During the past few days I’ve wondered what happened to the science teachers I had in seventh grade at Highland Middle School in Bellevue.

It’s been more than 20 years since I was a middle schooler, but, I began to wonder last week after attending the Cedar Valley Elementary Science Fair and Expo April 5. It got me thinking about the teachers I had in seventh grade because we had a science fair that year — and now to date myself, the 1990-91 school year — because I took second place with something I invented at the last possible minute. It brought my science grade up from a D to a B. And it may have rekindled an interest in science.

Cedar Valley’s fair may have sparked an interest in science among many of its students based on the incredible projects I saw, 92 in all, and I was especially impressed with the experiment conducted by Mariam Ouldtaki and Karla Sandoval, a pair of sixth graders who wanted to know what would really happen if they let fast food sit out for a while. Ouldtaki said they wanted to do something different and the ubiquitous McDonald’s slogan “I’m lovin’ it,” in a commercial piqued their curiosity. The pair wondered if the rumors they’d heard about McDonald’s food was true. So, they put it to the test.They were fascinated by the results and surprised by them. It took three weeks, for example, for a burger to show a spot of mold and four weeks before it was in full bloom. Both girls said it’s changed what they think of the food from the golden arches and they’ll consider carefully what they order next time.

Ouldtaki and Sandoval’s thinking, their creativity, their experiment and their reaction to the results made me smile. This is what scientific inquiry is all about. I highlight them because the primary reason I was at the fair was to give out a special award, the Reporter’s Pick, and I gave it to these two girls. And I know I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a great project because Edward Lee Vargas from the Kent School District gave them his award, too, the Superintendent’s Pick. They were also recognized as one of the top projects by the judges of the science fair.

There are so many awesome things about the science fair which I observed beyond what Sandoval and Ouldtaki accomplished. I loved Devin Reice’s Active Volcanoes of Washington display. Reice, a sixth grader, went well beyond the usual baking powder explosion in one volcano. Instead, he had a lovely mountain range and a well thought out project board. Then there was fifth grader Edgardo Eguia’s clever and creative project called Flexible Bones. He wanted to see what would happen if he soaked chicken bones in vinegar. They became rubbery and pliable. He demonstrated this to many in front of his project board. It was gross and cool, just the kind of thing a boy his age would want to do but might otherwise be discouraged because an adult might think it’s too gross or messy.

That’s the beauty of science, it gives kids a chance to flex their inquisitive brains and engage in making sense of the world while making a mess. If you think about it, that’s what Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters have done for a living for more than a decade. What’s more amazing about Jamie Heineman and Adam Savage, the men behind Mythbusters, is that neither of them have formal science-based educations. They just followed their curiosity wherever it led them and like Ouldtaki and Sandoval, the results have often surprised them and changed their thinking about how the world works.

When I was invited via email by Jennifer Harjehausen from the Cedar Valley PTA to attend and pick out a project for a special award, I was thrilled. When I got the list of projects last week I was excited to see them in person based on the names of the experiments. Yes, I wanted to see how to build a lava lamp. Magic putty, eh? Now that could be interesting — and it was, in fact, quite cool. There were so many I can’t begin to name them all but I walked through the gym, which was packed by the way, and looked at every single one. I stopped and asked questions of the students. I absolutely loved it. Some of the kids decided to replicate experiments they saw on YouTube, which is something the Mythbusters do on occasion, and others looked for something they could do quickly. One boy told me he and his partner ended up doing the lava lamp after the first project idea they tried didn’t work. That right there is science. Now, I’m sure the grade factor played a part in finding another project, but still, the idea that the pair didn’t give up after the first experiment failed shows they learned a valuable lesson about persistence which will serve them well throughout their lives.

Thanks to the Cedar Valley PTA the event was a smashing success. Kids learned about the importance of scientific inquiry and that this is valued by adults in authority in the community — State Sen. Joe Fain from the 47th Legislative District, Covington Mayor Margaret Harto, Kent School Board Member Agda Burchard and others were also on hand to give out special awards along with myself and Vargas.

Harjehausen said the PTA was able to get support from its parent organization to help cover costs of the science fair.

“We received an Applegate grant in the amount of $650 from the Washington State PTA,” Harjehausen wrote in an email. “These grants are available to any PTA in the state through an application process. We are extremely fortunate to have the support of WSPTA for these kind of events. Most of the funds were used for trophies, medals, participation ribbons, and the refreshments. Title I funds purchased presentation boards for each student. Given the huge turn out, I would say that the funds were well spent.”

The fair made me want to reach out to my seventh grade science teacher, both my regular teacher and the long-term substitute who came into the classroom to cover her while she took maternity leave. That wasn’t an easy school year for me academically or socially but taking second place in the science fair had a significant impact on me. In fact, it helped me focus the rest of the school year then go on to get good grades the next year as I started to transition out of childhood into the awkwardness of the teen years, it was a confidence boost.

It’s amazing what something like a project for a science fair can do for a kid whether she is a kindergartener or sixth grader or anywhere in between.

I hope this fair continues because it doesn’t just teach the youngsters in our community — especially at a school like Cedar Valley which is ethnically diverse with more than 50 percent of students on free and reduced lunch — about the importance of science. It does so much more for those kids by providing them another stepping stone toward success in school and in life.

In the meantime, I may just go replicate a science experiment myself, this time with my 3-year-old daughter. All the VIPs from the event, yes including me, got a bag with a bottle of Diet Coke and Mentos. When the summer weather arrives I think my daughter and I will make a Diet Coke-Mentos fountain in the backyard. Science can be fun and messy but we learn something along the way. That’s the kind of lesson I want not just for my daughter but for all children — so, fair warning to my neighbors in Maple Valley.