March 18, 2024

Mad scientists take over Baxter Community School for PBIS celebration

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BAXTER — “We all told them they were mad. Mad! But they showed us. They showed us all.”

On March 9, 200 mad scientists took over Baxter Community School in the name of science.

With the help of a fellow mad scientist from the Science Center of Iowa, kindergarten through fifth grade students, equipped with lab coats, crazy wigs and goggles, conducted a variety of explosive experiments, combined their brain powers and most importantly, showed off their maniacal laughs in celebration of the school’s Mad Scientist Day.

“The cool thing about our outreach program is that we are able do what we do at the science center at the schools that maybe don’t have the opportunity to spend a whole day at the science center,” Science Center of Iowa program coordinator, Maddie Mardesen said. “It is super fun. I was able to see the entire elementary school, which is super cool.”

Baxter Community School is in its sixth year of being a Positive Behavior Intervention and Support school, according to Josh Russell, the school’s kindergarten through fifth grade principal. Throughout the year, staff acknowledge positive behavior of individual students.

“We teach and model expectations, and celebrate positive behavior through PBIS. Once we reach a goal, we celebrate with a school-wide acknowledgment for PBIS,” kindergarten teacher, April Kearns said. “We decided to celebrate by having a Mad Scientist Day.”

The celebration featured a variety of programs offered by the Science Center of Iowa. From engineering to geology, the students had fun learning science-related topics through many interactive, collaborative activities throughout the day.

“I think it is incredible because now, they are in their own environment and they can see that science is everywhere, not just at the science center,” Kearns said. “They have hands-on materials, which makes learning so much more relevant for them. They are also learning how to collaborate with each other and work together. They are doing the thinking and problem solving through it to build and work through the problem.”

Despite some kids adding pink tutus, wigs made from metallic tinsel and tiaras to their scientist ensemble, the program coordinator said all of the students’ costumes represented what it means to be a true scientist.

“If you are curious about something and you want to find an answer to something, you are a scientist,” Mardesen. “It isn’t necessarily someone who wears a lab coat who works in a laboratory. Anybody can be a scientist. Science is everywhere.”

Sporting a lab coat or not, it seemed that the students had a blast conducting the experiments and working together.

“The excitement that you see is completely genuine,” Kearns said. “They are excited about learning and they are acting with each other. Just getting dressed up is the frosting to the cake. It adds to the excitement.”

According to the principal, each grade typically takes one to two field trips a year. Due to the 35-mile distance from the Science Center of Iowa, many students are not given the opportunity to experience SCI without events like Mad Scientist Day.

“I grew up in a really small town in southwest Iowa, so there was a similar thing that we didn’t necessarily go to Des Moines that often,” Mardesen said. “It is really important because we are able to bring the same programming into the school, which they might not be able to experience otherwise.”

The elementary principal said he believes events like this are important because it allows the teachers and students to experiment with new ideas, enhancing the overall learning and progress at the school.

“We encourage healthy risk taking (both with our teachers and students) and being experimental with their learning. You know what, if it doesn’t work and it fails, then that is part of the learning process,” Russell said. “We absolutely all need to be mad scientists. Education is evolving, and we have to grow and evolve with how our kids are learning and what they need now. It is changing.”

The festivities were funded by a PBIS fundraiser in the fall.

For more information about SCI, visit sciowa.org or find Science Center of Iowa & Blank IMAX Dome Theater on Facebook.

Contact Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@jaspercountytribune.com.