Each year, the Northport High school science department of science runs an interactive STEM fair that takes place in the commons of the high school itself! Once again this year on October 28th, the fair was a huge success with hundreds of elementary students and there parents enjoying, learning, and smiling!! Many people helped with running the stands, selling food, and satisfying people with bettering their experiences at the fair!
The STEM fair is an annual event held at Northport High School. There are multiple activities on the stands that are easy and fun, some of them are full of Science, and challenges, for the kids to enjoy.
During the week of the STEM Spooktacular fair, I successfully interviewed some of the members of the club that help make the STEM fair successful every year. The Spooktacular is mostly run by the STEM club, full of High-Schoolers. I interviewed most of them, and they were eager to respond. The Physics teachers, who ran the STEM fair and have been for years now, are Denise Nadworny, Karyn Libretto, and the man who was recognized by the Long Island STEM Education Leadership Association (LISTEMELA), Greg Guido.
Karyn Libretto is a Physics teacher, her favorite part about the STEM fair is that she loves seeing the High-Schoolers connecting with the elementary students. “I love watching the high school volunteers connect with the elementary students.
It’s so heartwarming to see their patience and enthusiasm as they help the younger kids explore science and engineering in creative ways.”
Denise Nadworny is a Science teacher, she believes that the most popular station at the STEM fair is the Potion Puzzle station. “The students choose ingredients to mix together to try to get a balloon to inflate. It always draws a crowd and the excitement is wonderful to see. Bat Wings is also a crowd favorite – the kids love building and folding paper airplanes and trying to get them to go the farthest.” She also expresses that her personal favorite activity is the ‘Pirate’s Plunge’.
“Watching the carts zoom across the floor through sail power is always so much fun.”This student who helped with the Pirate’s Plunge, wishes to remain anonymous. “I am volunteering at Pirate Plunge, the station otherwise known as sail away.” This anonymous student then explained how the station works. “At the station, you help the kids create a boat with wheels to sail down a track, and whoever’s boat is the fastest, wins.”
This anonymous student, who helped with the Pumpkins stand, expresses their opinion about the STEM fair’s budget cut this year. “Yeah, I think it’s unfair. A lot of clubs don’t really need a budget, but a club like ours, the entire purpose is to throw events for kids. We can’t throw events for the kids if we don’t have the money to do so.”
The STEM fair has been very successful this year, thanks to the many staff, and volunteers who helped make it possible. This event is a staple in the world of science for our district. The kids love it, the parents love it, and most of all.. the upperclassmen of Northport Highscool adore it. So hopefully this event can further proceed into the force able future, and we hope to see you all there next year!!
