November 13, 1998: Volume 44, Number 10

Scaife Shows Are Leaving Classroom

Time was, Charlie Scaife did his science shows mostly in elementary school classrooms and gymnasiums.

Today, he is asked to do shows at playgrounds, birthday parties, even family reunions.

Four years after the professor of chemistry and his wife, Priscilla, began traveling to schools to energize youngsters in science, audiences are catching on to what the Scaifes have been saying all along: science isn't just for the classroom.

"I think we need to help parents to recognize that these things don't have to happen in school," he said. "We want to try to open this program up a little bit. There are lots of modes under which you can accomplish a lot. And besides, it's fun."

"The kids realize they are going to have fun," Scaife said of doing shows outside of a classroom. "But they don't always know they will accidentally learn something along the way."

Scaife each year trains about two dozen Union students to do science programs throughout the region. A number of them also do programs at schools in their hometowns during breaks. Last Sunday, 16 Union students did demonstrations for the National Science Week celebration at the state museum in Albany.

Besides performing at a birthday party, Scaife had another first this year when they played a county fair in Kansas. "We were sort of a side show," he said.

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