Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9308130099
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Linzey, a Blacksburg resident who teaches biology at Wytheville Community College, has been director of the Blue Ridge Highlands Regional Science Fair for the past two years.
Before the end of August, he will send brochures to school systems in Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles, Wythe, Bland, Carroll, Grayson and Smyth counties and the city of Galax seeking entries for the third science fair, scheduled for April 8-9, 1994, at the college.
The fair is sponsored jointly by Wytheville and New River Community Colleges, and is a preliminary for the 45th annual International Science and Engineering Fair to be held May 8-14 in Birmingham, Ala.
Brooks Moses, a regional fair winner from Pulaski County High School this year, won fourth place in the international fair. So did Jia Liu from Grayson County in 1992.
That, Linzey said, is pretty good, considering they are competing with 750 other science students from around the world.
"The science fair provided me with a reason for starting a very specific project and taking it to a far more complete level than anything I had ever done before," Moses said.
Fair categories are behavioral and social sciences, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer science, Earth and space sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, mathematics, medicine and health, microbiology, physics and zoology.
Special awards are given at the regional fair by federal agencies, civic groups and commercial organizations. At various levels, students have a chance to win computers, scholarships, overseas trips to compete in other science fairs, and something to put on resumes and college applications, Linzey said.
But, he said, before students can have these opportunities, they must qualify for the regional science fair by having a preliminary fair at their own schools.
And that mean teachers at those schools must volunteer for the extra work required.
Linzey told a group of superintendents and school board members at a recent meeting of the Southwest Virginia Governor's School board that he has had a problem recruiting teachers for that task. He asked if school officials might consider offering professional development points to teachers who take it on.
That suggestion came from Harvey Atkinson, who had a winning student from Rural Retreat High School in the 1993 fair and went to Mississippi with the local delegation for this year's international fair competition.
"It shouldn't have to take a lot of anybody's time, but we do need someone at every school to act as coordinator," Linzey said. "In the high school, a science fair can be held in the biology laboratory or the chemistry laboratory . . . or the cafeteria or something like that."
Participating teachers win Savings Bonds at the regional fair. "It's not a lot, but at least it recognizes that particular teacher," Linzey said.
Teachers of the two top regional fair winners also may attend the international fair at no cost. "So we need to just try to find ways to encourage the teachers to participate," he said.
None of the superintendents wanted to require teachers to take on the added chores.
"The interest is best when it comes from the roots up," said Pulaski County Superintendent William Asbury. "But I endorse it, I support it. . . . The whole idea is staff development."
Many of the regional winners have been half-day students at the Governor's School. Margaret Duncan, the school's director, said the regional school could serve as a resource for teachers interested in promoting science fairs at their schools.
"We're there to help them and we'll work hard at that," she said. "It's a good way to involve students in more than math and science. . . . It crosses the curriculum."
Linzey said Wytheville Community College has three books and other resources on preparing science-fair exhibits that teachers can check out.
He also has offered to find mentors, as Duncan has for Governor's School students, if a teacher has a student interested in working in a particular field.
Further information is available from Linzey at Wytheville Community College, 1000 E. Main St., Wytheville 24382 (telephone 228-5541).
by CNB