“Wonder, Observe, and Explore” was the theme of the first ever NB Science Week and as the event concluded, over 2300 classes in our province did just that. Unable to host annual, face-to-face Science and STEM Fairs, representatives from all four Anglophone School Districts worked collaboratively to offer a weeklong virtual conference to raise awareness about the importance of Science in our lives today. Participation from students and staff in Anglophone North School District was outstanding.

NB Science Week featured 40 sessions over a four-day period running from March 15-18. Dr. Jennifer Russell, Chief Medical Officer of Health for New Brunswick, kicked off the event with an engaging Keynote address that saw her interact with students and answer questions from across the province. Dr. Russell encouraged students to pursue their dreams and spoke of the numerous career opportunities for students in STEM related fields.

In addition to the opening keynote, other groups offering sessions during NB Science Week included Science East, Brilliant Labs, Ducks Unlimited, Worlds UNBound, JD Irving Ltd, Canada Learning Code, Let’s Talk Science, Logics Academy, Gaia Project, Huntsman Marine Science Centre, UNB Engineering, Universitie de Moncton Engineering, and the Hammond River Angling Association.

The event concluded on Thursday afternoon with a highly engaging closing keynote session hosted by the incredible Steve Spangler. Over 250 classes from across the province tuned in to be dazzled by a vast array of attention grabbing Science experiments and activities made famous by Spangler. He is best known for his 25 appearances on the Ellen show, where he shows us that almost anything is possible when it comes to Science. Not very often, you see students on their feet cheering and clapping during a virtual conference call, but that is exactly what happened on Thursday.

NB Science Week far exceeded the expectations of the organizing committee and initial discussions have already begun on how to make it even bigger and better next year. Thank you to all who participated and helped make NB Science Week an overwhelming success!