Over the past three years, 2023-2026, BEF has provided support to District wide STEM Expos, and especially helping to grow the Middle School district science fair. Previously science fairs in middle school primarily engaged students at option schools, and not at the comprehensive middle schools. This multi-year support has helped facilitated a shift that is making science fair to an experience available to all middle school level students.
To build a pipeline of young scientists, BEF helped establish school-wide STEM fairs at additional middle schools across Beaverton with a push for broader participation by all students. An estimated 4,000 middle school students participated in science fairs last year, a huge expansion from previous years, and especially thanks to the hard work of science teachers at Mountain View and Five Oaks Middle Schools. From these projects, 400 students advanced to the Middle School Science Expo which was also held in March 2026. Many of these young scientists went on to compete at the Northwest Science Expo, the state-level competition event, and several were selected for competition at the national level.
