Last Wednesday (March 26) the St. Gregory auditorium at Saint John Paul II Catholic Academy’s Lower Mills campus turned into more lab than a gym as students from third to eighth grade presented their STREAM Fair projects for inspection. 

STREAM is an acronym for science, technology, religion, engineering, art, and math, and last week’s event gave the elementary and middle schoolers a showcase for the projects they had been working on for the previous six weeks. 

Fourth-grade students Anderah and Abigail (back center) proudly posed with their classmates after presenting their research on how many jumping jacks increased their heart rate.

“The second annual Lower Mills STREAM Fair curated an opportunity for students to both strengthen their science, math and engineering skills, but also to showcase their artistic and innovative creativity,” said Lower Mills campus principal Lisa Warshafsky. “We are grateful to our teachers, families, and community partners for all of their support. We know we have a bright future ahead! Our students are our future doctors, engineers, researchers, and scientists.” 

Middle school science and social studies teacher Michael Gabelus told The Reporter that each third through eighth-grade student was asked to pick an idea and work on it at home and in the classroom.

“It’s a good event because they get to showcase how smart they are, and also, it makes them feel good to have people recognizing their work,” he said.

Gabelus, who graduated from SJP2 in 2009, said he wishes this fair had been held when he was a student because it teaches the students “never to limit themselves. So many of them during the process are like, ‘I can’t do this,’ or ‘it’s too advanced for me,’ but then they start the procedure and see they are capable of it. I think that’s an indescribable feeling for them.”

One of his favorite projects of the day was that of an 8th-grader named Ayden, who researched wind energy. Specifically, Ayden, who will be attending BC High next fall, built a miniature windmill to prove his hypothesis that wind energy could be used to generate electricity and power an LED light without a battery.

While Ayden produced wind with a hair dryer for his experiment, 5th-grader Clinton was able to blow up a balloon without a single deep breath. Instead, the 11-year-old discovered that if he poured vinegar into a water bottle and placed a balloon full of baking soda on top, the materials would mix and produce carbon dioxide gas, inflating the balloon. 

All the students welcomed their classmates, family, friends, and a group of community judges to check out their work. The judges’ panel was made up of BPD Sgt. Detective Eddy Chrispin, MAMLEO; Adilson Lopes, Senior Worldwide Go-To-Market Solution Lead; Alector Tavares and Mathew St. Marc, of Boston Fire Department Vulcans; and Melinda Brown, from the Massachusetts State Police.

Chrispin, who has been with the Boston Police Department for more than 25 years, was excited to take on the role of judge for the afternoon.

“We have a rubric that allows us to kind of make sure all these questions are being asked, and answers are being produced,” he said. “If they can simplify things for me, it means they’ve reached a certain level of comprehension and understanding.”

While Chrispin learned a lot from the kids, the detective hopes they learned from him, too. “I need them to know there are people from their community who look like them and care about them,” he said.

Tavares, a firefighter who is president of the Boston Society of the Vulcans, added that it was important for the kids to “see police officers and firefighters that looked like them, interact, and relate.” 

The judges were quick to notice that the experiments that seemed to get the most attention from the students were centered around snacks and slime. Fourth-grade student Madison made a solar oven using a cardboard box, saran wrap, aluminum foil, and a light. Inside, she made smores for her classmates while explaining that the oven “is easy to make because it’s cheap and usually you would have this stuff at your house already.”

Just across from Madison’s project was ten-year-old Shealon’s. “I did rock candy,” she said, “and I was thinking about if I use different kinds of sugar, how it would affect the rock candy, and if I would get the same results. The different sugars I used were granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and brown sugar.”

Shealon added that her friend did a similar project at last year’s fair and inspired her to do one this year. Her favorite part of the experiment was working with her mother and getting to eat the delicious mango-flavored, blue-dyed, granulated sugar rock candy. 

Meanwhile, Jamar took the savory route and focused his project on fries, comparing the ingredients and preservatives in french fries from McDonald’s, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy’s. He was happy to discover that his favorite fries, Wendy’s, of course, were made up of the healthiest ingredients. 

Nearby Riyah showcased three types of slime, while Pascall and Anthony made their own lava lamps and Belinda created color-changing flowers. 

With so many interesting and impressive projects around the room, it was hard to pick a favorite, but Judge Chrispin knew one thing for sure.
“Every single one of you has the ability to be incredibly successful just based on the projects I saw today,” he said. “I should walk around and get everyone’s autograph because I know at some point in the near future all of you are going to be superstars.”

The St. Gregory Auditorium overflowed with students, teachers, and community members at the second annual STREAM Fair. Cassidy McNeeley photos

THE AWARDS

Overall, by class

Kristen B. (Grade 3); Aiden D. (Grade 3); Abigail R. (Grade 4); Tony L. (Grade 4); Cassie C. (Grade 5); Anthony G. (Grade 5); Marven L. (Grade 6); Meelhan S. (Grade 7); Na’Zyia C. (Grade 7); Victoria L. and Olivia B.G. (Grade 8) 

Scientific Explanation and Creativity

Addison J. (Grade 3); Jordan D. (Grade 3); Ace A. (Grade 4); Olivia P. (Grade 5); Athan B. (Grade 7); Esiah M. (Grade 7); Emani D. (Grade 8)