Homelss Intel semi-finalist

nysmile
Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:03:03 +0000

The only mentor our local girl had was our high school teacher. She didn’t have any financial backing or big time Stony Brook professors helping. All she had was our local HS lab (not much to write home about, a school that averages about 60-70 students in the graduating class), her ambition, and good high school science teacher. She did it all while also playing varsity sports, other EC’s, working, taking care of her little sister, and overcoming a lot more than being homeless for a few days.

In short, adding “homeless” to the headline sells papers. I agree with you MomofNEA–focus on the work these students put into their project rather than the drama behind the scenes.

In the past 6 years, our small town public HS has produced 5 semi-finalists and 1 finalist. One HS teacher mentored each of these students. His philosophy is that it’s the process of doing the project without big time professors assisting that allows the student to “own” his/her research. We have a rinky dink little school in a little town where most students juggle sports, academics, and part time jobs.