Middle School Scientists Head to MCLA For Region I Science Fair

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will host the Massachusetts Region I Middle School Science Fair on Wednesday, April 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. 
 
The event brings together approximately 110 middle school students from across the region to showcase their original research projects.
 
Seven schools are participating this year: BArT Charter School, Hoosac Valley Middle School, St. Agnes School, Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion School, Greenfield Middle School, Drury Middle School, and John F. Kennedy Middle School. 
 
Students will present approximately 50 projects across five STEM categories: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Engineering, Environmental Science, and Behavioral and Social Science.
 
Projects will be evaluated by a panel of approximately 30 judges, including MCLA faculty, staff, and students, as well as representatives from McCann Technical High School, Berkshire Museum, Flying Cloud, Fuss and O'Neill, and Williams College.
 
"Participation in the middle school science fair introduces students to the practice of scientific research, and gives us a chance to celebrate their work," said Ann Billetz, Professor of Biology. "It also gives students the opportunity to spend the day on a college campus and interact with faculty, undergraduate students, and STEM mentors.
 
The event is open to community members who wish to attend.
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North Adams Housing Trust Building Foundation for Future

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The newly established Affordable Housing Trust has spent its first meetings determining its mission, objectives and resources. 
 
What it has to decide is the chicken or the egg — set goals with the purpose of finding funds or getting the funds first and determining the best way to use them. 
 
"I think that funding actually would dictate the projects that we do, rather than come up with we what we want to do, and then find a way to fund it," said Trustee Ross Jacobs last Thursday. "There may be sources we explore that will be successful. Some may not. ...
 
"If we start exploring funding options and get some of these wheels rolling, then we'll have a better idea within six months where some of these are going, and then what we can do."
 
Trustee Nancy Bullett said it may be more of doing both at the same time. 
 
"It's almost simultaneous looking at the projects that are incorporating funding, because your funding is specific to whatever it is that you're doing," she said. "So how do you identify the projects that you want to work on, which then dictates the funding."
 
This will tie into the trust's objectives which could include home rehabilitation, property tax relief, emergency rent or mortgage, or support of projects undertaken by private or public developers like Habitat for Humanity. 
 
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