There must be something in the water, and if so, rest assured one of these brilliant kids can figure out what it is.
With five Central Interior spots up for grabs to attend the national science fair, four of them went to School District 91 (SD91) students. They went to Edmonton this past week for the Canada-Wide Science Fair where the best and brightest the nation has to offer all gather to show off their cutting edge research and innovation.
The four from SD91 were: Coby MacLellan (Decker Lake Elementary School), Mackenzie Hunter (Francois Lake Elementary School), Katherine Thiessen-Clark (Nechako Valley Secondary School in Vanderhoof) and Kiah Thiessen-Clark (Nechako Valley Secondary School in Vanderhoof).
The lone participant from outside this region was Prabhnoor Sidhu (College Heights Secondary School in Prince George).
For the relatively small student population size and the widespread nature of this district, for 80 per cent of the spots to be filled by SD91 is an accomplishment in itself.
“SD91 has a long history of encouraging scientific inquiry in schools,” said SD91 assistant superintendent Mike Skinner. “For over a decade, the district has hosted a district science fair which continues to grow. SD91 students have for many years completed at regional and national levels, with at least one student participating at an International Science Fair.”
The Central Interior Science Exhibition (CISE) took place at UNBC on March 4. Students in Grades 4-12 participated from Vanderhoof, Fort St James, Fraser Lake, Francois Lake, Burns Lake, Prince George, and Valemount. Students from the SD91 distributed learning school, EBUS Academy, even participated virtually from various areas in the province.
“All of these students have competed in science fair for many years. The students from Nechako Lakes have competed and won at both the district science fair and CISE for multiple years, but this will be their first time competing at a national level,” said Skinner.
The national event ran from May 13-20 at the Edmonton Convention Centre. The Canada-Wide Science Fair is the country’s largest annual youth science, technology, engineering and mathematics (sometimes called STEM for short) event. It is estimated by organizers that 500,000 students across Canada create a STEM project at the school level, then 20,000 of them compete at a regional fair that leads the top candidates on to the finale.
“The 2023 District Science Fair in Nechako Lakes had a record of over 120 students selected to participate in Grades 4-12,” said Skinner. “Even more students participated in school fairs across the district. SD91 consistently has many more students per capita participating in Science Fair when compared to other northern districts.”
Some of the top STEM presentations in Edmonton will be eligible to carry on to represent Canada at the international level.