Catholic education made its mark at the 54th annual Los Angeles County Science Fair held April 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Twenty-nine of the 160 schools registered for the Science Fair --- the oldest and longest running science fair in the U.S. --- were from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, resulting in 45 student winners.

This year, winners came from the schools of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. James the Less, St. Paul the Apostle, St. Martin of Tours, St. Anastasia, Our Lady of Grace, St. John Fisher, St. Jerome, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Monica High School, Ramona Convent and Nativity. Each school had several honorable mention winners.

Alexander Morgan of St. Cyril won the third Place medal for his Junior Division Animal Biology project titled "Thumbs Up." Matthew Alexander, seventh grader from St. Martin of Tours placed third in Junior Division, Behavorial Sciences with "Road Rage: Does Caffeine Fuel Your Tank?".

From St. Paul the Apostle, Robert McRae won third prize in the Engineering Application category with his "How the Adding of Weight Affects the Speed of the Hovercraft." Jessica Ruane, also from St. Paul the Apostle, placed third in the Junior Microbiology category with "Can I Eat That?" as her project.

Kyle Felsman, St. John Fisher sixth grader, won third place for his Junior Physics Project, "The Effect of Light on a Solar Panel."

Saint Monica High School junior Marianne Galligan won second place in Behavioral/Social Sciences with "Creating a Culture of Fear in America," and Christopher Mangum placed third with "Eyeing Autism" in the same category.

St. Paul the Apostle eighth graders Henry Perazzelli (Behavioral Social Sciences) and William Hance (Environmental Management) won second place awards, with "The Arboreal Acrobatics of Gray Squirrels" and "Can Your Household Trash Make a Splash?"

Two team projects won first place for eighth graders from Nativity and St. Paul the Apostle. Christopher Alford, Krisette Mosqueda and Jose Tapia won in the Life Sciences category with their project "Are They Any Whiter," and Jena Bailey and Erin Paige won for Earth/Physical Sciences with "Using Lichenometry to Date Past Earthquakes."

Some 40 special awards were given by various organizations to outstanding students. The Metropolitan Water District presented $100 gift certificates to Mackenzie Weinger of St. Monica High School, Trevor Portiz of Nativity and Alex Lopez of St. Anastasia. The Society of Pettoleum Engineers presented Tanzi Jackson of Our Lady of Grace with a $100 scholarship and framed certificate; the Horticultural Society gave a $100 scholarship to Sarah and Cassandra Lohman from Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow; the Aquarium of the Pacific presented Aquarium tickets to Kirsten Fitz of St. Paul the Apostle; and California Neuromedical Services awarded a $100 gift certificate and a plaque to Megan Correnti of St. Anastasia.

"I would like to encourage more schools from the Archdiocese to enter the Los Angeles County Science Fair," said fair president Dean Gilbert. "The archdiocese has been with us from the very beginning and continues to be of tremendous support in this very important education of our young people."

Winners of the county fair will compete in the California State Science Fair scheduled for May 24-25 at the California Science Center.