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A Childhood Memory Sparks FWCD’s First Brain Fair
As a child, Gigi Helling ’26 attended the Northwestern University Brain Awareness (NUBAO) Brain Fair in Chicago, and it was an experience that left a lasting impression.
“Sometimes my mom will say, ‘Do you remember when we used to picnic on the beach?’ And I’m like, ‘No,’” Helling said. “And I feel really bad, but I remember some specific stations from the fair, which is kind of how I know that it had such a big impact on me.”
Helling’s fascination with neuroscience and psychology grew from that Brain Fair experience. By the time she reached Upper School at FWCD, Helling had a vision: to recreate that formative experience for younger students. She realized her passion was learning about how the brain works, how people make decisions, and why people do the things that they do.
“I was talking with my mom about how I want to do something that involves the brain, just anything,” she stated. “And that’s when we came up with the idea of doing a similar Brain Fair.”
When she ran for Student Council, she got the idea to draft a proposal for a hands-on event that would engage younger students in learning about the brain through interactive stations. She pictured it happening in FWCD’s gym, with some of the stations being her original ideas and others similar to what she experienced as a child at Northwestern.
Her idea gained momentum during her sophomore year when she pitched the idea to Head of School Eric Lombardi and later, Head of Lower School Trey Blair. Once she got the green light, she reached out to the organizers of the NUBAO Brain Fair and received guidance, ideas and resources to begin planning a version of the event for FWCD students.
Determined to make the event her own, Helling budgeted carefully and secured funding from the Lower School and Upper School. “It was really important to me that I didn’t just rely on the things that the School already had,” she said.
On March 10, Helling’s idea became a reality. Hosted in the Sid W. Richardson Square Gym, FWCD’s inaugural Brain Fair featured 17 interactive stations for first through fourth graders, many led by Upper School students and guest expert Dr. Eric Gonzales, Associate Professor at TCU’s Burnett School of Medicine. Students explored concepts from “miracle berries” that changed the way lemon juice tasted to the different functions of brain regions, like being able to read a paragraph of scrambled words. By the end of the two-hour event, the students did not want to leave, excited to continue their exploration of neuroscience.
“The Brain Fair exceeded my expectations,” Blair said. “I was excited for the opportunity to have our Upper School students lead activities for our Lower School students – that interaction alone is one of the many reasons that makes FWCD so special. But, I have to admit, I never thought it would capture their attention so fully. Our students were engaged and enamored with every station. Our teachers were raving about the experience, and I can say I am already looking forward to next year!”
Helling hopes to grow the event with the help of FWCD’s Brain Buddies club and share it with local organizations, such as the Como Community Center and Rivertree Academy. Her vision, rooted in a childhood memory, has sparked a new program at FWCD, and the 2026 Brain Fair looks to be even bigger and better.
