A Record-breaking Year at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science State Competition

Recently, more than 50 SCH students in 9th and 10th grades received First Awards at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) regional competition. Forty-four of those students then moved on to the state competition held at Penn State University earlier this week. "Approximately 3,000 of the best and brightest science students from Pennsylvania’s 12 separate PJAS regions descend upon State College each May to present their research," according to PJAS. Of the students who entered the state competition, 30 SCH students received a First Award, a record number of firsts for SCH!

Roman McNichols, who received a perfect score for his physics project, "The Brachistochrone," sought to answer the question: "If an object is traveling from a high point to a lower point that is not directly under it, what shape of ramp will get it there in the shortest time?"

Congrats to all; get the names of those who placed at both regionals and states, below!

Those who received first place at the state level, 9th grade, were: Aaron Jia, Alec Gupte, Alex Kim, Chloe Hanson, Ella Brown, Eloise Levin, Finn Cooper, Jahi Al-Uqdah, Judah Meyer, Lauren Wilson, Leo Cohen, Logan Landau, Madeline Bell, Marlee Howard, Max Greenbaum, Quinton McDonnell, Roman McNichols; and first place, 10th grade, were: Brendan Russell, Caitlin Keough, Emma Ludwikowski, Farah Horgan, Gracyn Lee-Torchiana, Josh Miller, Lila Bodeman, Naomi Becker, Priya Jonas, Sage Palmer, Sam Harris, Sylvia Landis, and Zarin DeVeaux. Other participants who received first place at the regional science fair were: Sammi Acuna, Tristan Ferraro, Stewart Greenleaf, AJ McGill, Elizabeth O'Brien, Jimmy Talbot, Nick Donato, Isabelle Ewart, Patrick Gaghan, Leah Laudenbach, Noa Leifer, Georgia O'Connor, Avi Oliver, and Nadia Stockman. And those who received a First Award at regionals, but did not compete at Penn State, were: Reed Knoblock, Brae Powell, Kass Magarity, Grian O'Connor, Griffy Whitman, Ariya Goswami, and Andy Saunders.