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LOOK & LEARN: Penn College hosts science festival

Penn College hosts science festival

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Fifth graders from area schools check out the various illusions using mirrors, including this concave mirror at the Penn College Physics department table during the sneak peek of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Science Festival on Thursday.

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette  Fifth graders from area schools check out the various illusions using mirrors, including this concave mirror  at the Penn College Physics department table during the sneak peek of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Science Festival on Thursday. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette  Students from the Pennsylvania College of Technology Student Nurses Association talk with area fifth graders about nursing at the sneak peek of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Science Festival on Thursday. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Brad Vandelinde, a student in the Penn College Electrical Department , right, talks about the efficiency of different types of light bulbs  during the area fifth graders sneak peek of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Science Festival on Thursday. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette  Matthew Long, a soil conservation technician for Lycoming County, right, talks about different engineering practices for maintaining trails and steams in a watershed at the sneak peek of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Science Festival on Thursday.

Giving fifth-grade students an opportunity to experience hands-on learning outside of a classroom, Pennsylvania College of Technology hosted a science fair on Thursday.

About 1,500 fifth-graders from across Lycoming County and surrounding areas got the first experience during the day, but there was also a special evening event open to the public for everyone to enjoy the experience.

Not only did the elementary students experience walking around on an active college campus, they got to see many displays of science through experiments and presentations.

Tanya Berfield, event co-coordinator and Penn College manager of college transitions, said that the fifth-grade students have a career readiness benchmark set by the state Department of Education to help students start thinking about life after school, and events like this help students picture what that could be like.

“It’s all completely STEM-based, so science, technology, engineering and math,” she said. “In the auditorium … we have Taste of Technology (by Penn College’s School of Business and Hospitality) talking about how science relates to culinary programs.”

In the gymnasium, there was a Carnegie Science Center presentation about solar quests.

“In the field house, we have a vendor showcase,” Berfield said. “So that is about 30 local businesses, industries and school groups that are demonstrating and doing activities that are STEM-based and how they relate that to their careers.”

She said the event is meant to be an exciting learning experience.

“It’s so fun. They’re so engaged in it. They can talk about the science, but they can do it in a fun manner that engages the kids,” she said. “One of the things with STEM is that as they age through secondary, they lose interest because it’s academic or maybe boring … It’s really important at this age to get them excited about it and show them that it can be fun.”

Jason Fink, event co-coordinator and executive vice president of Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, said it’s important for students to learn STEM not only for educational purposes but for work-force opportunities.

“This is really to expose them to a lot of different things, applications and understanding how STEM will go into their future,” Fink said. “Fifth-grade is a great level to get these kids exposed to that.”

Colette Dalton, a parent from Jersey Shore, said that it was her first time experiencing the events.

“It’s a great to get the kids out in the winter,” she said. “They learned a lot, and it’s been super entertaining … Learning interesting things outside of a textbook is great.”

Joshus Ely, a fifth-grade teacher at Jersey Shore Area School District, said he loved it.

“You can let your kids roam, and it’s all these different scientists that are passionate about their disciplines. The big focus right now … is career readiness, and this is it,” he said. “A lot of this is the future of our upcoming job market, really … can’t think of a better place to take students.”

Matt Fisher, principal of Rommelt Elementary School, said it was an awesome opportunity for students.

“It gets them thinking about career opportunities and different ways they can apply what they’re learning in school to different jobs and opportunities they can have in the future,” he said. “It makes what we talk about in a theory standpoint available and relevant to them. They can actually connect some of the things they’re learning about and how it applies.”

Debbie Geist, a teacher at Sullivan County School District, said students really love the experience.

“Each year, we have an awesome professional come and talk to the kids. We see the chemistry in cooking … then we have vendors, some of them even our own local students that come here to college, presenting things to the kids,” she said. “It’s super important to learn all the different elements of science, to see what’s out there, to be on a college campus, to see other fifth-grade students and be excited about science.”

Jamie Sanders, director of marketing for Camp Susque, said that as a vendor demonstrating the process of bees and honey-making at Camp Susque, the day was a great opportunity to demonstrate how students can learn things outside of a classroom.

“We have hives on camp, and we’re highlighting that for science,” he said. “I’ve already asked kids as they’re going by, ‘Wouldn’t you rather spend a day at Camp Susque than in a classroom?’ Of course, they say yes.”

Elizabeth Egan, PlastiVan educator with the Society of Plastic Engineers, worked a booth where students could make a non-toxic slime substance.

“It gets students engaged in science by doing hands-on activities like making slime,” she said. “It’s safe, it’s fun … and basically, we teach them about how to make slime and the chemistry behind it.”

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