“Suzie, it’s time to get up for school. We need to bring your volcano project to Miss Chess,” my mother said in 1972.

At 10 years old, I jumped out of bed with so much enthusiasm.  I couldn’t wait to bring my project to school. I had worked on it for weeks. It was a huge clay volcano made out of mesh wiring, coloured clay, tubing, glue, newspaper print and paint, all built up on a square 2×2 piece of plywood.

Here’s the thing: the volcano worked too, as I placed baking soda into a tube which was secured inside the center of the volcano. I couldn’t wait for my time to present the project.