High-Schoolers Teach and Learn at Science Fest

"Cool," said Signal Hill second-grader Madelyn Magrath, who was sporting a bright-blue tongue from sucking on a Jolly Rancher. "I'm excited about the day. It helps us learn stuff that we also learn in the classroom."

Sixteen-year-old Kelly Greico, who was working the chemistry booth, said it was hard to come up with ways to teach a challenging topic to young minds. The demonstration, she said, was something her team knew would catch their eye.

"It was interesting to try and come up with what to say at their level," she said. "The topics we presented we just learned sitting in chemistry class, but we had to come up with hands-on [activities] and different ways to get the kids to learn them."

Pyrotechnics, forensic science and astronomy also were popular topics among students. A sea of tiny hands would shoot up as the high-schoolers quizzed students on what they had learned from the presentations at the booths. They would break into wide grins on being rewarded with high-fives and sweets for correct answers.

"My favorite was learning about space, because they talked about space and why the sun glows yellow," 9-year-old Romello Barr said while sucking an orange popsicle he had won.

All the high-schoolers in the event are part of the biotechnology program, open to students throughout Prince William County and in Manassas and Manassas Park. The special program combines English, social studies and science and requires students to take rigorous courses and do science-related volunteer work.

Students said they were given a list of topics in January and received little guidance from teachers. It was up to the students to figure out how to keep a young crowd engaged.

"I liked the fact we were able to do stuff on our own with no one breathing down our necks," 15-year-old freshman Taylor Owens said. "We hope we opened up new doors for the elementary kids today and broadened their horizons."

Students said the other big challenge was working as a team.

"Students are not usually tested on their ability to work together, and in the real world, working together is important," Nemerow said. "I hope after this they take away a sense of accomplishment and learned about the commitment and dedication that is needed to create a product. All of that is just so valuable."