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More than 200 schoolchildren and their families from Denver Public Schools convened at the ����AV’s Ritchie Center for Sports & Wellness on Jan 21 for the district’s annual Science Fair. They displayed projects on everything from bacterial resistance to color filters to how air pressure affects the distance traveled by a soccer ball.

Students ages kindergarten through second grade were given oral feedback on their projects from judges, while third- through eighth-graders were scored by judges. All participants were celebrated at an awards ceremony. Several dozen judges from the community volunteered their time.

“We love partnering with the DPS community and hosting their students on the ����AV campus,” says Nancy Sasaki, associate dean of ����AV’s��. “They bring so much energy and excitement, and we also get to see our future scientists in action.”

The fair featured science presentations and activities for students and parents, including a wind tube, biomechanics demonstration, circuits experiment and several forced- motion activities. Participating students and their families also received free basketball tickets to see the ����AV Pioneers women’s team take on the University of Nebraska Omaha.

����AV has hosted the event for two years and will serve as host again next year. The University’s collaboration with DPS embodies the aspirations outlined in ����AV��, the University’s new strategic plan that calls for engagement with the local community through educational and outreach events.

“Our faculty do tremendous outreach at fostering STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] education both locally and on a broader scale," says��, dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.