Thursday, October 1, 2026
More than 100 students from Maria Regina Catholic School in Seaford exploded with excitement on Feb. 25. Paper maché volcanoes burst off in the gym, as students demonstrated their different experiments at the second annual science fair.
“The good thing about tonight, is that it really showcased nursery through grade 8 and it showed a different type of a student and a different side of academics,” Principal Leona Arpino said. “The students put so much hard work into their projects and they got some great results.”
For many of the students in the seventh and eighth grade, the science fair was a good opportunity to take their projects to the next level at the invitational science fair, a competition open to all of the schools in the diocese.
“The students had to be well versed in their projects, have a good presentation, and have a well-thought-out idea,” Arpino added. “It gave the students an incentive to work really hard, so that they could present their projects at a high school they may want to attend in the future.”
After the showcase, a panel of teachers picked 10 projects that they felt were well researched and from there chose five students to go on to the invitational. “You expose students to things that they might not necessarily realize, and help them learn things that they never knew before,” Arpino said.
For student Jamie Barrett, of Wantagh, the science fair was an opportunity to dive further into science and learn more about the human condition. “My project was about if smell could affect your taste,” she said. “So I gave people jelly beans and told them to hold their nose and tell me the flavor. In the end my hypothesis was correct, because when you have a cold, you can’t taste anything.”
Although the project seemed easy enough, Jamie still needed help with the research. “With Jamie, I helped her search online and helped set up the data on the computer,” said her mother, Stacy Barrett. “She’s pretty independent and did a lot of it herself, so it was just a matter of helping her a little bit with the Excel sheet and the small details.
“She really knew in her head how she wanted to set it up, so all I did was buy the jelly beans!” Stacy Barrett added with a laugh. “I like seeing all of the other kids but I also like watching her explain her project to other people in a confident way. It’s nice to step back and see her do something on her own and not really need me to do it with her.”
The fair was a way to promote the fun side of science. “I think knowing how to research and knowing the scientific process is really important, especially with girls,” Stacy Barrett said. “I think reinforcing the science and math skills is beneficial to her as she moves up to high school.”
In the end, the science fair was a complete success, according to the principal, and the staff is excited to hold the event next year. “Tonight really helped kids with special science talents really shine among their peers,” Arpino said. “Even students who don’t enjoy science, really learned a lot and realized that the subject is not so boring after all.”
