Thanks to Mrs. Twomey and Mrs. Crosby for spending a few days this summer participating in a program, sponsored by our very own Oakland A’s, the Science of Sports. They had a blast and came away with some cool gifts and some great lesson ideas. As a result of their participation, we had the opportunity to send a few students to a very special event.
Last Saturday, at FanFest an annual celebration honoring the best fans in the world, the Oakland A’s, partnered with Chevron, to host a science fair competition in Jack London Square. With 30,000 people in attendance, our students, Cole Pugsley (8th), Emmet Grout (8th) and Eva Abdul-Rahim (7th), represented Corpus Christi and came away big winners!
With their projects, our Comets had the chance to share their work with judges from Chevron and A’s pitcher, Ryan Buchter at the STEM showcase. Pugsley and Grout presented ‘Let it Grow’ a study of the effects of radiation on plants and Abdul Rahim brought her work titled, ‘Concentration or Distraction.’ Do you know whether fidget spinners and doodling actually help students? Abdul Rahim knows and had so many people stopping by, she had to explain her scientific process no less than ten times!
Our students enjoyed the other work from Bay Area students ranging from first grade through high school. Regarding our younger students in the future, Pugsley believes they should, “definitely consider participating.”
Each of our students spent 10 to 15 minutes explaining their process and findings to the groups of judges and Mrs. Twomey was beaming with pride when a Chevron judge commented, “Your students were excellent presenters. Articulate and informed. Exactly what we are looking for from our young people.” Seventh grade Abdul Rahim has the opportunity to participate again next year and when asked if she was interested she said, “Definitely!”
Grout, claiming an overall fantastic experience, said the highlight was, “hearing our names called as winners.” All three of our entrants walked away with honors and prize money totaling $2000 to be donated to Corpus Christi schools STEM program. Obviously, the school is thrilled to receive such an award, but our pride comes from knowing we have such talent, drive and skill in our students. If you are interested in seeing these and other studies from the minds of our middle schoolers, come to the school gym from 11:30-12:30 this Sunday February 2nd for our school science fair. Great news for our future!