...a science project. This afternoon, I had the privilege of serving as a judge for the 7th and 8th grade science symposium at Albany Academy. As most of you know, Julie is a teacher at the boys' school and she asked me to help out because my undergraduate degree was in science. I was more than willing to help Little Sis out! After a long, tedious day of researching how the NYS Constitution applies to a case I'm working on, spending a couple of hours in a gymnasium listening to kids talk about their projects sounded fantastic.Once I arrived, albeit 10 minutes late (stupid traffic and Deitz genes), Julie was kind enough to go over the grading rubric with me before I headed off to review the projects. A few of the projects and students I talked with really stood out. One girl learned that modern dancers are more flexible than ballet dancers. Another duo determined that blueberry stains are virtually impossible to wash out of fabric (as compared to beets and spinach). They thought this could have future applications should a fashion designer ever wish to create an organic fashion line. Another project struck me, not because of its merit, but because the team members reminded me so much of the "Plastics" in the movie Mean Girls.
Overall, I was really impressed with the quality of the students' presentations and posters. I never had to develop a project to this scale until freshman year of college. It makes me think that there's something to be said for the education at AA, although it's hard to justify doling out $15,000+/year for middle school when you live in a suburban school district. I look forward to judging again next year if they'll have me ;)
We'd love to have you judge again next year! It was a big help! Those "mean girls" types are exactly why I'm glad I'm teaching middle school boys rather than girls. While boys certainly aren't always a cup of tea, I'd much rather deal with their shenanigans than with the backstabbing and social bullying that the girls do.
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