Fort Huachuca, Arizona--A Fort Huachuca eighth-grader who does not profess a strong love of science has taken her third win in the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative's (SSVEC) and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Fair for the third straight year in a row.
McKenna Heck, 14, a student at Colonel Smith Middle School (CSMS) was this year's grand prize winner in the seventh- and eighth-grade Science Category. She also nabbed the grand prize in the same category last year and took second place during her sixth grade at CSMS.
Her first reaction when she learned of this year's win was, "It has to be a joke." But the student who said she "ate, slept and breathed science fair project" for months before the event soon realized her efforts paid off after receiving a phone call notifying her of the win. Her project centered on radiant, reflective insulation, focusing on ways to make the home cooler during summer and warmer during winter. She said she enjoys doing research and learning something from her projects although she is currently leaning toward a career in law, marketing or public speaking when she is older.
McKenna confessed to spending a lot of time in preparation for this year's science fair. She ran 56 tests and spent at least 250 hours on her insulation research project. She also kept thorough notes and put together an eye-catching and effective display board.
"[McKenna's] received a lot of awards for past science fair projects," stated Maggie Snell, eighth-grade science teacher at CSMS. "Even though science is not her field of choice, she has acquired a lot of skills through her science fair projects and can use those skills in whatever field she does choose. She has gained STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills. Engineering is definitely involved in this project," Snell said, adding that McKenna's science fair project focused not only on getting information, but also on conducting testing to determine whether her hypothesis supported her theory.
McKenna does not seem to like wasted effort. She confesses to building on past science fair projects to create new ones. Her second-place win in sixth grade focused on a study of heat and how hot air rises. This project led to her testing various forms of insulation to determine what type was most effective.
The student said that while the project was entirely her own work, her dad helped her collect insulation materials in order to cut down on expenses.
"I did not want to spend $100 on the project," she said. "My dad is a UPS (United Parcel Service) driver in Hereford. They are doing a lot of construction in the area and my dad went dumpster diving for insulation material," McKenna explained. "I put the project together," she added, explaining that this included preparing the actual display board and notebook that explained the project.
Snell explained that the CSMS science fair took place about a month before the YES Fair. She said that McKenna not only worked on getting her project ready for the events, but she also helped classmates work on theirs. "She shared her knowledge of color and balance," Snell stated. "She shared what she knows with the rest of the students," she said, adding to other positive comments she made about her student during the interview.
"Marketing needs visual appeal," McKenna stated. "It's a creative outlet for me."
"She has an ability to do research and present what the judges are looking for," Snell said.
McKenna added that the science fair projects had an additional bonus.
"I was super shy when I came to Smith Middle School," she stated. "I found that presenting [science fair] projects helped me at overcoming this."
Snell, who had McKenna's 16-year-old brother as a student when he was younger, said future potential as an adult runs in the Heck Family. "Whenever [McKenna and her brother] are presented with a challenge, they just step up," she explained.
The YES Fair seeks to recognize and reward the efforts of students studying an array of scientific fields, and more than 250 students from dozens of schools stepped up to the challenge this year. Students in grades five through 12 in SSVEC's service area and schools in Bisbee, Douglas, Nogales and Tombstone are eligible to compete.
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