Sunday, October 18, 2026

Among Connecticut Science Fair Finalists

Westport Bedford Middle School students Bailey Valente (l) and Katie Platt are among seven Westporters who are finalists Thursday in the Connecticut Science Fair at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. Bailey and Katie’s project is called “How does the brand of mascara affect the time it takes for 0.25 milligrams to wash off of the false eyelashes?” Four students from Coleytown Middle School and one Westporter from Greens Farms Academy are also among Westport finalists. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

8 thoughts on “Among Connecticut Science Fair Finalists”

gil ghitelman says:
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 10:22 am
Please, oh please, tell me that the topic these budding scientists explored was a joke. If it were I might smile. And if this isn’t fodder for late night comedians I wonder what the heck is going on here.
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John McCarthy says:
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 10:41 am
Congratulations Bailey and Katie. Finding fun and creative ways to apply science theory is a sign of learning taking place.
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Sheri Valente says:
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Thanks John! Let a kid choose a topic, they will enjoy researching and put 100% into it! These girls are not the most likely candidates for a science fair competition, however a spark has been ignited and they look forward to doing this for their next 4 years at Staples. We are lucky to have such great schools and teachers in Westport who nurture each student’s individuality and allow them to be creative. With those tools, children will become successful adults.
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Ellen Wasserman says:
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 1:08 am
Why are these girls not the most likely candidates for a science fair competition? I think that is an unfair statement.
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Valerie Smith Malin says:
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 3:48 am
Go Girls!! What a creative idea!
As a marketer and product development professional in the Cosmetics industry, the science behind mascaras and other personal care products, coupled with consumer desires, drives what we can and do offer to consumers. Numerous chemists specialize in only this field. Without these talented chemists, engineers and other science professionals the world would not have sunscreen, shampoo, hand lotion, mascara etc. Keep up the creative work and good luck.
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Joanne Heller says:
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 8:07 am
Gil, your comments are quite mean spirited. These girls are young teenagers. They presented their science project at Bedford Middle School and were selected, by a panel of teachers and administrators, to present their project, along with just 5 others, at the state competition. Unless you were at the Bedford Science Fair I think it’s unfair of you to judge what their work was just from the title of their project.
Girls congratulations on your project!
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John McCarthy says:
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 12:56 pm
David, Yes. Good point. Seems to be a pretty unevenly applied policy. As we both can attest to.
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Barbara Wiederecht says:
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 7:55 am
The 8th grade science project is one of the “rites of passage” of our curriculum at both middle schools. Having had 2 children go through CMS and now at Staples, I know seen first hand the rigor of this project. The topic is not as important as the process of learning the appropriate scientific procedures and the critical thinking that is required for successful completion. It also can be about dealing with failure as not all of the beginning hypothesis end up working as planned. I would guess that most of the students at Staples who are now in the 3 year Scientific Research class with very complex projects, all started at CMS/BMS going through the same process as Bailey and Katie did. Congratulations girls!
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