Members of Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center's (MARMC) Engineering Department volunteered to judge the Campostella Elementary School Science Fair, Jan. 22.

MARMC civilians and active duty Sailors have partnered with several local schools since 2013 to help promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) within the community.

"When MARMC recruiters asked for volunteers, I was happy to participate," said MARMC Engineering Auxiliaries and Pollution Abatement Branch Manager Stanley Ward. "By getting out in the community, I am able to take things I've learned in life and help children get a solid foothold in STEM."

Along with MARMC volunteer judges, the school invited judges from other local Navy commands as well as volunteers from One Hand to Another, Norfolk State University's Outstanding Young Men, and friends of the school's faculty.

Campostella's STEM program incorporates problem and project-based learning with a special emphasis on the area of engineering. Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 completed independent science projects for the fair, while kindergarten through 2nd grade students participated by completing class projects in their classrooms.

"We believe it's important to implement the STEM program to children early," said Campostella Elementary School Special Education Teacher and Science Fair Chair Person Clara Hill-Potter. "We start them early so that they will already understand independent variables, dependent variables, constants, what a hypothesis is, what a purpose is, and the procedures and materials associated with the project. We use this verbiage all the way across the school's curriculum, in english, math, science and social studies classes, to make it easier for the children to understand."

Among the displays, students explored which popcorn pops the most popcorn per bag, how to keep bananas fresh, and which gum holds its flavor the longest. After the judges finished looking over the projects, students were asked questions about their experiments.

"Which popcorn brand will pop the most popcorn per bag? That's a great idea," said Ward. "I would have never thought of that."

The top project from the 3rd grade examined the fastest way to clean a penny. In the 4th grade, first place went to a project that tested how quickly different diapers absorb liquid. A study on optical illusions was the best 5th grade project. Each of the first place projects will be entered in the Tidewater Regional Science Fair.

"I am so excited by the turnout today," said Hill-Potter. "The kids take a lot of pride in their work and having the opportunity to tell people what they learned is awesome."

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