By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Joann Verville Long of Delhi Township (left) reads the book written by eighth-grader Tony Gourley, 14, (right) on his family's life. Her family and his are long-time neighbors. The two took part in Rapid Run Middle School's "Celebration of the Generations." The Cincinnati Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

Doug Luebbe was surprised that his grandma sometimes got into trouble when she was a kid. Tabitha Morgan learned the Welsh words of her family motto held a special significance for her. And Leah Hulgin discovered her grandfather had the real scoop about a famous evangelist.

With a little digging into the past, the 200 eighth-graders at Rapid Run Middle School unearthed untold and surprising information about their families.

Students invited their parents and grandparents to school Thursday for a "Celebration of the Generations," the culmination of a study unit to learn about family history. On display were family timelines, photos, coats-of-arms, family stories and original poems. Students also brought their favorite homemade family food and gave away samples.

The Generations project was designed to help students learn who they are, where they came from and where they're headed, said Mary Beth Borcherding, language arts teacher. During the project, students heard sad stories and love stories that were tucked away in their family history.

"It made them so proud of their families," Borcherding said. "Today is just a celebration of how proud they are of their families."

Doug Luebbe's mom, Diane Luebbe, and his grandma, 83-year-old Evelyn Kluesener of Covedale, both visited the exhibit. The 14-year-old's mom was impressed by the project.

"He interviewed his grandma for the Generations project," she said. "I've never seen him laugh as much. ... I guess he never thought about his grandmother being in trouble as a younger person."

The unit was interdisciplinary, meaning the eighth-graders worked on it in language arts, social studies, math and science classes. They learned about their heritage by researching when their families arrived in this country, found the meaning of their names and created a family timeline.

Tabitha Morgan found the words to her family motto: "Heb Dduw, Heb Ddim, A duw a Digon." She found the translation: "Without God, without anything, God is enough."

"This is like me," the 15-year-old girl said. "I had just accepted God into my life. "I'm going to start family traditions, because we don't have a lot of them."

Leah Hulgin, 13, learned a little nugget about Aimee Semple McPherson, a 1920s and 1930s evangelist. It so happened her grandpa and his brothers were visiting a California beach when they saw McPherson row a boat into the ocean and witnessed her swimming to shore. She then went around proclaiming that the Lord had brought her back from the ocean - but neglected to share the details.

"To this day," Leah wrote in her family story, "William, Jack and Francis Warnock are the only people who know the truth about Aimee Semple McPherson."

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com