Kiwanis science fair an annual hit
By Mo Cranker on March 26, 2018.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker Students from Medicine Hat and its surrounding area had their science smarts on display Saturday during the 43rd annual Kiwanis Regional Science Fair. “We have a really good turnout of students this year,” said Praxis senior scientific consultant Patty Rooks. “We have some students from Grade 3 to Grade 10 here today, and they’re all doing different projects on different things to do with science.” In total there was roughly 60 displays at the fair, which is a great way to learn, says Rooks. “It’s important for our youth to do things like this if it’s what they’re interested in,” she said. “Sometimes kids don’t learn well by reading books and doing tests, so doing something like this is a great way for them to learn some new things and show it off.” With the fair running for so many decades, Rooks says it is about giving kids the spotlight for an afternoon. “This is an opportunity for the kids to shine,” she said. “The kids choose their own projects, and that allows them to pick something they really excel at. You can really see how hard they work on these projects, and you can see how much they learn in the process of making them.” A big part of this year’s fair was the amount of students who came from outside of the city to show off their scientific abilities. “We have a lot of rural students this time, and a lot of first-time rural students,” said Rooks. “We have some students from Ralston, a student from Bow Island and some from Foremost. It’s great to see that turnout and great to see students working on their projects in their free time. “We try hard to reach out to the rural students and present them an opportunity to participate in events like this.” 11
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