 competition--there are no awards given--and more about learning. Dozens of local judges with scientific backgrounds come on the day of the Science Fair to constructively evaluate the students’ work.
Biology teacher Pam Durkee organizes the fair. “Students gain valuable insight about their projects and the process of science from experts in the field. They also have the opportunity to view the work of their peers and to learn more about the diversity of projects that were completed."
The judges also suggest changes students can make if they want to enter the Monterey County Science Fair. York students have a long record of high performance at the County Science Fair, earning multiple spots at the California State Science Fair in May each year. In 12 of the past 15 years, York students have earned the honor of presenting their work at the prestigious Intel International Science Fair.Aside from hands-on science experience, our students also gain valuable public presentation skills when they discuss their projects and answer questions from the judges. It’s another way we consciously integrate communication skills (and practice!) into the full range of curriculum at York.
York students have the opportunity to bring fun, collaboration, hard work, intelligence, as well as York’s core values: honesty, respect, responsibility, and compassion, to their varied volunteer roles; helping the community grow closer and stronger. The goal of the service learning program is to have students adopt service as part of their identity: making positive contributions to others, to communities, and to the world part of who they are as productive citizens. As a graduation requirement, York expects each student to complete 10 hours of service learning each school year (excluding the eighth grade). Service is intentionally not cumulative, meaning one cannot simply meet the graduation requirement by volunteering 40 hours in one academic year. Sustained engagement with the community over time is important in affecting change, both within individuals and larger systems. While 10 hours is required, over 80% of the students do significantly more volunteering.
York defines “service learning” as any voluntary service in which students are asked to do more than provide manpower for a non-profit organization or social cause. Typically, service learning extends curricular goals by doing service in the community, mutually benefiting the organization or audience and the student. Students should be expanding their comfort zones by engaging in personally significant and challenging service, whether developing leadership capacity, intrapersonal communication skills, or organization abilities and other relevant expertise.
Opportunities for student-centered learning models and learning by doing are an exciting part of the York curriculum. Interdisciplinary STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics – projects support inquiry-based and challenge-based learning. By making, inventing, designing, and tinkering, students develop hands-on experience with innovation, entrepreneurship, and problem-solving.
Every day at York, we witness remarkable ideas morphing and thriving in the minds of this community. Without a doubt, they are ideas worth spreading. One way to distribute them: TEDxYorkSchool, an annual conference for students and community memers featuring a line up of speakers who bring new ideas and creativity to the world.
The York Outdoor Laboratory provides education and research programs in field biology, ecology, natural history, geosciences, and the history of land use practices for York students and the Central Coast community. Get all of the details here.