REIMAGINING THE NORTH NEW JERSEY STEM FAIR

Written By:

Alexander Gates

Earth & Environmental Sciences

The non-profit organization, Terra Education https://terraed.org/ sponsors and oversees large-scale science fairs in the Northeast. There is a North Jersey Science fair that includes all counties from Middlesex north except for Hudson County which has its own fair. The fair has been running for about 40 years. Previously, the fair was held at Rutgers University, New Brunswick but they ended that relationship and the fair has been held at Kean University for at least the past 4 years. Over the years, the number of participating high schools has decreased to the point where the vast majority of student participants are from wealthy suburban Asian families. Further, there is no sponsorship so the fair runs on a shoestring budget. In fact, this is the last year it can run without major changes. So there is an opportunity.

I am co-chair of the Greater Newark STEM Ecosystem (GNSE), one of seven ecosystems in the state-run NJ STEM Pathways project. GNSE serves 250 educational and industry members from Essex, Union, Morris, Passaic and Sussex Counties. I developed a plan for the GSNE to adopt the Science Fair but with major changes: 1) to involve more students and from all backgrounds especially from Newark, Elizabeth and Patterson, 2) to be administered by GSNE, 3) to be held in Newark at Rutgers and NJIT and 4) to be sponsored by Commerce and Industry Association of NJ (CIANJ) with industry partners raising about $200,000+/year. Bergen County will be added to the area covered but Hudson County has its own fair. So far Terra and GNSE have endorsed the plan, it is partly approved at Rutgers and the other co-chairs of GNSE are bringing the proposal to the administration at NJIT. However, all steps must be enacted or the plan falls through.

The theme of the science fair is STEM career preparation and readiness and it will be a cornerstone of GNSE. It is proposed to be held annually for 2 days over a weekend in March during NJ STEM month on the Rutgers/NJIT campus. This will be a high-profile event designed to attract the media and elected officials from the area. This should lead to additional sponsorship. Quality STEM students and their families from across the region will attend the fair. The plan is to provide small grants to academically talented but low-income high school students to conduct research as part of the $200,000+ and Terra provides many resources to assist that effort but there are numerous mentoring opportunities for industry and the campuses as well. Terra has committed $10,000 to the project this year.