BUCKiT® #39-Dr. Serena McCalla: Star of National Geographic’s Science Fair: the Science Research Coordinator is Helping Shape the Youngest and Brightest Scientific Minds

It’s the most critical day of this grueling international competition -- 1700 brilliant young minds are gathered to claim the top prize -- but they have just a few minutes to sell their idea to judges. Barred from the room during the highly charged pitch sessions, Dr. Serena McCalla is here to represent one of best teams in the world. In this ultra-competitive scene having one or two students competing is unbelievable. This famous science teacher has a staggering nine. The stakes are high this year at the Science Fair. The Sundance award winning film, SCIENCE FAIR, has been described by critics as “the funniest movie of the year and a shout out to teenage science geeks on whom our future depends”. The International Science and Engineering Fair is affectionately known as the Olympics of Science Fairs and it plays out like a teen drama starring the smartest kids on the planet. This science fair is the world’s largest international high school science competition and last year 1,700 of the brightest scientific teenage minds, from 78 different countries faced off in a fierce competition for an average of $4 million in prizes! And of course no high school, high stakes, drama is complete without the inspirational superhero at the center of it all! I was lucky enough to sit down with the no nonsense power house Dr. Serena McCalla from Jericho High School in New York who has dedicated her life, working insanely long hours, to make sure her students qualify for the most prestigious high school competition in the world.