I have no idea what’s going on with Kid1, aka 10-year-old Sophie, at the 53rd Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair at the Hawaii Convention Center. What I mean is: I’m stressing over this and I’m hoping she’s having a great time, and I’m eager to hear how exciting her day went when we reconnect at home tonight.
You go, Girl! Sophie and her friend Julia have advanced from their first competition at Niu Valley Middle School to the regionals at Kapiolani Community College on February 6 (where I jumped for joy and popped my Achille’s tendon?!), and now to the state level. Theirs is a demonstration project, an explanation of Pangea Theory and what could occur within the neighborhood of 50 million years.
So? Fortunately Sophie and Julia are very well spoken, and are like two kids scrambling to outdo each other when it comes to fielding judges’ questions. That’s a good thing. At their first competition, Haiti had just occurred and the judge told them he wanted them to do their research to explain what happened. As a result, and because earthquakes keep happening, the girls monitor the news, and research to anticipate questions regarding earthquakes in Chile; Baja, Mexico; Turkey; and Japan.
When my sister-in-law Judy was at Kaiser high school, she also excelled at a Hawaii science fair and reached the national level. Judy now has her own research lab at Brown University in Rhode Island. When Judy visits, I’m always excited at the prospect of the girls getting to spend time with her. Uncle Bob and Aunt Susan gave Sophie a science experiment kit two years ago and Aunt Judy was recruited to assist. Charlotte and Sophie still talk about all that.
Sophie and Julia will do well today, but their project won’t go beyond today’s state-level competition thanks to the lack of education funds to send them to the nationals. But that’s OK. My daughter has plenty of time to save the world.
You go GIRL! I love you!
Lavagal 
of course she’s having a great time!