Science fairs are not only an academic passion, but also part of the family history of one West Central Valley High School teacher.

Alexa Groff recently journeyed with her student, Jaicee Wathne, to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, in Phoenix, Arizona, and tells Raccoon Valley Radio the science fair experience is nothing new to her. “I’ve got a lot of history with science fairs. My grandpa ran the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa for a number of years until he passed away. Actually, I’ve known Larry Schwinger for many years because of my grandpa. He ran the science fair program at West Central Valley for a number of years, until retiring in 2010. My dad’s a science teacher, so I’ve been involved in science fairs since seventh grade and all of my siblings were involved in science fairs. I kind of grew up in the world of science fairs — I’m one of the few of what we call ‘science fair babies’, we were born into it and continued to work around fairs.”

Groff will tell us more about her relaunching of the West Central Valley Science Fair this year, and recent trip to the International Fair in Phoenix, today on Let’s Talk Guthrie County. It airs during the 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. hours on K107.9 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.