Teams of youngsters hailing from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island gathered at Gillette Stadium on Sunday to present sports-based science fair projects. To the victors go the spoils.
The New England Patriots and Raytheon gave away 15 scholarships to "Science of Sports" Science Fair winners. This comes after more than 115 middle school students from Boys and Girls Clubs throughout New England worked with Raytheon mentors over the past four months to prepare for the event.
The middle school students spanned 17 communities and were mentored by 65 Raytheon employee volunteers who made weekly visits to the Boys and Girls Club locations in Brockton, Charlestown, Dorchester, Framingham, Hanscom, Hudson, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Nashua, Newport, Pawtucket, Salem, Roxbury, Stoneham, Waltham and Woburn.
Students tested the math and science behind their favorite sports as part of the event. The teams that participated on Sunday then showed off their projects to judges, which included Raytheon Chairman and CEO William H. Swanson, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Pats running back Danny Woodhead.
"This is the fourth year that we have hosted the 'Science of Sports' Science Fair with Raytheon and every year it has grown bigger and better. Once again, I was amazed at the creativity of their projects," Kraft said.
Each member of the top three winning teams received a $1,000 (Grand Prize), $750 (Second Place) or $500 (Third Place) scholarship. Three teams were also named winners of a science activity, and thus won a special visit to 2012 Patriots training camp.
