'It's all science' as students from 9 counties vie at SRU
SLIPPERY ROCK — Butler County students represented over a fifth of about 480 competitors at an annual middle and high school science competition.
Every year, Western Pennsylvania region of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science brings competitors in droves to Slippery Rock University for a day of public speaking, networking and — above all else — science. The top performing students from this year's event, which took place throughout the day Saturday, soon will travel to the state level competition at Penn State University.
Olivia Culp, 14, said she enjoys the collective self-improvement at the competition each year. The Butler Intermediate High School ninth-grader participated for her second year Saturday, after winning a first-place prize at the regional and state events last year.
Her project this year demonstrates the scientific processes behind how yeast is used to make bread.
“I think it's absolutely amazing that people come out and are doing what we're doing,” Olivia said. “We're able to wrap our heads around a topic and demonstrate what we learn to a group of people.”
There's a sense of community at each year's event, which is aided by the fact that students aren't directly competing with each other. Students in American Junior Academy of Sciences programs (Pennsylvania's program is under this larger umbrella) are graded against a rubric and awarded a finishing place based on how well they meet standards.
That means hundreds of students can win first-place prizes at each regional event. First-place winners are eligible to compete on the state level.
Leah Ann Williams, a New Castle Junior/Senior High School teacher and one of the regional competition's directors, said the Western Pennsylvania region tends to send a higher than average number of its students to state.
About 70 percent usually earn first-place awards, she said.They're graded on their presentation skills and their implementation of the scientific method. The students must make a PowerPoint for their project, and aren't allowed any other type of visual aid to distract from the hard science behind their project.“It's all science,” Williams said. “It's pretty dry, actually. It's no dog and pony show.”Williams said she became a science teacher because of her childhood participation in junior academy of science programs. She loves seeing it affect students still today.“It's like a hook that just grabs you,” she said.She and Robert Penrose, a United Junior/Senior High School teacher who serves as the region's other director, said they have seen the level of quality grow in Western Pennsylvania in recent years while their competition has increased in size. They believe teachers are doing a better job of cultivating great projects in classrooms, so that the students who attend the regional competition are already some of the best of their classes.“It's becoming more of a competition within the schools to see who can get to come here,” Penrose said.The region includes schools from nine counties. Along with 480 students, this year's regional event gathered 220 volunteers to serve as judges. Most of them are SRU students or faculty members.SRU gives away two $12,000 scholarships to students who perform particularly well, along with another $1,200 divied up in departmental prizes.As for Butler County schools: Butler Area School District sent 91 students this year. Karns City School District sent two. Holy Sepulcher Catholic School sent three. Butler Catholic School sent 11. North Catholic High School sent 11. Freeport Area School District sent 30.Students in seventh through 12th grades participate. The competition was held in eight buildings throughout SRU's campus.
