Doe, Gail, and Sam visit at the Citizens for Conservation booth. Photo taken by Bonnie Albrecht
On Sunday, April 12 Citizens for Conservation Youth-Education Committee members once again participated in the Barrington BizEd Community Expo/STEM Fair at Barrington High School. The gymnasium was filled with 90 exhibitors including businesses, community charity groups, along with 12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) exhibitors for children and their families.
A new feature this year was live entertainment provided by area young people including Barrington High School Men’s Swing Choir, Trinity Irish Dancers, and Tiger Martial Arts Academy. These acts brought many families in to wander through the Expo after watching their children perform. Barrington D-220 featured 10 lemonade stands with unique flavors invented by each school as a part of a junior business project this year.
CFC Youth-Education volunteers spread the word about our spring and summer classes and volunteer opportunities for children and adults. We also discussed and answered questions about nature topics from dealing with raccoons to our monthly bird walks. Children and their parents enjoyed our mammals display and the colorful nature posters. Visitors could select from a variety of CFC materials to take home with them. These included prairie posters, nature class schedules, CFC redwing blackbird bookmarks, a copy of our recent newsletter, and a mammal booklet showing animal tracks.
The Barrington BizEd Community Expo is a great place to visit with many area residents, other science education providers, and local businesses and charity organizations. Thanks to the Barrington Area Chamber of commerce for organizing this event, BMO Harris Bank for sponsoring the event, and to Georgia Nelson, Barrington D220 teacher, for organizing the STEM Fair exhibits for children.