Science National Honors Society prepares for March STEM night; Tri fold projects coming together

 Students who have an interest in learning more about science and sharing their knowledge with younger children through the Science National Honors Society have created tri-fold projects they plan to present in March.

     STEM night will be held in the cafeteria for the North Harford Elementary school kids, where each members’ tri-fold is laid out to present on the lunch tables after school hours, according to junior Caroline Ulmer.

     Ulmer shares some information about how “the project is science related but also gets kids engaged.” Her partner, junior Ashley Worden, plans on doing “DIY bouncy balls and the tri fold has to be about how it works and what you have to do to make it work.”

     Science as his favorite subject and future field of study, Grant Pfaff, junior, states “thinking of an interesting project idea was really difficult,” and Pfaff and his partner, Dylan Hildt, have to “do a new experiment because it was too simple,” according to Hildt.

       So far, members put together “trials” with their project materials to present for the senior secretaries, Jessica Gerhardt, Sydney Altman, Jacob Huneke, Emily Worden, Heather King, and Hannah Smith, where each group was given a grading sheet.

     “Trying to find an idea that would be approved and the kids would like” was challenging for Worden and Ulmer, where they have to “keep up with all the work plus other honor societies.”

     One of the secretaries, Gerhardt, volunteered for her position and got the roll, where she “takes notes during the meetings,” held about once every month, and is “in charge of attendance at the meetings, taking care of dues and hours.”

     Gerhardt expresses if she could tell someone interested in joining the society, “it’s so fun and it gives you a sense of science that you don’t learn in school.” Students must work outside of the classroom by “doing projects and activities other than just tutoring like other societies.”

      During meetings, Ulmer states the tri-fold project is “what we do throughout the year, and each meeting, we have guest speakers that help us move along in our projects.” She also adds, “Our first meeting was to get our projects approved, and the second meeting was running a demo.”

       Members include how interesting it was to see all the different ideas and thoughts put into each project, says Ulmer. Pfaff adds that the society is “fun and [he] enjoys creating something that kids will like.”

     By the time March comes around, each group will have their projects ready to run for the elementary school kids, but for now, they say they will continue working on how and in what ways they can “wow” their audience.