As 25 judges moved from one display to another with clipboards in hand, students jumped to attention and got serious, clearly articulating their projects to the judges at Thursday’s annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fair.
Around 200 students from almost all St. Croix public schools K-12 were being judged Thursday on some remarkable displays set up at the lower level of Sunshine Mall.
The projects in the fair, which has been in existence for more than 20 years, were judged and given points on creativity, hypothesis, material used, explanation of procedures, results and conclusion.
Project categories ranged from science, environmental science and engineering to mathematics and even game board projects.
Ricardo Richards Elementary School sixth-grader Esaias Charles demonstrated his project, entitled “Blocking Flood Waters With Sand Bags,” for Judge Rosa White, who’s also the St. Croix District science coordinator.
He spoke very deliberately to White how he and his mother came up with the idea for better filler for sandbags. He poured water down a wooden trough he built with small sandbags filled with different materials at the end. He proved to her that the ones filled with potting soil held back the most water.
“I listen to the news and hear about so much flooding here,” Charles said. “This is what could be done to block the water.”
Department of Education Math Coordinator Juanita Boneque, also a STEM judge, said the fair brings out the creativity in the students.
“I hope these students eventually patent their projects, Boneque said. “There are a lot of good projects here that should be looked at by local businesses and officials.
Tichele Santos, another sixth-grader at Ricardo Richards, wants to be a forensic scientist when she gets older, so her project was on hot and cold fingerprinting. She said she enjoyed getting into the project and getting information from books and putting the project together.
Also at the fair were displays of little solar water heaters, a model solar car, one on tooth decay, making chalk, and even one on powering a flashlight with dead batteries, to name just a few projects.
“Everybody here today is a winner,” White said. She said they had a lot of good environmental projects this year, such as the solar projects. Organizers said there was a lot of parental and community support and involvement.
Around 100 winners, a sizeable number because of all the categories, will go to the Mathematics and Environmental Science Academy in June held for six weeks at St Croix Educational Complex.
The students’ projects and displays will be open for public viewing Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
