(ASCARATE PARK – Oct. 24, 2022) – Guillen Middle School weathered the wind Sunday to sweep the middle school division at KTSM’s annual Weather Fest event at Ascarate Park.

Guillen was one of 12 El Paso ISD schools competing against Ysleta, Socorro and Clint ISD teams in a weather-related showcase of skill and creativity.

“I’m really excited. I’m proud to represent my school,” said Guillen seventh grader Rui Sanchez.

His team’s project involved how climate change has affected the El Paso environment.

“It was a really fun experience to be here. It was an opportunity to learn about weather here in El Paso and see projects from other schools,” Sanchez said. “Knowing that we won is something really cool.”

Other El Paso ISD campuses participating were: Cielo Vista, Whitaker, Clendenin and Guerrero elementary schools; Brown, Richardson and Wiggs middle schools; and Young Women’s Academy, Transmountain Early College High School and Burges and Coronado high schools. The teams first competed against their El Paso ISD peers before advancing to the next level.  

El Paso ISD’s winning campuses are: elementary division, Cielo Vista; middle school division, Guillen; and high school division, TMECHS.

The TMECHS team’s humidity project using Madagascar cockroaches as the test subject was a bit hit. Visitors to their booth bravely held the roaches, allowing them to crawl up their arms while learning about how humidity affects mood.

“Our experiment is to see why El Paso is one of the happiest cities,” said freshman Marley Marquez. “We know one of the most important ones is climate. We live in a dry climate, so we are trying to see if happier people are in a drier climate versus a humid climate. The cockroaches are an easy model to use to test mood.”

Cielo Vista fifth grader Alessandra Zuniga also enjoyed her time at Weather Fest. She and her fellow Bobcats put their acting skills to good use to explain the results of their project about how weather affects mood to the judges.

“I loved it,” she said, explaining the other benefit of the project. “I’m glad that got to get to know my friends a little more, too.”