Yale Will Open Its Doors to Thousands of Schoolchildren Next Week

The Yale campus will be alive with thousands of public school children next week, beginning on March 8 and 9 with the New Haven Public Schools’ 10th annual Science Fair and continuing with daily interactive performances of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” at the Yale Rep, a career fair for eighth graders and the seventh annual Paleo-Knowledge Bowl.

Science Fair. Held in University Commons, the Olin-Yale-Bayer-New Haven Public Schools Science Fair will exhibit 230 science projects created by nearly 2,000 students. More than 8,000 students, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, participated in preliminary competitions at their schools, and the winners of those contests will exhibit at Yale. Mentors-many from Yale-guided the young scientists. Out of 78 mentors, 49 are Yale students or faculty.

Members of the media are welcome to view the exhibits and talk to the children on March 9, 9 a.m. to noon, while the projects are being judged. From 3 to 6 p.m., Commons will be open for public viewing of the exhibits, but the children will not be there. Contact Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo at 203-946-8450 to arrange to attend.

King Lear. All through the week, 2,000 middle and high school students from across the state will attend matinee performances of the Yale Repertory Theatre’s current production of “King Lear,” directed by Hal Scott and starring Avery Brooks of Star Trek Deep Space Nine fame. Watching the play is the high point of this year’s “Will Power!” a new three-year collaboration between the community and the University, the brainchild of Yale Drama School Dean James Bundy. Students have had extensive preparation to help them understand the play and develop an appreciation for the scope and relevance of art in today’s world. Teachers attended a one-day workshop at Yale, and the School of Drama sent graduate students, coordinated by Ruth Feldman, Yale Rep education manager, into New Haven classrooms for pre-performance activities. After each performance, Drama School student John Hanlon will lead discussions along with company members. Three students from Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School perform in King Lear as dancers in the opening number. They are fifth graders Nyle Clemons and Shayla Foreman and sixth grader Ashley Morrison.

To attend a performance and post-performance discussion, contact Ruth Feldman at 203-432-8425.

Career Fair. All 1,500 eighth graders in New Haven public schools will participate in a two-day career fair March 11 and 12, 9 a.m. to noon. Offered for the first time this year, the career fair will take place at Yale in classrooms in W.L. Harkness, Linsly-Chittenden and Phelps halls. Children will tour the Yale campus, hosted by the Visitor Center, and attend small-group sessions at which adults discuss their current work, the training and education required and the obstacles they had to overcome to get where they are today.

To arrange to attend this event, contact Cynthia Beaver, New Haven Public Schools supervisor of guidance and counseling, at 203-946-8982.

Paleo-Knowledge Bowl. Teams of fourth, fifth and sixth grade students compete to determine who knows the most about the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Triassic periods, how the continents drifted across the Earth in prehistoric times and when life began. Based at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the contest is now in its seventh year. About 100 children are expected to compete on March 13 and 14.

The final round of the bowl will be held in the Great Hall of Dinosaurs on March 14 at 2:30 p.m., and media coverage is welcome. To attend, contact Melanie Brigockas at 203- 432-5099.