Photo By Staff Sgt. Edward Garibay | Sgt. Billy Lam, a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club Member from the Combat Aviation Brigade,...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas – The children of Nolan Richardson Middle School received a special surprise when a group of Fort Bliss, Texas, soldiers arrived to judge their science fair, Jan. 10.
Almost 20 soldiers from the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club here and units around post spent their afternoon carefully evaluating more than 150 science projects put together by the sixth, seventh and eighth graders on subjects of their own choosing.
“I think there was a little bit of wonder, a little bit of awe, for the kids to see soldiers come into their school to help them out,” said Sgt. 1st Class Derryl Haidek, a SAMC member from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. “I think it must have been pretty darn cool for them – at least, that’s how it was for me when soldiers would come to my school.”
The children spent approximately 10 weeks formulating their experiments, executing trials and gathering their findings to get ready for the fair. When the big day came, they sat next to their camouflage-dressed judges and gave their slideshow presentation.
“I was taken back a step when I found out almost all of the students did their presentation on PowerPoint as opposed to dioramas,” said Haidek, the equal-opportunity adviser for his brigade. “I was very impressed. I thought that was awesome. There are some college kids who still can’t do that.”
The main goal of the contest was to raise students’ interest in science, but it also provided an opportunity for the military and local community to form a bond, said Ericka Armendariz, the science coach for the school.
Since NRMS is so close to a military installation, asking for soldiers to volunteer was a natural choice.
“It’s actually very hard to get judges, so when we get a big turnout like this it’s fantastic,” she said. “I’m ecstatic.”
The staff and faculty were not the only ones who were grateful to the soldiers for donating their time. The students were also very appreciative.
“I just want to say thank you for coming out and helping us and thank you for everything that you do,” said Idahlys Soto, an eight-grade student, to the soldiers grading her.
Overall, the science fair was a success, said Amendariz.
For more information about SAMC, visit www.Facebook.com/blissSAMC.
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2013 19:33 |
| Story ID: | 101385 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 50 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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