My passion towards science started when I was very young. I was always curious about the world around me. During family picnics, I wondered where the river water came from. When I looked up at the sky, I wondered why it was blue. Time spent at my grandparent's house deepened my curiosity even more, questions like “What are the green things floating in the pond?” or “Why do we flip the soil before we plant?” fascinated me. I’ve always loved learning about science through everyday experiences rather than just from a textbook, and I truly believe that the best way to understand abstract concepts is to connect them to things we encounter in daily life.
Inspired by my childhood curiosity, I co-published a book called "Boom! It’s Science," a science book targeted to students in grades 3-5. My writing partner is also a high school senior who is currently attending school in Canada. Together, we brainstormed the questions we used to wonder about as kids and chose our top 10 favorites to explore in the book. We focused on using simple, accessible language and included lots of fun facts to keep young readers engaged. I also hand-drew all the illustrations, making visuals a major part of the book to help kids better understand each concept.
As part of my Senior Ventures project, I visited the Pre-K to 8 division in October to present one of the chapters and read it aloud to the students. I also hosted a story time at a local bookstore, River & Hill Books, in downtown Rome, where I read several chapters and demonstrated small experiments that connected to the book’s lessons.
I observed several science lessons with the lower grades to gain a deeper understanding of the teaching styles, student engagement strategies and the types of activities that capture students’ interest. These observations helped me determine how to incorporate my book into their lessons in a way that supports the curriculum, keeps students actively involved, and reinforces key scientific concepts.
Currently, I’m working on a second book in the series focusing more on environmental science, which is another area that I’m excited to help younger students explore.
I hope that through this project, more students will discover a genuine excitement for science: seeing it not as something intimidating or dull, but as a subject full of curiosity, creativity, and hands-on discovery. My goal for this Senior Ventures project is for them to learn not just by memorizing formulas, but by exploring, experimenting and experiencing the wonder of science for themselves.
Senior Ventures is a year-long academic program built on a framework of leadership, innovation and community engagement. Through a proven self-guided exploratory process, seniors whose proposals are selected for this program work independently to develop a project that’s interdisciplinary in scope and is connective, performance-based, investigative, or entrepreneurial. Click here to learn more.
