by: Frances Katharine Manalo || Photo Credit: Kiara Gaut

After two years of online learning amid the pandemic, the Philippine Science High School – Eastern Visayas Campus (PSHS-EVC) is back-on-track as it launched its face-to-face celebration of the annual Science, Math, and Technology (SMT) Fair 2023 on March 28-31, 2023, with the theme, “Sustainable, Renewable, Inclusive.” 

This year’s affair was organized by the SMT Unit. 

The three-day event commenced with a program that formally opened the community fair. The Plenary Talks then followed, graced by seven speakers, namely Hillary Diane Andales, Batch 2018 Alumna, Lord Byron Torrecarion, Office of Civil Defense Director, Sofronio Agustin, Balik Scientist, Jay-Ian Camposano, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Weather Observer I, Franz Louis Cesista, Software Engineer, Leni Yap-Dejeto, University of the Philippines (UP) Tacloban College Biology Professor, and Jon Michael Mancao, Batch 2009 Alumnus. 

On the second day of the fair, scholars from Grades 10 and 11 gathered for the Research Congress, wherein Grade 12 students presented their research studies to panelists and willing audiences. Simultaneously, Grades 7 to 9 scholars participated in two conferences, the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Talks and the Meet Your Scientist: Empowering Women and Girls for Science.

On its last day, the SMT fair festivities pushed through with the Science Olympics and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Quiz Bee, where PSHS-EVC scholars took part. Furthermore, the Regional SMT Quiz Bee was participated by elementary students from around the region (Eastern Visayas) and was also held on the campus. 

The event concluded in the evening with this year’s Blaze: Rekindling of the Scholarly Flame, which was hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Research in Science (SARS), the official STEM organization of PSHS-EVC. The scholars gathered in the school quadrangle to witness the tradition of lighting a bonfire and pledged to their duties as scholars of the Filipino people. 

The SMT Fair is an annual tradition in the PSHS-EVC community held to demonstrate the school’s commitment to the development of science and technology. It ignites the fire of the scholars in their passion for the field.