Science to the Rescue! CUSD Middle School Students Tackling Tough Problems in Fourth Annual S^4-Super Summer Science SearchContest

CUPERTINO, CA—The Cupertino Library Foundation (CLF) announced its fourth annual 2015 S^4-Super Summer Science Search™ Contest, a free community program open to all outgoing 6th, 7th and 8th graders living in the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD). Solving the community’s most pressing problems is the focus of this year’s contest.

Registration opens May 1 on the CLF website, and closes June 1. Entries are due no later than 11:59 p.m. PDT, August 1, 2015. Families wanting to learn more are invited to an informational meeting from 3 to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 25, at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, 20920 McClellan Rd., Cupertino. Sign ups for this meeting are encouraged. Go to http://cupertinolibraryfoundation.org/event/s4-super-summer-science-search-contest-public-information-meeting/ for more information and a link to sign up.

Formulating creative scientific solutions to problems or issues at the local, state, national or international level is this year’s contest challenge. Students are being asked to use one of three areas of study—engineering, biology or the humanities—in their projects. Students may enter the contest alone, or in a team of up to three people. Entries include a five-page report, a citation list, a journal, and a digital presentation.

“Our planning team of high school leaders created this prompt, because they wanted the students to take on real issues they see in their own community, or in the world at large,” said Bev Lenihan, foundation vice president and this year’s advisor to the S^4 program. “It’s a unique learning opportunity for the young students, to discover not only the importance of science, but also how the students’ themselves can develop potential solutions.”

Besides the experience, there are prizes: the first place team will receive iPad minis; second place receives $100 each; third place receives $50 each. All participants will receive a digital recognition letter, and up to 20 teams will receive certificates, and invitations to the celebration event in August.

Because last year’s contest attracted students who were interested in areas other than science, particularly music and the arts—and with the growing popularity of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) programs—the S^4 Task Force intentionally included the humanities in this year’s prompt.

“One of the exciting aspects last year was to see students who might not usually be interested in science take part in the contest,” said Pam Marino, S^4 program manager. “We were encouraged by how the contest makes science come alive for these students. We saw entries connecting music, arts and sports to science, and one team even won third place for its report and video about how science is used to detect art forgeries.”

More than 200 students registered for the contest, resulting in nearly 120 entries from both individuals and teams. A survey taken at the end of the contest showed that 92 percent of students enjoyed working on their entries, and most said they would recommend the S^4 contest to friends.

While this year’s prompt is new, the “search” portion of the contest remains the same: students are required to do at least part of their research within the Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) online databases. Each student is required to use his or her own library card, available for free through the district.

The CLF also remains committed to its original commitment of supporting students in learning critical thinking skills around Common Core Standards, in partnership with the CUSD and the Cupertino Library.

“One of our goals at the Cupertino Library is to bring STEAM principles to life, building on state educational standards and introducing creative problem solving skills to today’s middle school students,” said Cupertino Community Librarian Gayathri Kanth. “The S^4 Contest is completely consistent with that goal, by not only encouraging critical thinking, but also introducing students to our robust online resources.”

This year there are four free Study Sessions to help students as they progress with their projects from May to July. The sessions are led by the high school leaders and adults of the S^4 Team, and feature expert speakers who will help students understand each aspect of their projects. Complete times, dates and locations are available on the CLF website: cupertinolibraryfoundation.org/s4-super-summer-science-search/s4-study-sessions-2015/.

Contest judging takes place in three flights. The first flight is done by the S^4 Task Force, to assess meeting of all the requirements. The second flight of judging is done by a group of teens also from the S^4 Task Force, and past winners. The third flight is done by professionals in the community representing technology and other relevant fields. In 2014 members of Google, Apple, HP and community leaders, in addition to Cupertino Library staff, served as final judges.

The S^4 Contest remains free to the community thanks to a generous grant from the Peter Likhachev Family Foundation. Last year the foundation granted CLF $10,000; the amount was increased to $10,500 for 2015.