The discussion was one of many that the Kimball High advanced
placement biology students had as mentors for fifth graders from
Hirsch School who are preparing their science projects for the
elementary school science fair on March 15. The pair spent
nearly an hour discussing the best ways to approach the project.
“His project is more complex than any I did in the fifth grade,”
said Nathan, as he looked over Osvaldo’s project notes. It’s the
first type of collaboration between the two schools, according
to Hirsch School fifth grade teacher June Yasemsky. She got the
new idea from the reading buddies program at Hirsch. That
program has older students practice reading skills with
preschool children. Yasemsky said designing a science fair
project can be quite intimidating and noted that her 29 students
have paired with two periods of the Kimball High biology
students. “Some of my students have never done a science fair
project before,” she said. “This gives them one-on-one time with
students who already love scien