Public Viewing, Take Down, and Sendoff Dinner

Today is the last full day at the CWSF. Everyone can't believe how quickly the week has passed. They've all gained a great deal of experience and made many friends. We quickly met for breakfast this morning and proceeded to the public viewing session at the Exhibit Hall. Susan and I dropped the team off and went for a coffee nearby. We walked back to the Exhibit Hall to pick up the group around noon. Everyone wanted to go back to their rooms to drop off the non-poster parts of their projects. 

We went for lunch shortly after returning and then strolled down to the Exhibit Hall to take down all the posters and clean up the booths. Once everyone passed their inspections, we returned back to the dorm for a couple of hours of down time. 

At 5PM today, we boarded public transit and went down to the Riverfront Plaza. This is much like our former Plaza of Nations, but much larger. The plaza afforded a panoramic view of Detroit and the GM Head Office. At the plaza, there were about five companies contracted to serve pizza of all kinds. Chirag found the stash of glow stick necklaces and Sonia and Susan were busing linking him up with them. Being by the water, it was cold and a bit breezy. The team played Frisbee for a couple of hours to keep warm. Around 7:30, we boarded transit headed back to to the dorms.

 

For the remainder of the evening, it's likely going to be a quiet one. Some wanted to do some homework, but many were going to pack.

Tomorrow, we leave for Windsor Airport at 1:30 PM. We are on Westjet Flight 185 and will depart at 4PM with a stop in Calgary. We will arrive at YVR at 7:04PM PST. 

Parents, please be at Vancouver Airport at 7PM to pick up your child.

It has been a fantastic week and our South Fraser Finalists have done us proud - three Bronze Medals, one Silver Medal, and a Challenge Award.  Susan and I would like to say thank you the South Fraser Finalists. It was our pleasure to support these great kids in their science endeavours.  Congratulations to all of you on a job well done!

Fredericton 2015 here we come!

Awards and Banquet Day

After getting back from dinner last night, most of us got to bed by 11:30. However, they were full of energy and found it challenging to fall asleep. It was evident this morning that a number of them were suffering of sleep deprivation. It's really amazing how they all have bonded closely.

We started with breakfast at 8AM and the team strolled directly to the Exhibit Hall afterwards. The school buses were rolling in and the hall was packed with school children visiting and checking out all the great projects. There was plenty conversation between students and Finalists as well as Finalists with other Finalists.  We had parents and grandparents there as well. We were fortunate to have Devika's parents, aunt and uncle join in on all the excitement.

When the public viewing session concluded at noon, the students walked back to the dorm to eat their leftovers from yesterday's dinner. They only had a few hours before leaving for the ceremonial hall. We boarded the yellow school buses and went down to the St Claire College Centre for the Arts. This was about a 5 minute ride. Even though Favian forgot the tickets that indicated the seating arrangements, we were able to sort it out and have an awesome view of the action from the centre of the theatre.

It was a slow start to the awards but it began with Meaghan winning the Challenge Award for Environment with a $750 cash prize. Then Devika won the first medal - a bronze; this was followed by Denny and Cindy also winning also winning a bronze; Sonia followed soon after winning a bronze as well. The bronze medals carry a $100 cash prize. Meaghan closed with winning a silver which includes a $300 cash prize. Not everyone won awards, but I'm sure all our Finalists have gained some valuable experience that will help with next year's projects.

Below is a summary of the prize winnings:

Uncovering The Truth About Coal Dust in South Delta

Meaghan MacKenzie

Western University Scholarship

Silver Medallist - $2000 Entrance Scholarship ($2 000.00)

Excellence Award - Intermediate

Silver Medal ($300.00)

Challenge Award - Environment

Intermediate ($750.00)

Free-Space Laser Communication

Devika Vishwanath

Western University Scholarship

Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship ($1 000.00)

Excellence Award - Intermediate

Bronze Medal ($100.00)

Monitoring Medication Adherence: Part 1

Sonia Stewart

University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship

Senior Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship ($1 000.00)

Western University Scholarship

Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship ($1 000.00)

Excellence Award - Senior

Bronze Medal ($100.00)

Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (PACT) for Eradicating Mould Pathogens

Cindy Huang and Denny Choi

Excellence Award - Senior

Bronze Medal ($100.00)

Western University Scholarship

Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship ($1 000.00)

University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship

Senior Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship ($1 000.00)

Excellence Award - Senior

Bronze Medal ($100.00)

Meaghan being presented with the Challenge Award for Environment

Devika being presented with a Bronze Medal

Cindy being presented with a Bronze Medal

Denny being presented with a Bronze Medal

Sonia being presented with a Bronze Medal

After the awards ceremony concluded at 5PM, we had an intermission until 6PM for dinner. We took this opportunity to share in our team's achievements and had pictures taken with everyone.

A truly fine bunch of students!

Dinner was excellent. We started with a nice salad and then moved to the main course with roasted chicken and scalloped potatoes. Dessert followed soon after with a rich chocolate cake with strawberry sauce.

After dinner concluded around 8PM, the Finalists were able to let off some steam upstairs on the dance floor. All our finalists had fun up there. Susan and I stopped in for a few minutes to see our team shaking the night away.

We left the Centre for the Arts at 10PM and caught a bus back to the university. Susan and I wanted to let our team know how incredibly proud we are of their achievements. This has been the best that South Fraser has performed. We have truly been blessed with an amazing group of students to share in this experience.

Recognize these boys?

Tomorrow is another day of public viewing and later a take down of the projects. Scheduled for later in the day is a sendoff dinner at the Riverfront Plaza. We hope the weather is favourable. It's lights out at 11PM and up for breakfast at 8AM.

Not a lot of walking today. Pedometer says 8,109 steps for today.

A Day of Touring with the Alberta Group

Today was an open ended day at the CWSF. Everyone got to sleep in a bit before going to breakfast. This gave us time to get ready for a full day out and about in Windsor/Essex. We boarded the coach bus as 10AM and our first stop was the Black History Museum. Along the one hour drive, we traveled through some neighbourhoods along the waterfront. Stunning views. This day trip included a very knowledgeable tour guide named Bev. She has great knowledge of Black History and the Underground Railway. This was certainly an added bonus.

The Black History Museum started off as a church built in 1848 by former slaves who had escaped their captors in the United States. The church has since been refurbished, and surrounding buildings had artifacts pertaining to this terrible time in American History. This included a cabin, its furnishings, and a kitchen. There were displays as well as animated videos teaching our students about how Canada was the salvation for so many slaves.

Following this stop, we had a two hour drive down to Point Pelee National Park. Point Pelee is the Southern most point in Canada at just under 42 degrees latitude. That's the same line that divides Oregon and California. Once we arrived, it started to rain and we got drenched. The shuttle trolleys helped keep us stay drier en route, but once we got there, the rain really started coming down. Point Pelee is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. It is a mecca for ornithologists (Birdies). When we arrived, we stumbled into a couple dozen of them with their telephoto lenses and binoculars  watching the many different birds in the area. Further along,  we managed to round up the team for a photo opportunity at the tip of this symbolic location. From the looks on their faces, the South Fraser team was really enjoying themselves. Meaghan and Cindy commented on how much they've learned from Bev along the way.

Following the Point, we drove about a kilometer to the Marshlands of Pelee. There is a boardwalk that jetties out into the  middle of the marshlands and back onto the main shoreline. Meaghan likens it to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Lander, BC. It was very pretty and scenic. 

We got back to the University of Windsor at 6PM and freshened ourselves up. Part of this included drying our shoes from all that rain. Susan came up with a brilliant idea of using her blow dryer. It was nice to walk with dry feet again. We boarded public transit and headed east towards Little Italy. We arrived there about 45 minutes later and strolled up and down the main strip looking for an Italian restaurant. We found the perfect spot - Spargos. The food was plenty, the prices were reasonable, and the service was fantastic. They brought us unlimited amounts of fresh bread and roasted garlic. And just for waiting for them to set up our larger table, they served us a dish arancini (fried risotto dumplings). None of the kids have ever had it, but their pallets were longing for more. Dinner was spectacular and the portions were generous. Everyone had enough to bring home in a doggy bag. 

By the end of the meal we were all stuffed and needed to walk off all that food. We did so by taking a 30  minute walk to Wynndotte Avenue to catch a transit bus back to the university. Fortunately, the weather was dry and not too cold. We made it back at around 11PM. 

It's lights out as soon as we arrived home and an 8AM breakfast for public showings of their projects. 

Today's pedometer reading was 12,705 steps.