Buckeye Valley Middle School eighth-grade students had a record-breaking year in science on March 19 at the North Central District Science Day in Marion.
Eleven students will be advancing to the State Science Day on the main campus of Ohio State University on May 14. “Having 11 students go to state is a record for the school,” science teacher Ann Burkam said.
The middle school earned the prestigious Shaw Award trophy for being the top school in 2016 in the central Ohio district. The criteria to win the award requires that six or more students must be entered — with zero no-shows — and 70 percent of the students attending must receive a rating of superior or better on their projects.
This is the second time the school has received the Shaw Award. The last time was in 2004 when eight students attended the district event. “In the last two years, the award wasn’t even awarded to any of the participating schools,” Burkam said.
Students achieving superior ratings for their projects were A.J. Nicolosi, Ben Brown, Jason Cox, Theresa King, Aspen Schneller, Grant Skinner, Grant Mirka, Kenzie Prickett, Marina Colatruglio, Lisa Choe and Kyleen Stalf.
“I was really surprised I won so much, I won three awards,” Stalf said. She received the top zoology project and the top eighth-grade project for a project titled “What is the relationship between eye preference and foot dominance in parrots?” She also received the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps MS Award.
“I’m pretty excited to get to go on to the state science fair,” said Schneller, who won Best in Category for botany with his project titled “Does the soil-less aquaponics system help plants grow faster compared to the increased nitrogen level?”
Three students — Prickett, Stalf and King — were nominated to compete with their projects in Washington, D.C., in the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars), a national competition.
Top female seventh-grade students Choe and King received the Be Wiser Award that comes with a cash reward of $100.
