By: Erin Houlihan/Senior Feature Editor
Every year Blue Ridge students are eager to join one or two of the many clubs offered through the school. This year there will be another club added to the list: The Science Club. The club was introduced by science teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Vaccaro, with hopes to have students that are interested in science together in a club that did not exist in previous years.
The Raider Reader interviewed Mrs. Vaccaro about the new club and she explained, “I wanted to have an opportunity to promote and support students who were interested in science and science related careers beyond Envirothon. Envirothon is a team competition that focuses on Ecology, but the science club (still unnamed!) will be for students in Chemistry, Physics, and AP Biology who want to share their interest with younger students and want to help each other as they work on these challenging courses.”
The new flex period this year makes it difficult for the advanced science students to get together and collaborate on projects, outside of class time, that involve the equipment only accessible through the science teachers and labs. Mrs. Vaccaro said “… so some of the club time will let them have access to me and my equipment if they need it.” Since the equipment is difficult to access, this club will be a great opportunity for the advanced science students who need access to the equipment for a project or a lab.
Since this is a first year club created by Mrs. Vaccaro, she is looking for ways to expand it for next year. For example, the club is planning on meeting one Friday a month on club day and they are hoping to organize demonstrations to present to the Elementary School sometime during the end of the year to hopefully improve the presence for next year.
Mrs. Vaccaro strongly encourages students in Chemistry, Honors Physics, AP Physics, or AP Biology to consider joining. She says, “The goal is to remind us that even when science is challenging it can be fun – especially when we work together!”
