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About

What is the Science Extravaganza?

Science Extravaganza is a hands-on academic enrichment experience for middle and high school students from low income; academically low performing schools with a high percentage of Hispanic enrollment. This one-day endeavor gives  professionals and university students an opportunity to peak the interest of younger students in technical fields and reinforces the benefits of higher education.

Science Extravaganza consists of workshops presented by volunteer professionals, professors, and college students across a spectrum of technical and scientific fields.  Depending on the workshops, students are provided the opportunity to conduct hands-on experiments or attend informative presentations on various technical or scientific subjects.

Hands-on projects can range from building structures to observing chemical reactions to learning how to program digital displays.  Students are briefed on the particular project in which they will have to apply their problem solving skills, logical reasoning, and mathematics applications.  Then, working in teams, students are challenged to work with a variety of personalities and explore one another’s creativity.  They learn to combine an assortment of ideas into one, which demonstrates the importance of working as a team versus as an individual.  Group work also encourages and develops communication skills between team members.

How did the Science ExtravaganzaSM begin?

The Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) Southwest Texas State University chapter established the MAES Science ExtravaganzaSM in 1994.  In subsequent years, the concept of the Science ExtravaganzaSM was refined into an event that gained popularity, notoriety, and endorsement by the Southwest Texas University Administration, San Marcos CISD, City Council of San Marcos, former Texas Governor George Bush, and the MAES National organization.

In 1999, the fifth annual Science ExtravaganzaSM at South West Texas marked the first time that the event obtained corporate sponsorship.  Sponsors for this Science ExtravaganzaSM event included IBM, Advanced Micro Devices and the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  The success of the SWT Science ExtravaganzaSM prompted the MAES National Board of Directors to attend the event and to eventually promote it to the entire MAES organization.

In 2003, the MAES Bay Area Professional chapter and the Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists (SOLES) at San Jose

State University hosted the second annual Science Extravaganza in Silicon Valley.  Approximately 200 students attended from over 20 middle schools and high schools in the Bay Area.  An overwhelmingly positive response to the event came from students, teachers, parents, and volunteers alike.

Just 6 years later, in 2009 SOLES brought over 500 students to participate. Through this event we received very positive feedback from all the participants, as well as from the College of Engineering. As we continue to grow as an organization, we will also continue to host events such as Science Extravaganza, as well as many others throughout the year such as "Shadow Day". Shadow day is very similar to Science Extravaganza, with the main difference being that for Shadow Day we bring a much smaller group (20-30 students), and show them around campus, even having them participate and sit through some of the SOLES student's real classes.