Annual event grew to 118 entrants last year
Published in the Nov. 12-25, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
A student shows off his entry on behavioral science from this year’s science fair. Photo by Marty Cheek
Organizers of the 5th annual All-Morgan Hill Science Fairs are encouraging students in local middle schools and high schools to start now in preparing individual and team projects. New to the 2015 science fair is the fact awards will be based on four science-based categories: chemistry, biology, behavioral sciences, and physics and engineering.
The fair will be held Jan. 15 at the Oakwood Country School Gymnasium. The fair is open to every middle and high school student who resides in the Morgan Hill Unified School District, and is open to public, private, charter and home school students.
The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee is the organizer of the event, taking on the role from the Pauchon Foundation last year. One reason it did so is because scientific literacy is an important component of modern society and commerce, said Chamber CEO John Horner.
“Scientific literacy is vitally important, and yet does not routinely get the attention other fields such as language literacy and athletics do,” he said. “Building effective collaborations between the business and education communities is one of the vital roles of our organization as we strive to further improve Morgan Hill’s economic vitality.”
Prior to this year, awards were given on broad categories, but the Education Committee decided to create four categories to let volunteer judges specializing in physics, chemistry, biology or behavioral sciences give each submission the careful consideration and extra time, he said. By implementing a category structure, each student submission will receive more attention than would otherwise be possible. This change also more closely aligns the science fair with the county-wide competition in San Jose.
Horner encourages local students with an interest in science to participate in the upcoming science fair as well as consider a career in science and/or technology.
“I became an engineer primarily because I love solving problems,” he said. “Great scientists and engineers get to use both their creative instincts and a rigorous ‘prove it’ methodology. Perhaps the greatest experience for an engineer is when one gets to see the fruits of effort appear in the larger world. Oh, and there are a lot of good paying jobs available as well. We very much hope the larger community will come out to see what our young people have done by viewing their projects. It is very fun and exciting to see what young minds and hands have come up with.”
