Two weeks ago, Intel hosted the annual International Science and Engineering Fair in California. Over 1,600 brilliant young minds from around the globe gathered to present their ground-breaking and innovative projects.

ISEF, as well as Intel’s US-based Science Talent Search, both generate a ton of media coverage, appearing in such reputable outlets as NBC Nightly News, FOX Business and the Wall Street Journal.

But that’s not all it inspired.

WHIZ KIDS is “a coming-of-age documentary that tells the story of three remarkably different yet equally passionate 17-year-old scientists who vie to compete in the nation’s oldest, most prestigious science competition.

RELEVANCE
Over the past eight years, countries like China and India vastly increased support for research and development, while U.S. funding remained largely stagnant. Not surprisingly, U.S. teens now rank 24th in the world in math and science.

As global economies become increasingly competitive, America’s future rests on the shoulders of our next generation. The main characters in WHIZ KIDS demonstrate that American students can meet that challenge.

The Science Talent Search began in 1942 and is the oldest, most prestigious science competition in America. Formerly sponsored by Westinghouse, it is now known as the Intel Science Talent Search. Each year over two thousand students compete for prizes totaling more than $1.5 million. In the end, forty finalists travel to Washington D.C. to present their research to top scientists and vie for a $100,000 grand prize.

Why Whizkids
Several traits were consistent among these ‘whiz kids’—an insatiable curiosity, a deeply felt determination to communicate their work to the public and a passion to make a difference in the world.””

WHIZ KIDS takes its first steps on the national stage when it opens theatrically in New York City at Cinema Village on Friday, June 4, and a week later in Los Angeles at the Music Hall 3.

Do you plan on going to go see (we do!)?

Waiting for Superman is the inspirational documentary coming out this fall that investigates the flawed school system in the United States and the impact it has on everyday lives.

Some salient points:

• Among 30 developed countries, the US ranks 25th in math and 21st in science. In almost every category, we’ve fallen behind- except one: kids in the USA rank #1 in confidence.

• This generation will be less literate than the one before it.

• A child that doesn’t finish high school will earn less, and is eight times more likely to go to prison.

• “Our schools are failing them.”

• “You wake up every morning and you know that kids are getting a really crappy education right now- I don’t think they are; I know they are.”

• “Either kids are getting stupider every year, or something is wrong with the education system.”

• “About 60,000 kids have gone through this high school in 40 years; 40,000 didn’t graduate. Think of the damage the school has done to this neighborhood.”

• “I just want to make my grandmother proud.”

• “Someone has taken an interest in you, someone loves you, and they recognize the importance of education.”

• “It takes a lot of outrage and a lot of good examples to say ‘yes we can do this; let’s make a difference.” Bill Gates

• “When you see a great teacher, you are seeing a work of art.”

• “I want my kids to have better than what I had.”

• Make a difference. Pledge to see the film.

Stewart Nusbaumer of the Huffington Post wrote this review of it:

“The winner of the Audience Award for Best US Documentary was Waiting for Superman, a no-hold-your-punches investigation of our failing public schools.

Guggenheim’s (director of An Inconvenient Truth) documentary focuses on aspiring students and their parents, mostly minorities, together struggling against the odds to get admitted into urban charter schools. Lacking the money for private schools, or move to the suburbs where the schools are better — although not always good — having only neighborhood high schools that are “drop out factories,” these Americans have very few options. For many their only option is finding a decent charter school. But the odds for these young students to get selected in the lottery for a charter school is often worse than for students applying to Yale University.

Until the 1970s, American schools were the best in the world. Since then there has been a huge growth in poor elementary schools and poor middle schools that feed students to drop-out high schools. But there is no secret how to change our schools, although there are those who want this to remain a secret. We have tried throwing a ton of money at the problem, created a litany of newfangled reforms, even passed new laws, but nothing has worked. Our schools remain dismal.

What Waiting for Superman drives home is to improve our education system requires improving our teachers. Requires demanding our teachers get deep in the trenches, be allowed to be flexible and innovative, persist, and to be held accountable.”

The film looks incredible and we can’t wait to see it. Several of the key players in the film, like Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem’s Children Zone and Bill Gates and his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are striving to improve the quality of education, both domestic and abroad. We applaud their efforts to make the world a better place and recognize that we’re working towards the same goal.

What do you think- will you go see the film?

We here at Inspired By Education are inspired by this commercial! ISEF‘ers, are you in it? Please share if you like it, too!

“I want to know what the universe
looks like,
feels like.
From deep space,
to a microbe.
I can contribute to the world by pursuing my passion for science.
It really is the key to the future.
I want to design…
a better solar cell.
I want to know whats really possible.
I want to be the first to cure cancer.
People don’t really understand why things work; I want to be that person who finds out why.

Innovative young minds, taking on tomorrow’s toughest challenges.”

We are at the 1-week mark for ISEF’s People Choice Awards and we’ve already received thousands of votes!

The front-runners have been going back and forth since polls opened last Thursday, May 20th. Amy Chyao, with her project “Lights, Quantum Dots, Action!”, and Akash Krishan & Matthew Fernandez with their “Classification and Recognition of Emotion in Prerecorded Speech” have been battling head to head since the start.

Majdolene Khweis, Melissa & Michael McDowell and Mason McFarland have also been taking their share of the votes.

Who will win? Only time will tell.

So go to www.inspiredbyeducation.com/vote and make your vote count! Polls close June 4th- encourage your friends and family to vote, too!

Last week, the Huffington Post wrote a great article titled “Three Schoolgirls In Palestinian Refugee Camp Invent Stick-tech, Revolutionary Cane To Help The Blind.” The piece uncovers the story of three inspiring 14 year old Palestinian girls living in Askar refugee camp, whose invention took them to the International Science and Engineering Fair.

See the article here.

The Huffingpost Post wrote: “After six months of diligent testing, three schoolgirls in a Palestinian refugee camp have developed a revolutionary walking cane that could help the blind better avoid obstacles and navigate stairs. The girls’ accomplishment comes as a beacon of hope in their impoverished refugee camp.

Known as “stick-tech,” their invention has won them admission to the Intel International Science Fair in California.

Al Jazeera reports from Askar refugee camp.”

Watch the inspirational video!