Sisters Science Fair canceled after founders step down

Science Club founders say they want school district to take over next year

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- An eight-year tradition in Sisters is coming to an end. The annual Sisters Science Fair was canceled this year. It was scheduled to take place in March. 

Although the fair is typically hosted by the Sisters School District, the event was the brainchild of Cal Allen and Bob Collins, the founders of the Sisters Science Club.

NewsChannel 21 met with Allen on Thursday to learn why this year’s Sisters Science Fair will not happen. He said the board of the Sisters Science Club met with the school board and science teachers last August, suggesting the leadership of the fair be turned over to the school district.

“(Bob and I) are stepping down for half of it,” Allen said. “And the school district has not named a person to accept the other half of that responsibility.” 

As of Thursday evening, the Sisters School District had not returned NewsChannel 21’s request for comment about the decision to cancel the science fair. 

“You have to find people who are willing to take over the leadership and do it,” Allen said. “That is the major problem I see with the science fair right now.”

The Sisters Science Club was founded about nine years ago, with the mission to improve science education in the schools because, according to Allen, international science fairs ranked non-American students higher than American students.

“One of the aspects of working with the schools was to get the district to be much more proactive about what they were doing in science,” Allen said. “At that time, we were just out of the recession, and the school district, as I remember, had $200 a year for a teacher to buy science supplies. Well, you can’t buy crayons for an elementary school with that!”

Allen said future discussions with the school district about the fair are planned to take place in April.