The past two school years have presented us with many challenges, yet our students have received the same high-quality, faith-based education, formation and support that Sacred Heart and Holy Family Schools are known for—even in the midst of the pandemic.
Rising above the many difficulties, our children have continued on the road to success. Despite all of the trials associated with the coronavirus, students at Sacred Heart and Holy Family Schools have flourished. The exceptional performance of our young people in this past year's science fairs is just one of many examples.
The beginning of the year is typically when Sacred Heart School students are preparing and presenting the school science fair. The gymnasium is transformed into an educational space that showcases a sea of theories and experiments to feed the hungry minds of our budding scientists.
In years past, students in grades three through eight have created projects for the school fair. Unfortunately, the social distancing challenges associated with the coronavirus proved to be too much, and an in-person fair was not possible.
But this didn't stop the seventh-and eighth-grade science classes from creating projects for the regional Mississippi Science and Engineering Fair, which, due to the pandemic, became a virtual event.
According to Mrs. Cansler, getting the virtual entries together was a challenge. “It has been quite an experience,” said the science teacher. “We completed each science fair research plan, slideshow and experiment at school and we recorded video interviews for the virtual judging.”
The students were able to choose from 13 research categories — chemistry, environmental and animal sciences, engineering, physics, robotics, astronomy, along with several others.
With titles ranging from “Circuit Circus” and “Cowabungee” to “Mask Masters” and “Musclevators,” students were able to solve some of the world's most puzzling questions—including one that is top of mind: “Do masks prevent germs.”
In lieu of the tri-fold science fair boards, PowerPoint presentations were made. Photos were taken as each project progressed and included with the student's slideshow.
A total of 26 projects were submitted to the Regional Science Fair in early February for judging. Twenty-two of those projects catapulted to the Mississippi State Fair. The excellent work presented by our students earned them two first place prizes in the Robotics/Intelligent Machines and Earth/ Environmental Science categories, as well as 6 second place awards, 6 third place, 2 fourth place, 4 fifth place and 1 sixth place award in the state competition!
