Palmer Trinity Wins "Gold Award" at the Fairchild Challenge

The middle school science department won First Place “GOLD Award” at The Fairchild Challenge! There were over 200 schools from all over South Florida participating in the Fairchild Challenge this year. In the Middle School category, out of 62 registered schools, we were recognized as the top-scoring school overall and were presented, for the very first time throughout all our participating years, with the Gold Award and a cash prize of $1500.00 to support and enhance environmental activities in our school. Congratulations to all the students and teachers who participated!

 
The Fairchild Challenge - an award-winning, interdisciplinary, environmental science competition - is designed to engage students of diverse interests, abilities, talents, and backgrounds to explore the natural world. The program has been recognized as a benchmark for exceptional STEM education and for empowering PreK–12th-grade students to become the next generation of scientists, researchers, educated voters, policymakers, and environmentally-minded citizens.
 
Thanks to Ms. Zurcher, Ms. Metzler, Mr. Apanovitch, Ms. Lamiell, Dr. Llinas, and the brilliant guidance of Ms. Chu, we were able to complete all 8 challenges. Ms. Chu was invaluable and deserves credit for spearheading and encouraging all of us. 

Educator Challenge: Two Decades of Environmental Education
As The Fairchild Challenge celebrates its 20th Anniversary, educators were invited to produce a promotional video showcasing the program’s impact in our school and community. This challenge was presented by Ms. Susy Chu.

Challenge 1: Botanical Beauties
Students from Scientific Inquiry class led by Ms. Susy Chu and Art class led by Ms. Barbara Rivera photographed nondescript, often overlooked plants to visually capture their beauty, and included a written description detailing what features make them distinguishable and beautiful.

Challenge 2: Rain Gardens for Revival
Students from 6th grade Science led by Dr. Leo Llinas designed a rain garden and wrote a compelling pitch that promoted the environmental benefits of implementing a rain garden at our school.

Challenge 3: Growing Beyond Earth - “Special Merit: Strong Communication”
Students from the Scientific Inquiry class led by Ms. Susy Chu tested an assortment of radish cultivars in a growth chamber that resembled the one in the International Space Station and created a research poster to showcase their results. They won the “Special Merit for Strong Communication” and went on to design a second trial applying what they learned into optimizing the radish growing conditions. Brynne Sullivan ‘26 presented the results at the Student Symposium judged by NASA scientists.

Challenge 4: Green Treasures – My Food Story
Students from 6th grade Science led by Ms. Natalia Zurcher created a video that told the story of how the food eaten in their home was representative of their heritage and how traditional recipes had been influenced by their surroundings.

Challenge 5: Exploring Environmental Careers – Dream of Your Bright Future
Students from 7th grade Science led by Ms. Traci Metzler investigated environmental jobs of interest, took notes of the qualifications that are sought in a candidate, and wrote up a job description for the environmental job of their dreams, incorporating the insights learned in their research.

Challenge 6: Shade our Schools – Leaves are Cool!
Students from 8th grade Science led by Mr. Robert Moore conducted a series of experiments to characterize leaf temperatures and traits in sun and shade leaves to evaluate which leaf types would fare best in the future.

National Challenge: Commemorative Coin – American Icons
Students from Scientific Inquiry class led by Ms. Susy Chu identified a U.S. native plant that symbolized the uniqueness of America’s landscapes, created an illustration for a coin that showcased the plant, and included a written description explaining why the plant was selected and how it was representative of the region’s cultural and natural heritage.
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