Starr’s Mill left last week’s county science fair with all twelve submissions placing first and second. With six first place projects advancing to the regional level and six projects receiving second place, Starr’s Mill will continue the road to nationals. 

“The students have done an independent research project, carried out an experiment, and they competed first here amongst our students,” AP environmental science and biology teacher Staci Killingsworth said. “The winners for that then go to the county and compete amongst all the other high schools. If you win, you go to region, state, and then nationals.”

The science fair is a competition that requires months of preparation. Starting at the beginning of the first semester, students are required to thoroughly research a concept of their choice, ranging from solar powered air conditioning to movie accurate lightsabers.

First place winners sophomores Emily Stanek and Katherine Shriner focused on the effectiveness of multiple water repelling products on wood. “For science fair we experimented to see how the application of different types of wood sealants affect the amount of moisture found in wood,” Shriner said.

While the majority of the students’ efforts were put into accuracy and creating a unique project, they also had to make sure they were ready to present their findings and interview before  a panel of judges on behalf of their work.

“At the actual competition you just set up your poster, which has graphs from your experiment, your abstract, which is a brief summary of your project, the experimental procedures, and pictures from it,” Stanek said. “We got to meet [several people]. One of them I know is a retired teacher [who] gave us feedback on our projects.”

The complexity of research in the science fair is not to be taken lightly. Many of the participants have run into technological hurdles, have had to change their project, and have stood in the presence of failure. However, by working through adversity, each of these students have developed skills that they will use for the rest of their lives 

“It’s not a lab that you do in one day, and you get the data and that’s that,” Killingsworth said. “It goes over months, and so it is a much more in-depth experimental experience, and you certainly get interview skills by speaking to adults and defending your work.”

Every student who has participated in the science fair has proved Starr’s Mill to be a place where “excellence and creativity merge,” but congratulations to all of the following contestants for going above and beyond:

Advancing first place winners include sophomores Mahrianna Lunn, Evan Kern, Greg Gould, Thomas Reininger, and Sadie Mullinix, and freshmen Emily Stanek, Katherine Shriner, Jeremy Hamson, Annabella Orndorff, and Charlotte Craner.

Second place winners include freshmen Elizabeth Jackson, Joshua McNulty, Richard Wang, Lucas Nyman, and sophomores David Bowers, Will VanHuffel, Alana Burrows, Jessica Hall, Eli Garcia, Caleb Nichols, and Wyatt Koth.