore Jordan McMaster’s project was about the Panama Canal.

“I learned a lot,” McMaster said. “It’s extremely important. A boat traveling from New York to San Francisco saves 7,500 miles. I thought that was pretty cool.”