A group of students from Penn-Trafford High School’s gifted program formed a team to compete in The Fairchild Challenge - an environmental science education program held by Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. Many schools in the Pittsburgh region participated.
The students’ first activity of the school year, in October, was called “Biological Structure” and challenged them to inspire others with the beauty and importance of nature. Students created a sculpture of a glittering creature made entirely out of found objects and recycled materials. Along with this visual representation, they submitted a written description of the creature they chose to sculpt describing where the iridescence occurs on the organism and explaining the purpose of its iridescence. The students earned second place in this challenge.
In a November challenge called “Plant Love Stories”, the students were directed to reflect on a plant that has meaning to them and write the story of how that plant has impacted their lives. The students also created original artwork to accompany their stories. In this challenge, the Penn-Trafford team took first place.
Penn-Trafford’s team members are Seniors Tali Brobst and Dakota Dandrea as well as Juniors Mark Harris, Kristina Heins, Emily Lenart, Kate Malley, and Delena Steimer.
This is the sixth year that Penn-Trafford has participated in the Phipps program.