Program director Roger Boye quiets the entire journalism cherub group at the National High School Institute. He is going to tell a story about a painting called "American Gothic" before a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.

The painting features a cottage with plants on the front porch. Boye has taken a tour of the cottage, which is in Eldon, Iowa. And he has studied the painting carefully.

By his observation, the houseplant on the porch is a beefsteak begonia, not a geranium as the plaque next to the painting claims.

His reasoning: geraniums bloom in the summer, evident because flowers appear, whereas beefsteak begonias bloom in the winter months. But clearly in the painting, it is summer and no flowers are apparent. One could reason the rest.

Boye, who always managed to elicit a chuckle or two out of every cherub, brought a real beefsteak begonia into the auditorium to ensure his witnesses could make a forgone conclusion, and hopefully, a connection.

Jeff Cattel, of Boston, said Boye's story made him want to see the original painting and to determine if Boye’s observation was accurate.

According to Cattel, it was.

“I was really impressed he put so much thought and time and effort into the whole thing,” he said. “Whatever he is involved in he is so intense about it.”

Mike Schneider, of Westport, Conn., looked specifically at the flower on the painting during his visit to the Art Institute, but only for a brief time.

“After his half-hour lecture, I agreed with him,” Schneider said. “I think his efforts should be rewarded with money and pride.”