Ella Dumas

My name is Ella Dumas. I am in the 6th grade at Grapevine Faith Christian School in Grapevine, Texas. I love music and play the piano for our school Chapel Band. I love trying new sports and playing all types of games. This past year at Faith, I was on the basketball team and swim team. My favorite sport is volleyball, and I have been playing competitive club volleyball for 4 years. I have also enjoyed STEM activities, and in 5th grade I competed with my middle school robotics club. My friends and I have enjoyed going to local escape rooms and I loved having to solve the problems and clues. Last year we did online escape rooms for class and it was always super fun and a great way to learn. For this project, I thought I could create something people could play that was fun and enjoyable that could help them learn. When making the Constitution Escape Room, I was able to learn about coding to make the game work as I wanted. I hope people enjoy playing the game and learning more about the Constitution!

Click here to visit Ella’s escape room!

Our Interview With Ella

Was this the first time you entered the contest?
Yes.

How did you hear about the contest?
We entered in science class for a grade.

What inspired your work?
I wanted to make something no one has done before. And having ADD, I know it is hard to stay focused on something unless it is fun or interactive. I immediately knew I was going to work online so it came down to what am I going to do? At first, I wanted to try to make a VR like game but I didn’t have the resources to do it so I thought of the next best thing, an escape room. We did escape rooms last year for school all of the time and I really enjoyed it. I also had been doing a lot of real escape rooms. So, once I thought of that I stuck to it and it paid off!

What did you learn while creating your entry?
Technology is not as easy as it seems.

How do you plan to spread the word this year to your peers about the importance of the U.S Constitution?
Right now, especially, our government is much more important than they and I myself would have realized. Think about it, if we didn’t have our constitution or people who stood up for us to be a democracy we could be in the same spot as the Russians, in communism. I think giving people the “what would’ve happened” point of view really helps them think about it.

How do your friends respond to history or talking about the Constitution?
We have long conversations. At first, it’s confusing but then it gets more interesting the more you understand it.

What do you love about U.S. History and the forming of our government?
It is so interesting. It’s like what makes an interesting book, it’s hard to explain but it is like you want to keep reading.

Which U.S. historical site would you like to visit?
I would want to see the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu because I love WW2. I love reading the books about it and talking about it and this site is what brought us into the war. I would LOVE to see it one day.

Which American historical figure is most influential/inspirational to you?
Martin Luther King Jr.

Who is your greatest role model?
My mom and dad.

What in your life are you most passionate about?
Sports and School.

How do you spend your free time?
Hanging out with my family/friends and playing volleyball.

What are your plans for the future?
To graduate school. Until then I will focus on the other things like volleyball and school and hanging out with my friends. YOLO so I’m going to live now and leave my future for then.

If you could do one super impactful thing to help people, what would it be?
If I could do one super impactful thing, I would cure cancer. There is a long story to that, but that is what I would do.

Why is the Constitution relevant today?
It forms our basic rights as people to live by. Without them we could have little to no freedom and terrible lives.

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