On the weekend of March 6, the Missouri Tri-County Regional Science and Engineering Fair was in full swing, with almost 50 different high school projects. Held at St. Charles Community College, the fair was quite competitive this year. Due to the growth of the fair and the growth of research across the state, there’s going to be a state-level competition in Missouri – the first ever.

Every student who participated in the science fair undoubtedly worked hard and deserved the places they got, but there are three students in the school who did the best. Liz Orimaye (12), who took second place in Behavioral Science, Rahul Awasthi (11), who received second place in Engineering, and Ethan Coleman (12), who won first place in Plant Science, and fourth place overall.

Coleman’s project was about the negative effects of invasive bush honeysuckles on native plants.

“I honestly did not think my project would go as far as it did. I did think I would place in a higher spot though since plant sciences and environmental sciences are two of the less popular categories for projects, but I never thought I would end up winning,” Coleman said. He’s going to be participating in the state-wide competition, and has a chance at international.

“My project was ‘The Effect of Game Based Learning on Student Engagement and Comprehension,’” Orimaye said. “I did not think I would win the place I did. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think I would advance to the second round of judging in the first place.” Orimaye, too, is going to be participating in the state-wide competition.

Overall, these students have done quite well in the science fair, and have qualified for the state-level competition, which gives them a chance to gain a spot in the international ISEF competition.

“The fair this year was the most competitive that it has ever been with nearly 50 different projects in the high school division,” science teacher Dan Evans said.