LETTER: Thanks to all who helped with science fair

The Flathead County Science Fair committee would like to thank the Flathead Valley community for helping out with the science fair this year. It is the support of the whole community that leads to a successful event like this, which can change the lives of our area students. Many of our local kids went on to the State Science Fair in Missoula, and put on a good showing there as well.

First of all, we would like to thank our sponsors this year: the Applied Materials Foundation, Kalispell Regional Healthcare, and Flathead Electric Coop. Their support helped us to put on the fair and provide incentives for the top winners at the Flathead County Science Fair to take their projects to the State Science Fair. Thank you for your financial support, and for encouraging your employees to help with judging.

Next, we have to thank the many community volunteers who took time out of their busy lives to act as judges at the science fair. These people take time to spend with the youth of our community, and can have a great effect on the students and help to encourage a lifelong interest in science and engineering. More than 100 people from all walks of life took the time to help us judge projects at this year’s county science fair. Thank you for your help and interest in our kids.

Mark Campbell, Tim Harmon and the Flathead County Fairgrounds crew were also wonderful. They set up the Expo building for us, and checked back to see what more they could do at the last minute. They made some changes for us, and the layout worked great this year.

Finally, I would like to thank several members of the science fair committee who gave their personal time and worked hard to pull off our county science fair, just because they like to give our students this opportunity to learn. These teachers are going above and beyond what they are paid to do, and they do it all for the kids. Mary Ellen Getts, Myrna Matulevich, Melaina Crabtree, Jess Hensley, John Clement, Lyn Campbell, Vic Dalla Betta, and Anni Sutkus were all crucial to the operation of the science fair, and they all deserve our thanks. If you know one of these people, please thank them for going above and beyond in order to help the kids in our community.

There are many other teachers, parents, and community members involved with the individual schools’ science fairs and some of the individual projects. All of this works together to help the kids in our community get excited about science and engineering, and to understand how the processes work. Thank you all.

—Tom Ritzdorf, Bigfork, Flathead County Science Fair Committee