I requested the interview because I wanted to know why Vista Ridge had so many entries in the Austin Energy Regional Science Fair, AERSF, that is held at the Palmer Event Center in February every year. Sadly, Lake Travis High School does not participate in this event. Following is what I learned.

Science fairs can and often start at the elementary school level. All LTISD elementary schools have science fairs, some better than others. Many middle schools, not in LTISD, also have science fairs. Many high schools, not in LTISD, also have science fairs. The best of the high school projects in this area are sent to the Austin Energy Regional Science Fair. The winners at the Regional fair go to the Exxon-Mobile state fair in San Antonio. The winners of the state fair go to "Intel", the prestigious national science fair sponsored by Intel that will be held in San Jose, Ca. this year.

At Vista Ridge, VR, all AP 9^th grade students are required to do a science project, some of which are entered in the AERSF. Tenth, eleventh, and seniors can optionally do a science fair project. Michele has a senior elective class for credit that is specifically designed for students wanting to do science fair projects. In fact, the class specifically targets the science fair.

When VR opened in 2003, Michele convinced the administration to have science fairs.

Now, the high school holds a science fair every year. Last year, there were 300 entries (1900 in the school). Michele rounded up 80 judges from the school, parents, and neighborhood to judge the projects over a two day period. The schools sent 57 entries to the AERSF, three from each of the 19 divisions.

While I was at VR, I had the opportunity to talk to a number of the students there. One was doing research on "The Power of Suggestion", another was doing stem cell research, another was attempting to grow a plant found on the beach using salt water, another was trying to find a chemical that could be used to eradicate an invasive specie of vine called Kuzdu. Another student who is already planning on going to med school was doing a biology project. I also briefly met with a two students I remembered from the AERSF held last year. One designed a device to monitor the amount of UV radiation a person receives while in the sun. The other designed an autonomous robotic vehicle, which went to the state fair last year. Many of the students are going to enter the fair for the third time. As I recall, there was one student that went to "Intel".

While I was there, I asked the students if they had parents that were in some sort of science field. I was surprised to learn that very few had science parents. I was told by one student that his father was in the financial business and that fresh water is becoming an increasing problem in this area and this is why his son is doing the project of using bacteria to remove salt from salt water.

With the exception of the 9^th grade where science projects are mandatory, all the others are voluntary. This tells me that there are probably a lot of students at LTHS that would like to enter the fair if given the opportunity.

The students do all of the work filling out the forms that are required for entrance to the fair. Michele helps if needed. Michele and other teachers take on the task of getting the students and their displays to the fair. Michele is also on the science board of the AERSF.

Finally, I think the success of the Science Research program and the science fair activity is totally due to the efforts of Michele Mann.