Tinker: Teenage T-Rex to Debut at Hall County Middle School

The DaVinci Academy (DVA) at South Hall Middle School in Oakwood, Georgia will have the honor of hosting the first public appearance of Tinker, a teenage T-Rex, when the "Footprints in Time" exhibit opens on October 20th. Tinker, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, was found in the Hell's Creek formation of western South Dakota. The 70 million year old juvenile T-Rex was about 2/3 the size of an adult but only 1/4 of an adult's weight. Tinker's skeleton is 70% complete, making it one of the most complete T-Rex skeletons ever recovered.

Tinker was discovered in 1998 and is owned by Ron Frithiof, an Austin, Texas real-estate developer turned dinosaur prospector. Mr. Frithiof and fellow excavators spent many hot summers in South Dakota, painstakingly unearthing the dinosaur. Tinker's name comes from Frithiof's nickname. "I don't know why my parents started calling me Tinker," says Frithiof. "Somehow, it stuck."

The unique learning environment at DVA inspired 8th graders Ethan Price and Jacob Frier to seek permission from Cindy White, DVA's student museum director, to set up an area of the school for a natural history exhibit that would feature fossils.  Ethan and Jacob were soon joined by 7th graders Grant Key, Hayden Shedd, and Christopher Spradlin on the project. The student team also hoped to have help from DVA's visiting paleontology educator, Dr. Steve Nicklas, a professor at Gainesville State College. When Dr. Nicklas announced that he could arrange for a T-Rex to be part of the exhibit, the project took off. The DVA museum class and 6th grade students have worked very hard along with parent volunteers to help create the "Footprints in Time" exhibit which also includes Ice Age Mammoth bones and other fossils.  The original five students are now known as, "The Tinker Team."  "When we first came up with the idea to have a room for a fossil and a dinosaur exhibit, I never dreamed we'd be including a T-Rex!" Ethan Price continued, "This is an exciting experience that only a school like DaVinci could offer."

Dr. Nicklas is a Professor of Anthropology and Archeology at Gainesville State College, located minutes away from The DaVinci Academy. He is also a dinosaur paleontologist and professional fossil hunter. He donates his time at DVA introducing  paleontology to interested students. His relationship with the DaVinci Academy began when he needed space to house a fossil lab and offered teaching time in exchange. Both Paula Stubbs, DVA principal, and Cindy White, Student Museum Director, did not hesitate to accept. "I am able to bring this opportunity to DaVinci Academy, because Hall County Schools had the insight to see the value of offering unused space for the benefit of their students, " stated Dr. Nicklas.

"Support for the Tinker exhibit has been amazing. Parent volunteers have helped find sponsors to cover the cost of creating the Tinker Team's vision for the exhibit," stated Ms. White ." We can't say enough about the generosity of Mr. Frithiof and Dr. Nicklas, who continues to donate his time inspiring a new generation of potential paleontologists."

The DaVinci Academy is a public middle school program of choice that uses student interest in the arts, sciences and technology as the foundation for advanced learning. Selected students in grades six through eight work closely with creative teachers who guide and inspire students to explore and discover subjects of interest beyond the directed curriculum. That learning process is supported by a "Museum of Inspired Learning," where students research, design, and develop museum exhibits. Students then share their findings with visiting students when they serve as museum docents. Over 2000 students have visited since DVA opened two years ago.

"Footprints in Time" with Tinker will open October 20th, the same day as the DVA 8th grade students introduce their museum project entitled "Elements of Change."  The 8th grade museum will feature exhibits on chemistry magic, acid rain, Stone Mountain, altered art, American Indians, food chemistry, turtle growth, octopus color change and MUCH more.

Tinker will be displayed in a 30 by 8 foot Hell’s Creek dig site setting created by Gainesville State students. Because it takes years to place dinosaur bones onto a steel frame, visitors will see Tinker placed as if he were in an actual dig site. Hall County students and interested public visitors will see Tinker clearly through a wall of Plexiglas. Tinker is expected to be a guest at DaVinci Academy for the entire school year.

Only about 30 Tyrannosaurus rex fossils have been found, mostly in the western part of the United States. None of these fossils are complete, so no one knows exactly how many bones a T-Rex had, but estimates are about 200 bones, roughly the same number as found in human beings.

The most famous T-Rex, Sue, is a huge and almost complete T-Rex fossil that was found by Susan Hendrickson near Faith, South Dakota, in August 1990. The Field Museum in Chicago has T-Rex Sue on permanent exhibit.