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Today we did something we’ve never done before. From last October, we have been challenging the kids in our science classes (7th-9th = Junior Division / 10th – 12th = Senior Division) to use their creativity in displaying their very best scientific work for a project of their own choosing in our very first ever Windermere High School Science Fair.
I wish I could say that they worked tirelessly for months in perfecting their projects and impressing their teacher with their investment and hard work, but as is the case with many youth today, procrastinating and laziness meant that over half the projects were sloppily thrown together at the last minute.
That is not to say that we didn’t have a few examples of actual sparks of ingenuity. A sample of the contenders who brought well researched projects include a solar car, two studies on human behavior and performance, a recycling program, and other booths ascribing a practical application from physics and biology for the average Bahamian.
Although I did give us 6 months of preparation for this Fair it was still a challenge to set it up. After all we’ve never done anything like this before. I invited members from the community, and parents, and even the local officers from the Ministry of Education and Eleuthera’s District Superintended over all the schools. And in fact she did come, and made a point to interact with each child, challenging them to work beyond their existing display and into their personal motivation for what they learned through the project.
We did make this Fair worth the children’t efforts with a host of trophies for our two divisions: Junior and Senior. Along with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place we have participation badges and 6 Honorable Mention trophies. However, the Grand Prize is a 3ft trophy for “Best of Show.” We will be awarding the children the week they get back from Easter Break.
Overall, I think our first ever Science Fair went quite well. Dr. Dona Banks was the science teacher for the Junior Division, and she and I were pleased with the turnout and with the overall quality of the children’s work. There is always room for improvement, and “if” we decide to do this fair again we will have learned a lot for what we can do for making it even better next time.