On Saturday, April 2^nd, Tuscarora High hosted a county wide science and engineering fair for elementary, middle, and high school students.  The competition included history as well as science, with projects submitted from people of all ages. Elementary school projects were set up in the cafeteria, and were separated by grade. Middle and high school projects were set up in the gym, separated based on the content of their projects. Different science organizations set up different booths, and judges went around judging the various projects. Some of our own THS students, including Kathryn Dailey, Miguel Rodriguez, and Jared Graham, submitted projects into the fair and even won various awards!

The event started Saturday morning at 9:30 am and ended around 1 pm. Different grades were scheduled for different judging times. Judging consisted of going around and talking to each individual about their project and what they learned. While students weren’t being judged, they could walk around and look at other projects, or walk
around the various booths set up in Mainstreet. Walkersville’s National Honor Society and Tuscarora’s Science National Honor Society set up booths with several hands on experiments. Our Science National Honor Society conducted an experiment where students could extract DNA from strawberries. Tuscarora’s Robotics Club also had a section set up where they had the robot they built and worked on. Kids came and were allowed to control the robot through its different obstacles. The Earth Space and Science Lab set up a booth, and they brought several animals such as snakes and spiders. The Catoctin Zoo set up a booth with several animal artifacts.

The grand prize winners in the high school competition were two students, Richard Derr and Frederika Rentzeperis, from Middletown High School, for their project “Differential Rotation as an Explanation for Saturn’s B-Field Periodicity”. These students will be the Frederick County representatives at the international competition in Phoenix, Arizona. The grand prize winner in the middle school competition was a Walkersville Middle School student, Vineet Ravichandran, for the project “Accelerated Math Can Help Us Save Money on Weekly Groceries.” Some of our own students placed in various ways and won various awards. Kate Dailey won a first place prize in Earth and Environmental Sciences, along with many other awards and certificates. Miguel Rodriguez earned a second place award, and Jared Graham received honorable mention. Specialty awards were given out by multiple sponsors and organizations as well. Our Science National Honor Society, Robotics Club, staff volunteers, and student competitors all made Tuscarora very proud in the Frederick County science and engineering fair.