SYLMAR : Students to Exhibit Their Science Skills

For many elementary school students, the fun begins after school, when they go home to play with friends, watch television or play video games.

But about 35 students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades at Sylmar Elementary School are spending their free time a little differently. Since January, they’ve learned to separate chemical elements and create electricity with lemon juice, among other scientific pursuits.

The fruit of their research will be on display Wednesday at a school science contest. The science fair will be judged by a panel that includes a teacher, an assistant principal, a city official and a parent. The fair is part of the city’s LA’s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) program.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley started the program in 1988 as an after-school enrichment program for children in low-income areas. Students in the program participate in activities ranging from arts and crafts, science, field trips, athletics and performing arts.

The winners of the science fair at Sylmar will go on to compete at a regional science fair in Los Angeles next month . The five finalists from that contest win a trip to NASA’s Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., said Maurice Regalado, a teacher and after-school science leader at Sylmar Elementary School.

“This is a supplementary program--it’s in addition to what they’re doing in class,” Regalado said. “Our kids have been working hard. They realize it’s a responsibility and they have to work at it.

“It’s difficult, because kids are kids and this is after school. But it’s worth it. The kids are here doing science. If they weren’t here, what would be they doing?”

The science fair, open to the public, begins at 3:30 p.m. at the school, 13291 Phillippi St.