Catholic education made history this year at the 57th Annual Los Angeles County Science Fair, with record-high participation (22 Catholic schools), and first place honors for a number of students.
Eighth grade students from St. Bede the Venerable School in La Canada, which participated for the first time in 25 years, scored three awards. Edward Kronfli won first place in the category of Applied Chemistry with his project titled "Can Your Shirt Handle Your Sweat?" Alexander Sercel won second place in Engineering Applications with "The Effect of Propellant Variation on Potato Cannon Performance, and Steven Shushnar, received an honorable mention award for his "Can Light Disinfect Water" in the category of Microbiology.
Also earning honors were the following, listed by school:
St. Anastasia: Jozefa McKiernan, first place in Physics-Electricity & Magnetism for "So You Want to Build a Radio?"; Michael Kelleghan, honorable mention, same category, for "Solar Science."
Chaminade Middle School: Bridget Lerman and Lisa Osepyan, third ("What is the Effect of the Color and the Angle on the Output of a Solar Panel"), and Nicole Newman and Sara Zepezauer, honorable mention ("Water Works"), team projects in Earth & Physical Sciences; Emily Wachsner, second in Plant Physiology for "How Do Different Variables Affect the Growth and Germination of Black and Lima Beans?"; Paul Deardorff, third in Environmental Management for "Effects of Adding Denatured Ethanol to Unleaded Gasoline";
Honorable mention awards went to Brian MeElroy, Physics, for "What Factors Affect the Distance and Trajectory of a Projectile"; and Laurione Shahmirian and Michael McElroy, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, for "Does Phosphoric Acid in Cola Cause Osteoporosis" and "Comparing the Different Amounts of Starch and Glucose/Fructose in Tubers," respectively.
St. Martin of Tours: Catherine Haber, second in Behavioral/Social Sciences for "Blonde Today, Brunette Tomorrow"; Wylie Drummond, second in Physics for "Sticky Fingers: Getting More Bond for the Buck"; Mia Alexander, third in Behavioral Social Sciences for ""Four" Your Eyes Only: Does Wearing Eyeglasses Make You Look Smarter?"; Victoria Chayes, honorable Mention in Behavioral Social Sciences for "Is Bright Light Right?"
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Quinn Costello, second in Plant Biology for "Cut, Connect and Grow"; Jeremy Fuster, second in Microbiology for "GSI IIU: Catalase and Coagulase (A Gran Stain Investigation) Search for S. Aureus"; Emma Rees, honorable mention in Plant Biology for "Seeds of the Sea."
Cathedral Chapel: Henry Downs, third in Physics for "Making the Perfect Paper Airplane."
St. Mel: Morgan Spadone, honorable mention in Engineering Applications for "Water Heater."
St. John Fisher: Natalie Delcarson, honorable mention in Applied Chemistry for "How Do Different Counter Cleaners Affect the Shiny Luster of Granite?"
Our Mother of Good Counsel: Tracie Pang, honorable mention in Physics for "Using a Laser Pointer to Measure Data Track Spacing on CDs and DVDs."
Nativity: Kathleen Osea, honorable mention in Physics for "Tension Breakers."
St. Monica High School: Honorable mention awards for Julie Wegner, "Don't Abandon Your Shopping Cart" in Behavioral /Social Sciences; Apollo Nestoras, "Optimal Conditions for Efficient Hydrogen Extraction" in Chemistry; and Cloris Castro, "Reaching for the Stars" in Engineering Applications.
Crespi High School: Everett Frost, honorable mention for "Vitamin C-Worthy: Finding the Lowest Cost Vitamin C" in Chemistry.
Special Awards were earned by Chaminade's Nicole Newman and Sara Zepezauer (from the Metropolitan Water District); St. Monica's Apollo Nestoras (National Association of Corrosion Engineers); St. Martin of Tours' Mia Alexander (Naval Science Award); Chaminade's Paul Deardorff (Professional Engineers in California Government); Chaminade's Emily Wachsner and St. Cyril's Quinn Costello (Southern California Horticultural Society); St. Cyril's Emma Rees (Southern California Paleontological Society); Our Mother of Good Counsel's Tracy Pang and Chaminade's Brian McElroy (VWR Education). |