I spent today at the Peterborough Regional Science Fair hosted at Trent University. There were over 300 students from across the region from 2 different school boards and a number of private schools. I was impressed by the repesentation from the private school sector and that motivates me to continue to support project based learning in science in our board, but that’s a post for another time.
The students were just phenomenal. I was so impressed it’s just silly. There were kindergarten kids there with really cool projects and the ability to explain them and talk to anyone who wandered by. The majority of the projects were from students in the 4-8 grade range, and the quality was really good. I’ve never attended a full on fair like that, and every room I went into was filled with energy and excitement and kids who wanted to show you what they knew about their projects and topics. It was so great to be a part of.
To top it off, the top prize in the Fair was awarded to 2 students from the school that I’d been working at up to this year, when I switched roles. They were so pumped to win, and I was so pumped to see them pumped. Kids don’t get excited about academics very often it seems, and this was one of the best moments I’ve experienced as a teacher. And I don’t even teach them right now! I’ve only been out of the school for less than a year, so it’s still near and dear to me. I still consider them ‘my kids’ and ‘my science department’. I like it that way.
So these students along with 3 others get a trip to Winnipeg in May to compete in the 2009 Canada Wide Science Fair. I wish them all the best! I also hope that all the competitors continue to be excited about science and learning as they were today.
PRSF2009
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