Empowering Children through Science And Technology

Local Charter School Hosts Fourth Annual Science Fair

Somerset Academy Boca recently held its fourth annual science fair to display their students’ science projects to promote science and technology in the school curriculum.

Somerset Academy is a tuition-free charter school home to kindergarten through eighth grade students. A charter school is an institutional hybrid between a public and a private school. Charter schools are tuition-free like public schools but must apply to enroll, and space is often limited.

Somerset Academy is a leading school in science and technology in Palm Beach County, with student learning being the primary focus of the school. Parents and teachers are partners in the educational process for students to become lifelong learners.

“This is our fourth year of doing this; we really showcase our students’ projects and have moved from having more of a science fair focus to having a STEAM focus,” said Mr. Daniel Shourds, principal. “Students [have] more of science, technology, engineering, arts and math in their projects, so there is a variety of different things going on.”

Students got involved in the science fair in various capacities, with the elementary school children focusing mostly on class projects. Individual and team projects were handled by the fifth grade and middle school students.

“We encourage all students to participate. However, we do recognize the students who went above and beyond, so there are winners for each grade level and individual standout awards for each group project,” said Shourds.

Many Somerset children went above and beyond like Paige Morales, ten-years-old, who worked on a project to find out which material interferes the most with Wi-Fi signals: wood, tile or marble. Morales’ fifth grade peers Ava Grennan and Malu Abreu made a Rube Goldberg machine designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overly complicated way. Finally, ten-year-old Madison Pierre created a solar-powered water distillation machine designed to turn unsafe water into clean water for human consumption.

“We do a lot of experiments in class, and I like to connect science to real-life activities and experiences because these students are so into technology and are looking forward to using science in the future. I think making it real life for them and bringing it to life is important,” said Alison Hauser, third grade teacher.

Hauser is a Lynn alumna who has been working at Somerset Academy for several years and thoroughly enjoys teaching her students about technology and the future. “I encourage students to enjoy and love science by making it hands-on,” said Hauser.

For more information on Somerset Academy Boca, visit somersetboca.com