Emily Dean/ Winonan
Young scientists were at Winona State University to showcase their intellectual talent at the 62nd annual Regional Science Fair on Friday, Feb. 27.
The science fair hosted middle and high school students who had been working on science experiments over the course of the semester.
Christopher Malone, assistant professor in mathematics, is part of the committee that organizes the event each year.
The participants were judged on their creative ability, the science behind their project, how well the experiment worked and how well they communicated their ideas with the judges, Malone said.
The students are judged in hopes to move on to the state competition. Every year 10-15 high school aged students go to state and about 20-25 middle school students move onto the state competition.
The grand prize of the night goes to one high school student who will win a trip to the International Science Fair in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Winona State works in conjunction with Saint Mary’s University to host the event, alternating campuses each spring Malone said.
The 7th through 12th grade participants work on their projects over a course of a couple of months both in and outside of class, Malone said.
The middle and high school students come from local schools around the area. This year the competition included La Crescent schools, Winona Middle School, Winona Senior High School, Cotter High School and Cochrane-Fountain City Schools.
Tammy Drazkowski, a 7th and 8th grade science teacher at Cotter High School, has her classes participate each year as part of their course work.
Drazkowski said Cotter hosts its own science fair, and the winners move on the regionals.
She said she knows first hand how hard many of the students work on their projects and that she has seen her students come a long way with their projects.
“We start in October or November and everyone has to do an individual project. It’s something we work on all the way through January,” Drazkowski said.
Drazkowski said one of the most challenging aspects of the project is just coming up with an original idea that the students will be able to work on over the course of a couple of months.
“The project needs to be something they can ask a question about and try and find an answer,” Drazkowski said. “Often times they go by what they are interested in or want to know more about.”
Malone said Winona State and Saint Mary’s use faculty members and community members working in the science field to judge the students’ work.
Each student presents their project to multiple judges in a formal interview about their project throughout the day, Malone said.
“The students need to be able to explain what they have done. Communication is a great benefit for the students. They learn how to talk about their ideas and what they did in a more formal setting,” Malone said.
Malone said judges often come back from year to year to participate.
“They are giving back and giving their time to help students do science. They like seeing kids get excited about science, and it’s a break from their job,” Malone said.
