MATHIS STUDENTS WIN NAMING CONTEST FOR PREHISTORIC ELEPHANT EXHIBIT AT CONNER MUSEUM

(KINGSVILLE, April 4, 1996) -- Sticks and stones may break bones . . . but, Romelia Leal's fifth grade class of Mathis Intermediate School found that naming a prehistoric elephant can win contests. Members of her fifth grade class were officially recognized as winners of the name-the-mammoth contest with tee shirts that read "I named Mickey Mammoth" at the Bare Bones Fundraiser held by the John E. Conner Museum at Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Friday, March 29. "Mickey Mammoth" is the winning name for the mammoth skeleton which will be the focal point of an exhibit entitled "When Elephants Roamed South Texas" which is slated for opening next year.

The evening's Fundraiser kicked off an effort to raise $80,000 for research, preservation and preparation of the prehistoric elephant exhibit which is projected to open in 1997 at the A&M-Kingsville Conner Museum.

"The exhibit will explain what the animals and flora of South Texas were like ten thousand years ago," said Museum Educator Brian Volkmer. "The naming contest created awareness for the exhibit and involved our area's children in its creation process." The students submitted stories, poems and other narrative explaining their contest name choices, with entries being reviewed by a panel of judges who included representatives from A&M-Kingsville, the Kingsville Record, KRIS TV, KZTV TV, KIII TV, and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Entries were received from Yeager Elementary and Travis Elementary in Corpus Christi, Mathis Intermediate and McGraw Junior High located in Mathis, and Kleberg Elementary and Santa Gertrudis School in Kingsville. All of the participating schools will receive posters and educational booklets when the exhibit opens in 1997.

Finalists in the naming competition submitted the following name suggestions:

"Nosey the Mammoth" submitted by the first grade class of teacher Sandra Morales, C.P. Yeager Elementary, Corpus Christi; "Patty Longtusk" submitted by the second grade class of teacher Ann Flanagan, C.P. Yeager Elementary, Corpus Christi; "Molly the Mammoth" submitted by the third grade class of teacher Marcy Carreon, C.P. Yeager Elementary, Corpus Christi; "Earth Shaker" submitted by the fourth grade class of teacher Marta Torres, Kleberg Elementary, Kingsville; "Wooly Bully" submitted by the fifth grade class of teacher Linda Wietjes, Mathis Intermediate School, Mathis; "Mandy" submitted by the sixth grade class of teacher Mrs. Buegeler, Mathis Intermediate School, Mathis; and, "Stoney Nason" submitted by the seventh grade class of Holly Winburn, McGraw Junior High School, Mathis. The winning Mathis class members are Jason Albanese, Kimberly Baker, Blake Benbow, Steven Cardona, Tanya Cardona, Colin Chopelas, Jennifer Davis, Jackie DeLeon, Chris Dominguez, David Dominguez, Manuel Garcia, Buddy Garcia, Nieves Gonzalez, Leslie Gutierrez, Omar Jay Gutierrez, Amy Holdiness, Rosita Huerta, Rey Medrano, Omar Moreno, Julie Nava, Melinda Olivarez, Amanda Urdialiez, and Meagan Wyman.

The first fossil of a Columbia mammoth was discovered in Nueces County by A&M-Kingsville paleontologist Dr. Jon Baskin and Ronny Thomas in October of 1994. A more recent discovery this past February of a skull, cheekbone and tusk of a mastodon was discovered approximately 50 yards from the earlier 1994 excavation site. These discoveries expand the scientific knowledge about the animal life which roamed South Texas at the end of the Pleistocene era, some 10,000 years ago.

-TAMUK

--Mary Daniel