Thirty Exciting Calls

 “Wow.”

“Oh my gosh!”

“I’m very honored.”

“Yay!

“That’s pretty awesome.”

“Thank you so much.”

“I’m speechless.”

These are some of the things Society for Science & the Public staff, along with Broadcom Foundation Executive Director Paula Golden, heard last night when they called the Broadcom MASTERS finalists to let them know they had been selected. The students were chosen based on their science fair project and an application to the MASTERS™ (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars), a national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) competition for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

Even though the calls disrupted activities, such as one nap and another shopping trip, the finalists were happy to hear the news. They were very excited, and often surprised, to learn they had been selected from the 300 semifinalists and would be competing in the nation’s capitol next month for a top prize of $25,000.

As one finalist said, “I can’t wait to go to Washington!”