On Tuesday, March 17th, 12 middle school students traveled to the John Paul Jones Arena at UVA in Charlottesville to compete in the Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair. They were accompanied by 6th grade science teacher, Layne Vickers and 7th grade science teacher, Elaine Frank. Students were selected for this competition based on the local science fair held at RCES in February. Regional competition was at a record high this year with over 400 students competing from surrounding counties.
Students were interviewed by judges over a four hour period and then selected for placement in their categories. Rappahannock was well represented as winning projects were announced. An honorable mention went to seventh grader Galen Sanborn for her microbiology project about the “five second rule” (she found it to be true, by the way). Sixth grader Alec Petty was in tough competition in his Chemistry category with 54 participants, but earned a third place plaque and certificate. Alec’s sister, seventh grader Lauren Petty, took first place for her second year in a row on her continuing project on the negative effect of caffeine and nicotine in Health and Medicine category. And wrapping the awards ceremony up were team members Logan Butler and Benjamin Kopjanski with their project on the effect of VDOT runoff (the salt and sand mixture used to melt ice and snow on our roadways) on plant germination and growth. These gentlemen also took first place in their category, establishing a new record for first place wins at the Regional Science Fair for Rappahannock County Middle School. First place winners are eligible to apply for national competition in Washington, DC in August. Lauren Petty summed up the successful day by adding “I was really honored and not only that I was really proud of everyone. We’re a great science fair team.”
Top row left to right: Layne Vickers, Julian Cordero, Philip Wyatt, Alec Petty, Logan Butler, Ben Kopjanski, Elaine Frank Bottom row left to right: Eve Vandrey, Lauren Petty, Skylar Culbertson, Galen Sanborn, Catherine Daly, Hannah East, Kayla Compton
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