On Wednesday, Jan. 23 over 60 students participated in the high school science fair.

These students, like freshman Kara Beth Purdom, began the research process in October, but the experimenting process began just a bit before the science fair took place.

“I started my project in the beginning of December,” Purdom said.

The students were able to participate in the following categories: Behavioral Sciences, Biochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Animal Sciences, Biomedical and Health, Microbiology, Physics and Astronomy, Robotics and Plant Sciences.

“I placed first in my category, and my category was Organic Chemistry. My project was on how much sugar is in different types of daily drinks and how the sugar might affect your health,” Purdom said.

Other students, like freshman Trey Brower, also competed in the science fair, and they were able to choose their project and category.

“I was in the robotics category, and I won first for my project on if a robot can solve a Rubik’s Cube,” Brower said.

The science fair helped many students better their public speaking skills according to one of one of the organizers, science teacher Hunter Crane.

“This gives the students a different way of presenting the information that they know, to be able to kinda get people out of their comfort zone, practice a little bit of public speaking,” Crane said. “As well as being able to demonstrate being able to do some projects in different ways than normal.”
All of the students had an opportunity that they hadn’t had before. They learned something new, and they are able to get some other skills out of it.

“I have gained the knowledge of knowing what’s in the drinks and foods I am eating. It really shows what you’re putting into your body, and being able to experience this and getting the opportunity to go on to the regional fair is very good for me as a person. It really helps me to become relaxed while talking to adults,” Purdom said.

The next step for some students that placed first through fifth is the regional science fair at Ole Miss.

“I will now compete in the regional science fair at Ole Miss sometime in March, and with this, I feel like my classmates support me and the others going on to the regional science fair and hope that I can bring home a medal,” Purdom said.

If students advance that far in the science fair, they can earn things for college, like scholarship money.

“Science fair makes it where you can get a lot of scholarships. If you actually put your time into it, there is a good chance that you can earn some scholarship money and things like that,” Crane said

Students gained more than they thought from this experience. They learned something they would not have experimented on, and they were able to work on their public speaking along with their confidence.

“I think the students gained some more confidence that they go could go out and get out of their comfort zone, and do something they are not used to doing,” Crane said.