The Arkitects

The rains were light in Northern California when the creative writing class of Willits High School selected its group project. Nevertheless, it decided to re-create Noah's ark complete with animals. The students exercised their writing abilities in letters soliciting help for the project. (All were signed Noah Lamechson, Noah being, of course, the son of Lamech.) Eventually they put together a 21-page booklet recounting their experiences. Entitled You Can't Build an Ark in Mendocino County, it shows that the class learned at least one lesson: if Noah were around today, chances are he would drown in red tape.

Among the students' frustrations:

> The Bank of America refused "Mr. Lamechson" a $500,000 loan to build the boat and acquire the necessary animals, saying that "there does not appear to be enough of one kind of animal to provide an economic unit."

> The post office informed Lamechson that he could not legally ship any animals except baby chickens.

> Several trucking companies refused to move elephants--even a firm that advertised, "No job too big for us."

Despite the setbacks, the students have not given up. Going by the biblical statement that the flood began "in the second month, the seventeenth day," the class at Willits High still has about three months to prove that you can build an ark in Mendocino County.

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