SAN JOSE, CALIF. – For the first time in Silver Creek’s history, students embarked on an on-campus field trip, where they created Psychological experiments and explored key concepts, putting their peers to the test in a hands-on learning experience. 

The Psychology Fair at Silver Creek High School was inspired by Susan Jay, a former teacher at Independence High School, who began the event a decade ago. Her students loved the experience of creating their own psychological experiments. This year, Silver Creek’s psychology teacher, Thomas Halonen decided to bring it to Silver Creek with AP Psychology teacher Sooky Yi, joining in to support the initiative. Silver Creek students had the incredible opportunity to hear from Jay, who gave an in-depth presentation about the event. She shared valuable insights, showcased examples from her own students, and offered helpful tips to guide students in developing their concepts further. 

The Psychology Fair took place in the gym on Thursday, Jan. 30, featuring over 40 student groups that presented their own psychology experiments. Students from other classes and grades had the opportunity to visit, support their peers and even participated in the experiments. 

Students started their projects two weeks in advance. They researched their concepts online and have gathered all their materials. 

“I think our group will do well because we’ve chosen an interesting topic and have done solid research to back it up,” Diana Ochoa said, a junior from Silver Creek High, who was a part of the Psychology fair. “I’m really excited for the Psych fair because it’s a great opportunity to explore and share fascinating psychological concepts,” she added. 

A couple days have passed since the Psychology Fair so students are still recovering from the long, yet successful and enjoyable event. “I enjoyed working with my group to create the project,” said Jennifer Ruiz, a Psychology student. “An obstacle we faced was making sure we had the right questions on the survey to ensure we could collect accurate data” the (grade level from Silver Creek High)  added. 

Overall, the first annual Psychology fair was a major success. “It was fun and engaging,” Halonen said. Who was impressed with the students’ creativity and the well-developed nature of the experiments. Even faculty members shared their thoughts, finding it fascinating to see how students translated what they had learned into their projects. Many were particularly impressed by how comfortable and confident the students were in presenting their work. 

“I hope it’ll make students curious, and want to know how the brain works  to inspire them to take Psychology in high school or in college,” Halonen said.