Young scientists

Congratulations to all the White Oak Elementary student scientists who transformed the school multipurpose room, for one evening, into a science museum. Students, their family members and their friends explored the mysteries of plant growth, meteorites, magnetism, electricity, germs and more in a collaborative celebration of science.

Because the science fair was non-competitive, students were not motivated to participate in hopes they might be one of the few children awarded a trophy or medal at the end of the evening. Finding answers to their own questions and exploring scientific concepts were the incentives for kindergarten through fifth grade students to participate in the event.

Visiting scientists contributed to highlevels of thinking by meeting with individual student scientists to talk about their projects. They asked questions that encouraged students to explain their project results, describe surprises they encountered and reflect on what they might do differently next time.

The visiting scientists who participated in the event included Patty Sue Hudson, science teacher from Lindero Canyon Middle School; Brian Leitch, operations analyst/project specialist from Baxter BioScience; Chandra Ma and Jennifer Maclean, chemists from Amgen; Lisa Nuzback, science teacher from Sequoia Middle School in Conejo Unified School District; Gwen Reed, environmental scientist from ATC Associates Inc.; Dr. Roger Thai, dentist from California Health & Longevity Institute; Dr. Jeff Toy, dentist from Oakridge Dental Group in Simi Valley and Ann Troutman, science teacher at White Oak Elementary School.

Parent volunteers Bronwyn de Figueiredo, Windy Simmons and Charmaine Yambao spent many hours coordinating the first ever White Oak Elementary Science Fair. It was a huge success and the results of their hard work will pay off for years to come. Gina Amenta-Shin White Oak parent