An Emmy in our Own Backyard

By ROSHNI SUBRAMONIAN

The movie “Science Fair” won a News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary. It features Jericho High School science research teacher Dr. Serena McCalla, who adds the award to her many other achievements as a science research teacher.

The documentary follows the journey of 9 high school students from around the world as they compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The film explores the lives of these kids who share a passion for research and science and chose to use ISEF as an outlet to exhibit their work and possibly win scholarship money.

The movie also focuses on Jericho High School’s highly successful science research program led by Dr. Serena McCalla. Dr. McCalla initially thought the directors were shooting a tutorial to try to help kids and teachers with their understanding of science research. She didn’t realize it was going to become an actual movie, let alone win an Emmy.

To her, the award felt surreal. Dr. McCalla never thought that she would be in a movie that is so highly recognized. She didn’t believe that a high school teacher could have the opportunity to walk into the world of cinema.

However, she does realized the film’s quality. “Every time I see the movie, anytime we have an award ceremony, I do expect to win because I know how good the film is,” she said. “I watched the film anywhere between 6 to 12 times and every time I watch it, there’s some new aspect of it that really discusses humanity, science, relationships, hard work and perseverance,” she added.

If she had to dedicate the award to anyone, she said that it would be to all her students. She hopes that they continue to win at competitions, identify cures and treatments that will enhance people’s lives, find success in research and continue to be great scientists.

She encourages students to take inspiration from the film to and go out and and do their best in the world. She said, “Go do what you want to do. Don’t let anything or anybody inhibit your success or your ability to attain success. Always think that you’re the best and be your own best advocate.”

Dr. McCalla believes that effort is crucial to success. She added, “Anything’s possible. I never thought I would own an Emmy, but I know that it’s a result of all the hard work. It’s not just something that happened overnight. It’s because we worked really hard in science research and someone decided to recognize us for that.”