By Maggie Downs
The Cincinnati Enquirer

While the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center continues construction for a summer 2004 opening, its learning center is already expanding - on the Internet.

The center's Web site recently added more educational material to serve children. And one class of students will walk away $500 richer for entering an educational contest that was unveiled online this week.

THE CONTEST

Rules: Design a monument to honor the Underground Railroad. The class that submits the best design package (as described by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in "Monument to the Underground Railroad") wins $500. Open to: grades 5-8. Deadline: May 1. Winner announced: May 15. Judges: Staff of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. To enter: Go to Web site, click on "students."

The Web site "helps us to have that national scope," said Karen Regina, manager of education for the center. "When we were looking at curriculum options, we were looking for things that people across the country could use."

Enter FreedomQuest, a learning tool unique to the Freedom Center.

The center has been creating WebQuest units (in this case called FreedomQuest, a takeoff of the center's name), which are programs that include lesson plans, lessons and follow-up student tasks.

The first FreedomQuest, "Endangered Traditions," launched in February 2002, teaches children about the Gullah people, a community of African-Americans in the Lowlands and Sea Island areas of South Carolina.

Such lessons are intended to supplement a school's regular curriculum.

The center officially unveiled its second FreedomQuest on Monday, "Monument to the Underground Railroad." Where "Endangered Traditions" targeted high school students, this curriculum takes fifth- through eighth-graders through a lesson on the importance of monuments and how those symbols reflect a culture.

Part of the lesson includes a task where students can design and plan their own monuments, which would reflect the heritage of the Underground Railroad. To access the lesson, go online at Web site.

That lesson comes with an added bonus.

School groups are invited to submit design packages, including things such as a drawing of the monument, text of the inscription and a dedication speech. The best entry will receive a $500 cash prize, donated by KnowledgeWorks, a Cincinnati-based foundation that funds educational projects.

KnowledgeWorks has also supplied the center with a grant to develop FreedomQuests in the future.

"The idea being that these WebQuests help students think about what they're learning," Ms. Regina said. "They not only learn, but they do something with that knowledge."

E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com