On Thursday, April 8th, the 2021 Colorado Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF) was held virtually, with 263 projects on display from students in Grades 6th through 12th, including a number of our Middle School Dragons! I'm thrilled to share the results for three of our amazing students, who achieved so much in the midst of a pandemic and online learning. The three students are
Rohan Mysore, 8th Grade
Second Place, Junior Division Best of CSEF Project: "Structural Safety Monitor"
First Place, Junior Division, Engineering
Special Award: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Jr. Division
Diya Mehta, 6th Grade
Honorable Mention-Medicine and Health: "Study of the Efficiency of Different Face Masks in Preventing and Controlling Transmission of Communicable Diseases Like COVID-19"
Lakshmi Thanikasalam, 6th Grade
United States Association of International Development Award: "Single and Multi-Layer Water Filtering Apparatus with Commonly Available Materials"
“These students have worked really hard,” shares Mr. Boone Starr, 6th Grade Science Teacher and STEM Fair coordinator. “They all have shown that the power of the scientific process, leads to amazing results. More than that, they learned how to look at the world with wonder and how to seek and find real truth. That's what science does. It allows the mysteries of the universe to be solved and for one to know the truth. In the words of Carl Sagan, 'We are the way that the universe can know itself.”
For the 2020-21 school year, Flagstaff Academy held all aspects of the middle school science fair process virtually, from the fall school event in which more than 50 6th-8th graders participated, to the Corden Pharma Regional Science Fair held in February with 14 Flagstaff Academy participants, to the state competition earlier in April. Students and staff learned to be flexible, mastered online presentation skills, and practiced all aspects of Flagstaff Academy Dragon PRIDE: Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Dependability, and Empathy.