Grace Ai | The Chronicle
From slime to exploding soda bottles, the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) brings the magic of science to an organization that may seem unexpected: Cub Scouts. This year, the SNHS continues its collaboration with the Cub Scouts in Mason to foster a love for science in the younger generation.
SNHS partners with Cub Scout Pack 750 each year to host events where SNHS sets up booths that demonstrate different scientific concepts to various Cub Scout groups with fun activities. There are two planned events this year that are located at Mason Presbyterian Church and Mason Early Childhood Center (MECC).
For MHS senior and executive of SNHS, Neha Balaji, this collaboration is one she looks forward to the most each year. SNHS is currently involved with Mason Intermediate (MI) enrichment and hopes to expand its events towards Mason Elementary (ME) in the future. She said that the Cub Scouts who participate in these events tend to be more enthusiastic than the students at MI.
Isha Acharya (left), Deepica Viswanath (middle), and Ana Gotike (right) prepare a dried ice cauldron experiment for the Cub Scouts to enjoy.
“They would get so active and hyper,” Balaji said. “They look at us like we’re big role models, and it’s just nice to see.”
Crystal Maag, a parent volunteer for Cub Scout Pack 750 in Mason, said that Cub Scouts is part of a program called Scouting America that teaches students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade how to be good citizens. Maag learned about the Science National Honor Society when they came to put on various events for her pack. She connected with the SNHS advisor, who also had children in Cub Scouts, to coordinate the collaboration going forward.
“It’s a real highlight for the pack,” Maag said. “They really take over our meeting, putting on all these wonderful and fun events for the kids.”
Balaji points out that there are many challenges to planning and organizing the events. The rest of the executive team has been at work to figure out what the events will look like, with many ideas for stands being pitched and discussed.
“The first is getting your group all on the same page on what you’re doing,” Balaji said. “You don’t want anyone to slack off. It’s just thinking of the right experiment that hasn’t been repeated that will keep the kids engaged.”
Because the children attending the meetings can be in multiple grade levels, Maag said it can be a challenge for the high schoolers to come up with activities that can be appealing to the wide age range. They also have to answer all the questions that the kids will ask, which isn’t easy either. While the events are fun, it can be a lot to manage.
“We’re a large pack,” Maag said. “It’s a very fun and exciting time, but it requires a lot of monitoring and just keeping the kids safe and in one group.”
Balaji said her most memorable moment working on this collaboration was an event she volunteered for last year. She remembered that there was a kid at the acid and base station who was very excited about making invisible writing on paper.
“He was so excited,” Balaji said. “He ran up to his dad saying,‘look at this cute drawing I made, I need to put this on the fridge’. It was absolutely adorable. He was talking to his dad about the science we explained, so I’m glad that he remembered something that we taught.”
For senior and member of SNHS Geetika Chemarthi, seeing the younger kids get excited about science and math is the most memorable part of the experience because she used to be just like them. An experiment her group ran was demonstrating vacuums with a candle in a dish of water and then putting a cup over the candle.
“It was cool that they actually enjoyed the events,” Chemarthi said. “It was also nice to see them shocked when we put the cup over the candle and watched it suck up the water.”
Chemarthi is one of the members of SNHS who attended some of the events that they hosted when she was an elementary student. In a way, she said it’s come full circle for her science journey as these events were what inspired her to join SNHS.
“As a kid, I would see all these high schoolers running everything and I thought ‘I want to be able to do that one day too,’ Chemarthi said. “And now I’m able to do that.”
Maag said there are a couple of things she hopes to accomplish with this collaboration for the children in her pack. While having fun is one of those goals, it doesn’t end there.
“I want the kids to have fun,” Maag said. “And I want the kids to be inspired by what these high school kids are able to do, and see how much fun these kids have in this program. As they get older, hopefully they strive to be in the Science Nation Honor Society when they get to high school and inspire a love for curiosity and science.”
Balaji really hopes that the kids are engaged when they do the experiments they’ve planned for them. She also wants them to get excited about the things that happen in the community.
“They look forward to it every year in their pack,” Balaji said. “We like doing it for them too because it’s just a great night for kids to learn about science while enjoying it with their friends as well. It’s honestly so great. Last year, I was anxious to do Cub Scouts because I had a chemistry test the next day, but it just made me happy watching all the kids get so engaged and happy to be there.”
Maag explained that the support and dedication the members of SNHS bring to the event mean a lot to the pack. She looks forward to future collaborations with SNHS.
“It’s amazing that these high schoolers are willing to give their time and pour it into the younger kids,” Maag said. “Between the planning and setting up and tearing down, it’s a whole lot of time, and we’re very, very appreciative of them. It’s a great collaboration within Mason, and we’re really lucky that we’re in a district with a group that has such talented, smart kids who are willing to do this. We’re thankful to be in an area with a group like the Science National Honor Society.”
