NCSS Students Win Big at Regional Science Fair

Alcovy High School junior, Luke Campbell, not only won a first place award but also several of the most prestigious awards available, including the Intel Science Talent Search Award; the Office of Naval Research Award; and the United States Air Force Award. In addition, he is the first Newton County School System student to ever earn the all-expenses paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair up for grabs each year at the Regional Science Fair.

Newton County School System (NCSS) middle and high school students racked up the awards at the recent Griffin RESA Regional Science Fair. Overall, nine NCSS projects earned first place awards, 12 projects received second place awards, and four projects won third place awards. All students winning first place awards will represent Newton County School System at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair at the University of Georgia, March 31-April 2, 2016.

In addition to their placement awards, several students also brought home additional awards of recognition from the Regional Science Fair. Alcovy High School junior, Luke Campbell, blew away the rest of the high school competition by walking out with not only a first place award but also several of the most prestigious awards available, including the Intel Science Talent Search Award; the Office of Naval Research Award; and the United States Air Force Award. In addition, he is the first Newton County School System student to ever earn the all-expenses paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair up for grabs each year at the Regional Science Fair.

“Due to the large size of our regional fair, representing 100,000-plus students, we earn two direct slots to the International Science and Engineering Fair,” explained Dr. Stephanie Gordy, Executive Director of Griffin RESA. “This year, it will be held in Phoenix, Arizona in May, and our representatives will have an opportunity to compete for millions of dollars in scholarships. Our regional fair has one National/International ‘Individual’ winner and one ‘Team’ winner (usually a team of two students), and for the first time in Griffin RESA history, a Newton County student—Luke Campbell—won one of the ISEF slots.”

In addition to Campbell’s multiple awards, several NCSS middle school students also earned additional awards of recognition for their projects. Cousins Middle School sixth-grader Matthew Wolfe won the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award in addition to his third place award. Not to be outdone, Indian Creek Middle School students Ian Kennedy, Jared Seals, and Logan Putnam, who teamed together on their project, brought home not only a first place award but also the Office of Naval Research Award and the BROADCOM MASTERS Award—the highest award given to middle school students at the competition. Newton County Theme School students Sarah Schlueter and Maddie Farill each earned first place awards and BROADCOM MASTERS Awards for their individual projects as well. As a result, Kennedy, Seals, Putnam, Schleuter, and Farrill have all been invited to compete in the BROADCOM MASTERS competition in Washington, DC.

The amount of awards earned by Newton County School System’s students speaks volumes about their talent, as they competed against the best and brightest students from Fayette, Henry, Griffin-Spalding, Butts, Pike, Lamar, and Thomaston Upson county schools.

“I am so impressed but definitely not surprised by how successful our students were at the Regional Science Fair,” said NCSS Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey. I know for a fact and have said for years, that Newton County is home to some of the most academically gifted students in the state. Our students continually prove in competitions such as the Regional Science Fair that they can compete with and out-perform the very best students the state of Georgia has to offer. I am so proud of each and every one of our students and wish those moving on to the state competition the very best of luck. I know they will represent their schools and our school system well!”

The following is a list of all Newton County School System Regional Science Fair winners:

STUDENT	SCHOOL	GRADE	AWARD	CATEGORY	*PROJECT*
Junior Division
Tony Ha	Clements	7^th	1^st Place	Physical Science	“Gummy Bear Growth Using Dihydrogen Monoxide”
Elias Dietrich	Indian Creek	7^th	1^st Place	Physical Science	“Water Rockets and Payload”
Maddie Farill & Sarah Schlueter	NC Theme	8^th	1^st Place & BROADCOM MASTERS AWARD	Biological Science	“How to Best Treat Hypoglycemia”
Logan Putnam, Jared Seals, & Ian Kennedy	Indian Creek	8^th	1^st Place; BROADCOM MASTERS AWARD; & Office of Naval Research Award	Physical Science	“The Age of Fuel Cells”
Caroline Piper	Indian Creek	8^th	1^st Place	Biological Science	“How Does Magnetism Affect Planaria Regeneration?”
Gracie Greenich & Alyssa Wood	NC Theme	8^th	1^st Place	Physical Science	“Greenwood Café-Hot, Hot, Hot Chocolate!”
Adrius Wheeler, Jr.	Cousins	6^th	2^nd Place	Physical Science	“Does Your Fruit Give Energy?”
Tristen Ellis	Cousins	7^th	2^nd Place	Physical Science	“Battery Power”
Mason Garrett	NC Theme	8^th	2^nd Place	Physical Science	“3, 2,1 Splash Off: Mach 2!”
Sydney Meeler	Indian Creek	8^th	2^nd Place	Biological Science	“Resistance is Futile: Antibacterial Resistance in E. Coli”
Serena Ha & Jenny Cruz	Clements	8^th	2^nd Place	Physical Science	“Moving a Bristlebot with Colored Lights”
Shermi Clarke-Hinds, Juan Chavez, & Charles Riley	Clements	8^th	2^nd Place	Physical Science	“How to Make the Wind Work for You”
Braxton Buff	NC Theme	8^th	2^nd Place	Biological Science	“Rule Breakers”
Hayley Payne	Indian Creek	8^th	2^nd Place	Biological Science	“Bacterial Growth”
Matt Nolan Wolfe	Cousins	6^th	3^rd Place & National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award	Physical Science	“The Effects of Weather on Hitting a Baseball”
Abigail Sugg & Jade Cofer	NC Theme	7^th	3^rd Place	Physical Science	“Houston, We Have a Problem…Launch Failed!”
Jack Atkinson	NC Theme	8^th	3^rd Place	Biological Science	“Blood Clots to the Rescue”
Senior Division
Anthony Fiddes	NCCA	10^th	1^st Place	Computer Science	“Comparison of Time to Complete Floating Point: Popular Scripting Languages”
Elizabeth Cooper	NCCA	10^th	1^st Place	Biological Science	“Radioactive Repercussions”
Luke Campbell	Alcovy	11^th	1^st Place & Intel Science Talent Search Award; Office of Naval Research Award, & Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Invitation.	Biological Science	“Testing the Validity of Pea D’Alcosan Antimicrobial Agent”
Allison Aguilera, Julia Towns, & Miranda Litkea	STEM	9^th	2^nd Place	Biological Science	“Anesthetics on Seismonasty”
Diana Ha	NCCA/STEM	10^th	2^nd Place	Biological Science	“Cholesterol: The Link to Disease?”
Alexander Lowe	NCCA	10^th	2^nd Place	Physical Science	“Desal your Locale”
Doster Harper	Eastside/STEM	10^th	2^nd Place	Biological Science	“Buzz Kill”
Hannah Maddux & Josh Yang	Alcovy	12^th, 11^th	3^rd Place	Physical Science	“Can Solar Power Cars Go the Distance?”

For more information, contact Ms. Sherri Davis-Viniard, Director of Public Relations for Newton County Schools at [email protected] .

NCSS Students Win Big at Regional Science Fair

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