Student boldly goes with makeshift 'Star Trek' set

Senior Thomas McNiece has taken over the entire classroom to build a full-scale model of the bridge of the USS Enterprise. (For you purists out there, he's a 17-year-old working with the constraints of time, space and money. So for you, let's pretend it's the bridge of a sister ship in Starfleet. The rest of you, just play along.)

Every year, McNiece unveils some creative masterpiece at the school.

One year, it was a human-sized sphinx, made of cardboard and fitted with trapdoors that would dispense candy if observers correctly answered riddles. Another year, it was a set-sized saloon, equipped with a cardboard piano, counter and grandfather clock.

But for his last year on campus, the lanky student who comfortably peppers sentences with words like "utopia" and "rectified" and "spawned," wanted to go out with something big.

Because he's a fan of "Star Trek," and because he's considering a career in set design, it seemed a natural fit for his senior project requirement.

He used computer graphics to produce a blueprint of the room, used math skills to work out the dimensions, wired the display for flashing lights and produced video footage to go along with a performance about a diplomatic mission gone awry - which will hint at redemption and forgiveness.

Until Friday, when the big reveal took place at the school's annual Halloween party, the room had been kept under strict lockdown.

McNiece built many of the components at home and transported them to school in the quiet hours.

Of course, that aura of secrecy - and the scratching sound of duct tape coming through the walls - could force even an innocent into espionage. It proved too much for second-grader Alex Leal, who was the first, and so far only, security breach.

``I just wanted to see it,'' said Alex, who didn't seem the least remorseful, but who nevertheless pledged to resist dishing on the project.

A case, if there ever was one, for the Vulcan mind meld and the utterance of the word ``forget.''

McNiece's father, Gerald, who runs a marketing and distribution business, says he isn't that handy himself and isn't quite sure where his son picked up his talents, which he first noticed when Thomas was 5.

His son couldn't buy a model fighter jet, like one of his friends had, so he built one, right down to the cockpit and dead-on dimensions, out of cardboard and tape.

``He amazes me constantly,'' Gerald said. ``He just has this ability to create things to scale, with some built-in engineering skills.''

Like any proud parent, Gerald can produce the model, which he keeps in a safe place. And his home still houses the head of the sphinx and various pieces of other projects that have survived the ravages of time.

But what he's going to do with 400 square feet of foam board and masonite is something he's still working out.

``Maybe I'll just put an addition onto the house,'' he joked.