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The Greater St. Louis Science Fair is about a lot of things: science, learning, sharing, competing & winning - but most of all it's about taking an interest, relating it to science and then being willing to test oneself by expressing what one has seen, thought and learned and then put that learning into a display for others to see and critique. For young people, and maybe for many of us, this is a risky thing to do - but, The Greater St. Louis Science Fair prides itself on creating an atmosphere where this type of "risk" becomes acceptable and helps build confidence and character in those students that accept the challenge.
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We believe that competition is an important part of a young persons growth and an important character builder, and by competing in a setting where comments and suggestions are positive a young person can feel free to go beyond what he/she may normally consider his/her limits. Not everyone that participates in the Fair is a blue-ribbon recipient - but, everyone that competes is a winner.
The Greater St. Louis Science Fair offers a wide range of recognition for outstanding work in science. There are the expected categories of Blue, Red, Green and White ribbon winners. At each grade level the most outstanding biological and physical science project is designated as a Division Winner - further recognizing students for work that is exemplary.
In addition, The Greater St. Louis Science Fair along with its major corporate sponsors - The Monsanto Fund and Pfizer-St. Louis support and encourage local corporations, special science-related interest groups and other related businesses to join them in offering Special Awards to outstanding science projects in very specific areas of science.
The Special Awards are managed through The Academy of Science of St. Louis - the oldest Academy of Science west of the Mississippi River, founded in 1863 by a group of local leaders to facilitate the organization and information dispersal of science related discoveries that were coming from throughout the Louisiana Purchase area - today the parent organization for the Fair.
Here we see one of the recipients of a Special Award receiving a certificate. Special Award donor organizations present a wide variety of award types - most include a special certificate to recognize the awarde and many also include additional prizes ranging from memberships to cash awards.
The Greater St. Louis Science Fair would like to thank all of those organizations that have participated in the Special Awards portion of the Fair and encourage any organization or corporation that has an interest in the youth of our community to consider supporting the positive works of these young people through a Special Award.
This year the following organizations participated in The Greater St. Louis Science Fair by being Special Award Donor Organizations: Academy of Science of St. Louis, Air & Waste Management Association, American Association of University Women, American Chemical Society-St. Louis Local Section, American Industrial Hygiene Association, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Institute of Chemical Engineers-St. Louis, American Society for Photogrammetry & Sensing, American Society of Civil Engineers-St. Louis Section, Anonymous, Butterfly House, Eastern Missouri Society for Paleontology, Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri, Gifted Resource Council, Greater St. Louis Dental Society, Monsanto Fund, National Honor Society for Women in Chemistry, Optical Society, Saint Louis Science Center, Science Fair Supply, Society of American Military Engineers, Society of Fire Protection Engineers, St. Louis Audubon Society, St. Louis Dietetic Association, St. Louis Metro Medical Society, St. Louis Mineral & Gem Society, and the United States Air Force.
The Greater St. Louis Science Fair also presents Discovery Awards allowing those who receive them to participate in the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC), a competition for students in grades 5 through 8, in which winners can move to a national competition. The Discovery winners from The Greater St. Louis Science Fair can complete to become one of 400 semifinalists and ultimately one of the 40 finalists, by completing a written entry booklet by the June deadline. Those who become one of the 40 finalists win an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in October and other great prizes.
Above, we see some of this years Discovery Award winners along with the awards Chairperson, Judith Leonard (see at left). Congratulations to all of the 170+ 2007 Discovery Award winners as you continue your science challenge by entering the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge competition.
Science is fun - it challenges our minds to think and wonder about the world around us. Science provides a vehicle for anyone to take those things we find in the world around us and study and learn how they work, why they are important, how they interrelate to the environment and other aspects of life - and science sometimes becomes a life's work or avocation that carries us through the rest of our life.
The Greater St. Louis Science Fair is proud to be a vehicle for science in the St. Louis area. We are proud of the students of St. Louis City and St. Louis County and encourage them to study, learn and make a difference.
If you are interested in science, would like to make a difference in the life of young people, or just feel that The Greater St. Louis Science Fair is something worthwhile, please contact The Academy of Science of St. Louis at (314) 533-8083 or visit on the web at www.academyofsciencestl.org.
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