- The Alachua Regional Science and Engineering Fair was held Thursday morning at Westwood Middle School with 65 projects presented.
- Students from homeschool, private, charter, and Alachua County Public Schools participated in 13 science categories.
- Judging involved 37 judges including nurses, doctors, and university professors who evaluated each project three times.
- Top winners will advance to the State Science and Engineering Fair in Lakeland, with a chance to compete internationally in Phoenix.
Students across Alachua County came together Thursday morning to showcase a variety of scientific projects at the Alachua Regional Science and Engineering Fair.
The event was held inside the Westwood Middle School Multipurpose Room and included projects that were presented by local middle and high school students from various types of schools throughout the county, including homeschool, private, charter and Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS).
“This is the culmination of six months’ worth of work,” Dr. Jon Rehm, the K-12 social studies curriculum specialist for ACPS, said of the fair in an interview with Mainstreet. Rehm has also served as the director of the regional science fair for the last two years. “It’s really awesome to see the kids out here today presenting this science. Many of them started [working on their projects] at the beginning of the school year, and so to see them go through the entire scientific method to do these projects to make the science fair happen is just so amazing.”
According to Rehm, a total of 65 projects were presented at the fair. He added that there were 13 different project categories, ranging from biology, microbiology, animal science, chemistry, physics, engineering, etc.
“The whole gamut of science,” Rehm added.
The students presented their projects to several judges, who could be seen making their rounds around the room with clipboards in hand. Rehm said there were 37 judges total at the event, noting that every student would be judged three times.
Those judges, he said, came from “all ranges of science,” adding that these folks consisted of nurses and doctors, as well as professors from the University of Florida and Santa Fe College.
“Anybody with any kind of scientific relation is a judge,” he said.
Rayan Abu-Farsakh, an eighth grader at Lote Tree Academy, presented his project on the effect that varying salts can have on ice. He said he was searching online for different projects and thought that this seemed like an interesting topic, so he decided to pursue it.
For Abu-Farsakh, Thursday was the first time he had been to a public science fair.
“I’m excited,” he said. “[I] hope everything goes well.”
Abu-Farsakh added that it was nice to see other students.
Samantha Bruner, a 10th grader at Oak Hall School, shared a similar perspective as Abu-Farsakh, saying that it was fun to meet other students who also have an interest in science.
Judging for the regional fair began at 10 a.m. on Thursday and was slated to continue until 11:30 a.m. An awards ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Top winners in the Senior (high school) and Junior (middle school) divisions will advance to the State Science and Engineering Fair, March 31-April 2, in Lakeland. Here, students will have the chance to compete for a spot in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Best in Show winner in the Senior Division of the regional competition will automatically have a spot in the international fair.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.
