Ten students from Cedarbrook Middle School won first place at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) State Competition which took place on May 14-16 in State College, PA. 

From the announcement:

First place winners from seventh grade included Cole Powers for his project on letter ratios and Wordle success rates; Grace Byard for her project on classical music’s effect on bean plant growth; Nori Huynh for her project on what color of light plants are drawn to; Veronika Miller for her project on the effect of light on fungi; Julia Ball for her project on the aerodynamics principles of paper airplanes; and Joey Bieryla for his project on activated carbon in water filters. 

Frida Brodsky received first place and a perfect score for her biochemistry project on what type of flour makes the densest muffins. 

First place winners from eighth grade included Morohkaut Thach for his project on water nutrient levels in plants; Amaya McCants for her project on the angle of light’s effect on plant growth; and Jonny Raisch for his physics project on the size of paper airplanes.

Four Cedarbrook students placed second at the competition. The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science is a statewide nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania founded in 1934 by the Pennsylvania Academy of Science as an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In related news, the “Myers Machines” and “Glenside Bearbotics” robotics teams recently competed in the district’s inaugural Lego League scrimmage. The showcase included four rounds in which students programmed robots to navigate a set course.

“We wanted to give the students an opportunity to show off their robotics skills and showcase what our other schools are doing in this area,” event organizer Jaime Osea said.

From Cedarbrook’s Facebook post:

The CBK FIRST Tech Challenge robot and the high school’s FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Challenge robots were also on hand, showing the younger students what’s in store for them robotics-wise in Cheltenham. Two Vex robots, which are utilized in the robotics curriculum at the high school, were on exhibition for attendees to test drive. Myers Girls Who Code, under the direction of CHS student Brianna Wilson, was also in attendance.

For more photos of the event, you can click here.

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Photos courtesy of Cheltenham School District