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Middle school life, science fairs & being a boy

March 5, 2010 at 9:16 am, by Rich Kirkpatrick

My son is in middle school. What I remember about the 6th grade besides the raucous East Side San Jose campus was how huge 8th grade boys looked up close. Wood shop, algebra and lunch in the quad. Memories somehow blend those all in one cocktail called “middle school”.

Ethan had a science project and of course something like mold would be of interest to him. At the science fair you could tell the projects displayed by boys. Everything from a potato gun to fire whirlwinds to mold. The girl–of course–who won did the extraction of DNA from pees!

No boy would even have interest in peas. In fact, girls do not either. But, what would parents and teachers love most? A child that not only loves peas but the extraction of DNA. She rightfully displayed her blue ribbon and also made sure to educate those passing by her display.

Indeed, I am not complaining that my son’s mold experiment did not win. I am simply stating how fun it is to see the difference between the boys and girls at this age–other than most boys being shorter than the girls.

What memory of middle school strikes you the most? If you are a parent, what worries you the most about walking through this with your child?

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  • http://photos.rickscheibner.net Rick

    And if you’re looking for the career angle, mold edges out legumes by quite a bit. Up here, anyway, mold detection and removal is getting to be pretty big business.

  • http://photos.rickscheibner.net Rick

    And to answer your question, middle school years have been, for the most part, pretty good to my boys. My youngest is leaving eighth grade in just a few months and will be entering high school next fall.

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