Participants in the Stratton Elementary Virtual Science Fair include (front, left to right) Maddi Chamberlin 2nd, Dale Varnum 1st, Jed Stevens 4th, (back) John Sherrier, Jericho Whiting, Duncan Grant, Mitchell Gray, Lexi Bullen and Rosie Whiting. Not pictured are Ruth Falt 3rd and Jamey Zanca. (Contributed photo) STRATTON — The Stratton Elementary Virtual Science Fair winners were recently announced.

First place went to Dale Varnum for “Littering.” Second place was won by Maddi Chamberlin for “Oil Spills.” Ruth Falt took third place for “Habitat Loss” and fourth place was won by Jed Stevens for “Acid Rain.”

Under the direction of Paula Stevens, grades 5 to 8 science teacher, seventh graders at the Stratton Elementary School used wikis to organize and present information they learned about environmental issues. This Webbased tool allowed them to post their findings about topics such as deforestation, overpopulation, pollution and more. Each student formulated a scientific question, researched the topic, conducted an experiment and documented their findings. They used the wikis to post their findings in the form of text, graphs and charts, pictures and videos.

After the work was finished, a distinguished panel of judges evaluated them and determined the winners of the virtual science fair. The judges could visit the children’s wikis from wherever they may be in the country.

About the judges:

Kimberly Truskowski works as Sugarloaf’s Environmental Steward. In this role, she reaches out to employees, guests, and the community to help foster environmental awareness. Many projects involve working with the Town of Carrabassett Valley. This symbiotic relationship is an important component to many of the environmental initiatives. Truskowski works to inspire others to become environmental stewards of their homes and community.

William Parker, Environmental Manager, was the second judge. His job is to work closely with and provide guidance to U.S. facility managers and corporate HQ regarding compliance activity needs of all issued environmental permits, retain and work with various environmental consultants to prepare permit applications and related documents for new permit acquisitions, permit modifications and revisions and submit periodic environmental compliance reports to regulatory agencies and activity reports to Boralex.

The final judge, Jeanne Tucker, recently retired as principal of Mt. Abram High School after spending 40 years in secondary education, 31 of those years as a high school biology teacher. She began teaching in Massachusetts in the fall of 1968 and came to Mt. Abram in January of 1979. As Mt. Abram’s biology teacher she worked hard to engage students actively in the science process through indoor and outdoor lab experiences. During the 1990s she headed the MSAD #58 K-12 Science Think Tank and supervised the development of the elementary hands-on science program.

Organizers of the event noted that all of the students worked very hard and did a terrific job with their environmental research. They also expressed their appreciation to the judges for taking time from their busy lives to give important real world feedback to their students. Organizers also thanked local business for providing a $25 gift certificate and a number of other prizes.