Junior High Hawks excel in state science forums

SCIENCE FAIR AWARDS

Our students went above and beyond in sharing their scientific research, and their hard work, dedication, and passion truly paid off. We could not be more proud of this group.”

Amandy Myhre, Science Fair sponsor

DONNELLSON – The Central Lee Middle School students ended the season in a big way.
A total of 53 middle school students represented Central Lee at the 69th annual State Science & Technology Fair of Iowa (SSTFI) in Ames and brought home the Clay Grogg Traveling Trophy among a boatload of other awards.
The event features more than 780 students and 600 projects, including 144 team projects. Eighty-five schools were represented and more than $300,000 in scholarships and prizes were handed out.
School sponsor Amanda Myhre said the trophy is now coming back to Central Lee.
“Our students went above and beyond in sharing their scientific research, and their hard work, dedication, and passion truly paid off. We could not be more proud of this group,” she said.
“Our students were so successful that when the overall SSTFI Grand Champions were announced, Central Lee Middle School took home five of the top six places across all middle school projects.
Those awarded include:
• Aralind Grafton – 1st Overall (Grand Champion)
• Drake Newton – 2nd Overall (Champion)
• Brystol Gerdes – 3rd Overall (Reserve Grand Champion)
• Lily Jacobs & Zoey Jones – 4th Overall (Grand Honorable Mention)
• Hudson Essing – 5th Overall (Grand Honorable Mention)
“This level of excellence is truly unbelievable, and we are beyond proud of how our students represented Central Lee and shared their scientific research with confidence and passion,” Schiller said.
Drake Newton was awarded with a $1,000 Scholarship from the ISU College of Industrial Engineering Systems. Allison Krehbiel is the other school sponsor from Central Lee. For the year, 77 Central Lee middle schoolers presented at the Central Lee Middle School Science Fair representing 67 projects.
At Culver-Stockton, 44 projects from Central Lee were presented and the Hawks were named Overall School Champions.
At the Southeast Iowa Super Conference Science Fair, 42 Hawks presented 37 projects and Central Lee took home all the top Middle School division awards as well as $420 in prizes.
At the Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair with 18 schools, Central Lee presented 30 projects and earned $760 in prizes and two trips to ISEF in Arizona going to Mason Longanecker and Addalie Daly.