Ryan & the Regional Science Fair

Front door to the Conference Center

{I totally forgot to post about Ryan's adventure at the Regional Science Fair, so here it is now.}

On March 28, 2012, the Utah Regional Science Fair was hosted at the Conference Center at BYU-Provo. As far as we knew, Ryan and another girl (who happens to be the daughter of our bishop, natch!) were the only ones from Hayden Peak that made it to the regional level. It was somewhat chaotic when we arrived; about a hundred or so participants and their parents crowding up the halls of the building, waiting for instruction. And, we arrived with 5 minutes before the appointed start time, so I imagined there were quite a few students who were there longer.

After the students left to man their project boards and await their interviews, the parents dispersed as well. Scott and I headed outside to sit on the patio, and Ethan and my dad followed us. We spent the next two hours waiting, passing the time with a mixture of conversation, games on the iPad, and just enjoying the spring day.

When noon hit, all of the students came pouring out of the rooms, wandering over to a front room to be fed some pizza. I eventually found Ryan, who informed me he was staying for the provided lunch, and the student activities afterwards. That was our cue that we needed to leave since 1) his friends from another school were calling him over, and 2) parents had to fend for themselves for lunch.

So we met the rest of the family (my brother, sister, mom, Jeff and Vanessa, who came in another car), and headed to L&L's for lunch. Uneventful, really, so after that, we headed back up to the Conference Center to pick up Ryan. Gathered up his journal and project board and left. The winners wouldn't be posted until later, so there really wasn't any reason to hang around.

Turns out, Ryan wouldn't be advancing. It was kind of disappointing for Ryan, but we reassured him that it was a BIG DEAL to have made it to the regional level, and that we were so proud of him! Plus, he got to visit the college of his hero, Jimmer, so that was a definite plus! He took it really well, and the best part was when he said, "Next year, my project will be even better!"

Love that he's already planning!