MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- For the last three years, Condor Elementary School has invited families from the community to participate in the school’s Science Night. Signs directed families to the different sections of the school where exploding milk, conductors of electricity, a solid that can turn into a liquid and more than 100 other projects were presented for families and fellow students to see.
Condor Elementary hosted its 3rd annual Science Night Feb. 5, 2014 in the main building of the school. Members of the staff and teachers set up stations for hands-on experiments in classrooms near the entrance while students lined their projects in the hallways for all to see.
“We have always had science fairs at Condor,” said Tabitha Harrington, Science Night coordinator, Condor Elementary School. “We wanted to make it something not only for our school, but for all families to come participate. Holding this event not only helps the students learn but gets the parents involved in the process as well.”
The Science Night also included a competition, which included a board of judges who reviewed the best science projects.
“Our board consists of an archaeologist from the community, a former principal, and other teachers from the school,” Harrington said. “It’s nice to see students compete and have something to work toward.”
The best projects advanced to a competition between the local schools. The projects that qualify from each grade between the local schools can then move on to the county-wide science fair to compete against students from the region.
“It’s great to see the students participate in events like this,” said Karla Buchanan, Science Night coordinator, Condor Elementary School. “Seeing students from my class be successful and proud of the science projects they worked on makes all of this worth-while.”
The Condor Science Night is now in its third year and the coordinators and staff only hope that it continues. Schools in the Morongo Unified School District will choose the best projects from each grade level Feb. 20, to move on to the county competition.
“We just hope that this Science Night gets bigger,” Harrington said. “For the last three years, we’ve seen so much more participation that we hope more families from all over come to see all the hard work our students have done.”