By Scott Morgan
Annual science and math fair now in its 14th year
The next time you lament the idea that people only leave the house for hedonistic reasons, keep in mind that one of the biggest community events in the Ewing School District every year is all about the brainpower.
“Hands On Science with a Dash of Math Night” is Antheil school’s annual show of those things that make so many of us stroke our chins and say, “Oh, so that’s how that works.” Think of it as a science fair on vitamins with a sprig of the Franklin Institute thrown in. And, incidentally, the Franklin Institute will be there this year, but more on that in a bit.
This year’s event, which started as a way to get the community involved with what the kids are learning in school these days. The show takes place on Feb. 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Antheil school.
The community responded to the event, now in it’s 14th year, with some rather impressive involvement.
“We had 700 students alone last year attend,” said Nicole Tassello, a fifth-grade teacher at Antheil and one of this year’s two main organizers for the event. Formerly a first-grade teacher, Tassello is taking the reigns of Science with a Dash of Math for the first time this year. She cut her teeth on the behind-the-scenes work last year as a helper with the event, but this year is her first time running the show.
So to speak. “The kids are mostly the ones putting on the show,” she said. Yes, their parents help a little, but that’s mostly with keeping an eye on things or helping the kids set up. Teachers, who will also have some displays, also help keep things moving, with a little help from student volunteers from The College of New Jersey and Rider University.
Science with a Dash of Math, made possible through an annual grant from the Ewing Public Education Foundation, is a large-scale science fair spread throughout Antheil. Students will set up in at least 35 classrooms, and visitors can tour all the exhibits at their leisure, Tassello said. Most of the exhibits are developed and displayed by the children, and the event is mostly advertised as something for district students. “But if kids from, say, Trenton want to come, they’re more than welcome,” she said.
Exhibits run the gamut, including displays of how the body works, critter rooms (yes, that means both creepies and crawlies), displays of scientific processes and principles on tabletops in the cafeteria and displays about outer space. So yes, this is a bit more involved than a parade of baking soda volcanoes. And, this year’s Night will have two rather interesting guests.
One is Mad Science, which offers after-school programs, workshops, parties, and camps designed to wow young minds with the wonders of science. They’re going to have some chemistry and optical illusion displays set up in the gym, Tassello says. The other special guest is the Franklin Institute, which will bring a scaled-down, but still mighty cool, version of the museum’s popular weather room to the school.
Science with a Dash of Math is one of the district’s most popular non-athletic events, which suits David Angebranndt, Tasello’s co-organizer, just fine. This despite that Angebranndt is every bit a sports guy — he’s a gym teacher at Anthiel who, like Tassello, is in his first year at the helm of the event.
Angebranndt, who taught at Ewing High School last year, is actually the original — and was going to be the only — organizer for this year’s event. But the former Antheil student (he left in 1999, just before Science with a Dash of Math became a thing) realized that despite his best intentions, he would be wise to recruit an experienced hand.
“Nicole has done a lot of outside organizing,” Angebranndt said. She, in other words, is the one responsible for landing Mad Science, the Franklin Institute and the college volunteers. He has dealt mainly with the internal workings of the event — who needs to be involved, what they’ll be doing, and what room best fits what display.
Angebranndt wanted to get the N.J. State Planetarium in for this year (into the gym, of course), but he didn’t realize that would require about a year’s notice. He said he would waste little time once this year’s event is over to call and try to book the planetarium for 2016.
As the night gets closer, Angebranndt said he has found a certain calm. The major organization aspect is pretty much done. Everyone knows who’s involved and what will be on display, and everyone is assigned where they’ll be.
One of the more labor-intensive parts of all this has been getting the materials, which Angebranndt and Tassello took care of personally. Teachers gave them a list of what they’d need and the two went and gathered the supplies. Which itself is a rather elegant model of scientific efficiency. “Fewer moving parts,” Angebranndt said.
The importance of Science with a Dash of Math, however, goes beyond the direct educational value. As a community event of such large scale, it functions as a way to keep the community involved with the school, and to show parents how much their children really get from their education. It also involves parents directly in the educational process, which Angebranndt is all for.
“The more involvement you have from parents in their children’s schooling, the more positive outcomes there are going to be,” he said.
This is especially true for academic events, which are a welcome addition to sports and musicals and a way to show of some mental muscle. “It’s great for kids who excel at academics,” he said. “They get to say ‘Here’s what I’m passionate about, here’s what I can do.’”
Antheil principal Jennifer Whitner said she is excited for all the same reasons.
“It’s a night that we showcase and expose our students and families to the content areas of science and math,” she said. “We hope to continue to inspire as well as shape the minds of our student body so that they consider the fields of science and math when they move on to higher education and into our global society.”
