Spanish Lake Elementary participated in the SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, Mathematics Enrichment) Festival and Olympiad Competition for elementary and secondary schools and the District Elementary Science Fair held on February 6. For the second consecutive year SLE’s SECME team and science fair winners have been part of this event.
This year’s theme “SECME: Full STEaM Ahead!” reflected SECME’s mission to increase the number of under-represented, under-served, and differently-abled students who will choose a field of study in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. The SECME team that represented SLE in both the banner competition and mousetrap car included Gabriella Maldonado, Salome Maya, Ryan Milian, Odette Pulido, and Grace Ramirez.
SLE administration and faculty celebrate the honors received in the Elementary Science Fair competition that is meant to encourage students' interest in science, to develop their inquiry and investigation skills, and to enhance children's pride in completing research projects.
SLE’s first place winners from fourth and fifth grade were entered in the district competition. After two rounds of interviews by science fair judges, an awards ceremony was held to announce the winners. Ryan Milian, fifth grade student, earned a gold medal for his project titled “Light Em Up” and Emma Caraballo, fourth grade student, earned a silver medal for her project titled “Zapped Seeds” at the Miami-Dade County Science Fair.
In addition SLE was honored with a trophy for being one of the two top schools with winning projects over the past five years in the area of chemistry. The participation and honors from the event would not have been possible without SECME coordinators, Nayeli Quintana, Maggie Vogel and Richard Yi.