Mother Seton School STEM Fair

December 2019

The effect of a science fair on a college student

Emmy Jansen
MSMU Class of 2023

As I begin to get comfortable in my role as a writer here, I’m being given opportunities to expand my understanding of the Emmitsburg area. The Mother Seton School’s Science Fair was one of these opportunities. It was a multilayered experience. For the past three months, I’ve been living as an adult, or pretending to be one at least. Yet less than a year ago, I was another student in another school doing projects like these, although I attended a public high school instead of a school like Mother Seton. It was somewhat of a reality check to step back into the mindset I had been in mere months ago. I have about four years more in age than the oldest students who participated in the science fair, yet that four year means more than I ever understood. Where I am now and where I was then are drastically different places.

Even for those who haven’t had those very influential formative years, it’s understood about the importance of your high school time. This was obvious in some of the science projects, where a few of them examined how strong your memory of high school is even decades after you’ve graduated. I had never seen that type of investigation done in a school science fair and it was heartwarming to see. One of these projects went as far as to close their experiment with advice the high school graduates would give to high school freshmen. This advice included "keep your head up high," "be yourself," "stay out of the seniors’ way," and "enjoy every day." It warmed my heart to see different generations interacting and learning from each other at the fair, through the projects and mere time spent together. It reminded me of how we aren’t all separate entities, like we sometimes treat each other in today’s polarized world.

I did not grow up in the towns like Emmitsburg and the surrounding area. My hometown is a busy city near Richmond. I never experienced the small-town life of the mountains. Attending the science fair opened my eyes to another idea: the importance of community. I had no personal connection to anyone at Mother Seton and the only people I knew in the room were my fellow Mount writers. At first, I felt like I was intruding on someone else’s memory. It took my back to the science fairs of my youth. I dreaded completing an experiment every year, as science was always one of my least favorite subjects. The frustration I felt during my education wasn’t present in those students, though. The room was full of the curiosity and ingenuity of today’s youth, which itself is a magical thing. If I had had one of the brain cells any of these students had, I would’ve enjoyed the experience a lot more. They had very real-world oriented ideas. I find myself feeling hopeful for the future after seeing that this is the type of individual our schools are helping to shape.

This speaks to the broader idea of community. Mount St. Mary’s mission is to graduate ethical leaders who lead lives of significance. To truly lead these lives, we need to understand what significance is. To do that, we need to understand what insignificance is. As we strive to create leaders dedicated to service, I think we should educate them on who they are serving. I propose that Mount students attend community events in the Emmitsburg area, even if they gain nothing but understanding from them. It doesn’t have to be about service; our presence there doesn’t have to mean anything. But it would help us to understand what the service we do accomplish is all about. The communities are the reason we do the service, usually in communities we don’t know and aren’t a part of. We need to become comfortable with this idea of helping those that we have no attachment to, just because. Therefore, we should practice going into different communities to just experience them. Not only will it benefit us, as students learning about significant lives, but it will benefit the surrounding area and our relationship with them. The science fair had many in attendance, but what if the room had been packed with young adults celebrating the students’ successes with them? Yes, the pride and joy of your family is important. But to see people who have no attachment to the school and are there to genuinely enjoy the event could make an impact in a child’s life.

This poses a very impactful reality check. In a room full of people I don’t know, who I am? While we don’t like to think we can be self-centered and self-invested, we always can be. So, being tasked with this story was therapeutic in that sense. Sometimes, you need to not mean anything to anyone. It gave me a chance to not participate, and just watch. I saw proud parents lovingly embarrass their children over their successes. Grandparents chased their grandchildren around the room and between the tables. All the while, I stood there, not meaning anything to anyone. It was perfect. I think this is a vital part of the core curriculum that is missing at the Mount.

Aside from the awe at the brain power of these students, I was still at war with myself. Who was I to come in and ask these kids, who I knew nothing about, questions about their projects they created for a school that I’d never been to? What could I, a first-year college student from a big city, write that would matter to anyone in a small town I hadn’t heard of before coming to the Mount? What could I give to these students, already more advanced than I could ever hope to be at that age, the youth of today that are already focused on the problems of tomorrow? Who did I think I was? What was I hoping to accomplish?

Frankly, I still don’t know. I don’t think I’m alone in pondering where I fit in on this planet. But this uncertainty is healthy. To understand significance, we need to understand insignificance. Let’s strengthen our idea of community, the ones we belong to and the one we do not. Instead of living separate lives, let’s coexist in our ideas of belonging and finding our own ways. I don’t know why I’m here, I don’t know what my purpose is. But this feels like a good place to start.

Read other articles by Emmy Jansen

The simplicity of elementary formation

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

"Hi, I’m Ben." This simple introduction from a 6th grade student at Mother Seton Elementary School was the beginning of an in-depth explanation of his science fair project "Do More Acidic Fruits Produce More Electricity?" The project won Benedict 2nd place in his class. Ben is interested in electricity and "saw something on a website and did a variation of it in my project and I learned a lot." Ben said that he is not sure about what he wants to do with his life, a possible testament to his interior understanding that he does yet know that for which he was created.

Ben started off his science fair project with the hypothesis that more acidic fruits would produce more electricity, specifically, that the lemon he was testing would produce the most electricity. While we talked, he listed the materials that he used for his project and the method by which he conducted his experiments. On his board, he included a professional description of the function of a fruit battery, discussing the use of a galvanized nail, ions and positive and negative charge. In the end, his tests suggested that more acidic fruits produce more electricity. This did not seem to bother him, even after all the effort which he put into brainstorming and actualizing the experiment. For Ben, the important thing was being to consider a question and redefine it based on where his interests lied and where the challenge seemed to be present. After I reflected more on the night, it seems that this intentional transition from his original scientific inquiry to the topic of his final project is what led to his success. He narrowed his focus to a topic which would pique his interest and force him to become more engaged with that which he was studying. This daring change is an act which seems to occur too infrequently in study. Academics become too focused on an area of study just because of the mass of knowledge which they have acquired over the years, but which provides no gratification for themselves or little benefit to the society for which they study.

At least 60 projects were presented at the science fair. Participation in the fair was optional for 3rd and 4th graders, but mandatory for 5th-8th grade students. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners were awarded within each grade. This award system gave the students a particular understanding of how their project difficulty and creativity compared with their peers. I am sure that times like these are especially formative for future scientists and engineers, as they can tangibly see that they have gifts and insights which are not equally distributed to their peers. I was reminded of something a professor for whom I have great respect said about this topic: "people need such little encouragement." It seems that this is especially true for young children for whom the future is undetermined. The apparent banality of a passing comment of encouragement or rightly ordered praise could prove to be instrumental in the development and ultimate discernment of a child. Most of the children in the gymnasium who were presenting their unique experiments and inventions are not intentionally mapping out their future or even thinking about such a venture. This is why it is particularly incumbent upon the adults in the room, for whom their future is relatively un-mysterious and enjoy the added benefit of the joys and sorrows of a past, to aid in flourishing that discernment. In the Mother Seton gymnasium, I had the pleasure of sharing the room with parents and teachers who recognized the importance of this vocation.

The five minutes that I spent with Ben was a special time for me because it gave me a chance to think back to middle school, when our youthful innocence was taking its last breaths before the responsibilities of maturity started to become clear. This was the time when my friends and I would run around where there was no place to walk, scream when there was no apparent reason to speak quietly and complain about having to go home when the night of these activities was so young. Activity of this sort took place at Mother Seton on Wednesday night, as it would at any middle school. This sort of behavior was strangely refreshing to me after days, weeks and months spent mostly with adults.

All of this carelessness, even among 2nd-place award winners, is indicative of that subconscious knowledge that they are "not sure" about what they are supposed to do with their lives. I envy this comfort in uncertainty. Any college student who is "not sure" about what they are meant to do with their life on earth expresses a grimace of fear about the unknown future which lies ahead of them. I do not exclude myself from this stereotype of the discerning college student. Ben and I are not that different; we are just on different positions in our process of discernment that fits with our respective ages and experiences.

The science fair at Mother Seton gave me the opportunity to see professors, coworkers and friends in a different environment, one in which everyone is distinctly aware that education is occurring and that we are active participants in the success of that education. I could see kids at a school which has proved to them time and time again that they should feel safe and ready to learn about the world in which they live and the one in which they would like to leave in peace. I hope that the example which Ben, the parents and teachers of Mother Seton and my colleagues at the Emmitsburg News-Journal gave to me stays with me. I also hope that Ben remembers the people at home and at Mother Seton who love him enough to want nothing more than for him to see clearer everyday Him for whom he lives.

Read other articles by Harry Scherer

Adding an extra E to STEM

Angela Guiao
MSMU Class of 2021

In the early 2000’s, it had become apparent that students in the United States were underperforming in science and mathematics. It was concluded that if the U.S. did not improve its education programs in these areas, they would produce a workforce wholly unprepared and inadequate, diminishing the U.S. into a country incapable of competitively participating in the global economy.

As a result, the STEM curriculum was introduced. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. And throughout the past few years, STEM programs have increased in popularity, and are responsible for providing students with the opportunity to explore and develop their skills in these subjects. The STEM curriculum, as a whole, has been a beneficial addition to the American education system. It has served as a platform that reignited national interest in science and math related courses.

Recently, the writers for Four Year at the Mount attended a science fair at Mother Seton Elementary School. While I was fascinated and surprised by the genius projects and experiments the students performed, there was one thing that distracted from the intriguing projects: the little attention, in some projects, given to grammar, spelling, and English. Now, I know that plainly, spelling errors and such may not seem like a big deal., especially since the students are in the seventh grade and below, and that I was attending a science fair. But I believe that the failure to correct grammar, spelling, or even handwriting represents the bigger problem that is the diminishing role of proper English in the United States.

Is the importance of improving in Science and Math reason enough to sacrifice attention in English? If science opens the door to discovering cures, developing molecules, innovating modern technology and much more, doesn’t English allow us to communicate our discoveries? Would it be possible to become the next Einstein, Edison, or Tesla, if people are unable to discern what is being explained in our research papers? Can there be science without English? The answer is yes, but we would have no inkling of what is going on. Why? Because everything we know about science we learn from scholarly journals, articles, textbooks, research papers, lab notebooks and much more, all written in some form of language we can understand.

But what if our scientists don’t know how to spell? What if their journals are so jumbled with misspellings, grammatical errors, and chicken scratch, that we are unable to read it? What happens if the greatest mathematical and scientific minds are unable to communicate their ideas properly because they were not taught to write in or give importance to proper English? There is no Science without English. There is no Mathematics without English. There is nothing without English. Because without a way to communicate our ideas, to express our findings, to detail our procedures, without a way of basically immortalizing information, the existence of any idea will be subject to the inconsistencies of oral passage. We need English to have science, to have math, to have innovation.

Personally, I have experienced the advantage of having a science and technology program available. In middle school, I attended a school that had a magnet program focused in science and technology. This allowed me to take classes focused on developing skills that would eventually enhance my opportunity to pursue a science related career. We could take classes like robotics, where we would build different machines, or classes that focused on web design, which is what I personally took. As a result, I can attribute a lot of success in my subsequent high school classes, and even some college courses, to the knowledge I gained in middle school.

However, I was also very interested in English. I enjoyed writing poems and short stories. I also found writing in journals a good way to decompress and express myself. Having been exposed to both the worlds of English and Science, I understand the undeniable need to be able to communicate properly. My Biology labs consisted of writing in journals to explain what steps were taken, materials used, and results identified. Even in my current Accounting classes, there are situations where notes must be disclosed in financial statements to make sense of the numbers.

To make sense of the numbers. I think that’s a perfect way to describe the importance of English. We need English to make sense of things. It is the way we describe, explain, learn, teach. It is the means to making sense of the ideas we have, the things we want to do. Maybe, STEM should not be STEM. Maybe it should be STEEM: Science, Engineering, English, and Mathematics. We should prioritize learning how to spell, the proper use of conjunctions, when to use a comma and when to use a semicolon just as much as we prioritize the ability to do basic algebra, memorize equations, and learn how to find x.

English is intertwined with almost everything that we do. Focusing on science and math because we had become weak in the subjects is not a bad thing. But lessening the focus on English in order to compensate for the time given to Science and Math will only prove to be detrimental to us in the end. There should be a balance, a perfect combination between the genius of innovation and the confidence of communication. The basic foundation on which science, technology, and mathematics resides is language. If our country slips in its capability to communicate, we will not only find ourselves behind in STEM, but in English and reading as well.

So please, let us not forget the importance of English. Let us double check our children’s homework for misspellings or grammar mistakes. Let us make sure they understand the importance of our national language and see the benefit of being able to communicate ideas properly. Science and Mathematics allows students the opportunity to create, to innovate, to experiment and discover. Let us make sure they are well versed enough in writing so that one day they may share their ideas with the world.

Read other articles by Angela (Tongohan) Guiano

The future of our world

Morgan Rooney
MSMU Class of 2020

November was an exciting month for our beautiful community in Emmitsburg. For those who haven’t heard of this yearly tradition, every year in the fall semester, Mother Seton School holds its yearly science fair competition. I was super excited to write about an event like this, as I had not been to anything similar since I was a kid myself. I thought it would be interesting to see how this science fair compared to the science fairs my school had when I was a kid. Along with seeing what kind of creative ideas the students would come up with, I was very eager to support the local school by attending their science fair.

Each student, ranging from 3rd grade to 8th grade at Mother Seton School have the chance to conduct creative experiments or build useful inventions. The students compete for first, second, and third place, along with the title of Grand Champion. The students created a variety of projects that stretched across the Mother Seton School gym.

Although the competition lasts all day, the public is invited to attend in the evening to see all the creative projects and support these future scientists and inventors. It was great seeing all the students, parents, and other community members attending the event.

The students are assigned their science fair project at the beginning of the school year and they manage their time to complete their experiments and inventions in time for the annual fair. The students were judged by 11 adults and 7 high school alumni of Mother Seton School. The students who receive a ribbon are highly encouraged to participate in the county science fair where I’ve been told that the students have been very successful and won many times in the previous years.

I had the opportunity to speak to a parent of a 6th grade student who receive a second place ribbon. This project measured the electricity generated from fruits and vegetables of different acidities to determine the relationship between the two.

"It’s important to articulate ideas as recording data." says Joshua Hochschild, the father of the student. "You might realize you’re answering a different question. It’s a valuable process to go through to experience feedback of learning."

Although there were 98 participants, each with a unique project, there were certain projects that really stood out to me. Some of these were the invention of a biodegradable bottle cap, and an experiment to determine the foundation preference of honeybees. It’s great to see that the students created such useful projects that can influence the future. It gives me a new hope for future generations.

There were other projects that were fun to read about and definitely worth mentioning. This includes an invention that separates skittles by colors and an experiment of paw preferences in cats. The thing I was most impressed with was the creativity of the students when coming up with their science fair experiments and inventions.

This year, the Grand Champion was a 7th grade student, Carli, who conducted an experiment to determine if there is a relationship between eye color and after images. Her experiment was successful in determining that there is a relationship and people with different eye colors see after images differently. I was impressed, and clearly, so were the judges.

I was able to speak with the Mother Seton School science teacher, Danielle Kuykendall.

"Projects like the biodegradable bottle cap really stand out. As a green school, part of the rubric is how it ties into the real world." Says Kuykendall. "I want the kids to come away from this loving science!" she continues. "I always tell them to choose something they really want to know the answer to."

From my own personal perspective, it was really exciting and important to support this local event. These students are the future of our country and most importantly, the future of our world. The creativity and thoroughness of these projects was really eye opening.

Going to this event really brought me back to when I was in fourth grade and required to do a science fair project. Although my project may have not been as useful as many of these, it taught me a lot about the scientific process, time management, and organizational skills.

All three of these things I learned have become very useful in my life and will become useful in any career these kids will pursue one day. The scientific theory is important as it teaches you about error, correction, and questioning everything. These are important things to learn early on so you can always improve in any subject of your choosing, including science and what I do: write. Even though writing is something that you wouldn’t generally compare with scientific subjects like biology, chemistry, and physics, it’s important to know all about correcting your mistakes and questioning yourself to be successful.

Time management and organization are obviously other skills that are very useful in any field. To be successful, for myself, I need to be careful to know exactly what I need to do, and when I need to do it by. A lot of the time, this means I need to break assignments and projects into increments so I can effectively get projects done on time and have them done correctly. Both of these skills are obviously necessary so it is important to practice and learn how to perform them correctly. This science fair is a great example of using all of these skills to create successful projects.

Overall, the science fair was very eye opening to what the youth around us are capable of and it was very inspiring to me personally. As an adult, I am glad to see the young people in our society being involved with projects, with many of these projects having the potential of serving our community in the future. I will go forward now knowing that the future generation is one that will bring great innovations to our world.

Read other articles by Morgan Rooney

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