Fort Atkinson Science Fair winners announced

By Chris Spangler

Winners in the 2022 Fort Atkinson Regional Science Fair have been announced.

The event was held virtually in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Students’ projects and the awards presentation video may be viewed at http://www.fasciencefair.org/.

St. Joseph Catholic School in Fort Atkinson placed first for submitting the most science fair entries among all participating schools. It received $500, and the teacher received $100 to spend on science-related materials or activities.

Purdy Elementary School in Fort Atkinson was the runner-up with the second-most entries.

The following lists winners in each age division (note that some students listed themselves by only a first name or their initials):

Grades K-1: Jordi O’Neill, “Egg Out,” kindergarten, Lincoln Elementary School in Whitewater, first place.

Grades 2-3: Charlie Fortney, “The Cat Box Test,” second grade, Barrie Elementary School in Fort Atkinson, first place; Nikolas Sherman, “Biodegradable Test,” third grade, Purdy, second place; Riley Hertzfeldt, “The Great Gummy Bear Experiment,” third grade, Purdy, third place; A.H., Liquids & Solids,” second grade, Luther Elementary School in Fort Atkinson, fourth place.

Grades 4-5: Grace Tess, “What Materials Make an Air-Powered Car Go the Furthest?,” fifth grade, St. Joseph’s, first place; C.S., “Guinea Pig Food Selection,” fifth grade, St. Joseph’s, second place; A.G.K., “What Substance Cleans a Penny the Best?,” fifth grade, St. Joseph’s, third place; and Graham Ralston, “Stomach Acid Experiment (Dilute HCI Acid),” fifth grade, Barrie, fourth place.

Grades 6-8: Emily Mallin, “Tastebuds = Tricked,” sixth grade, Fort Atkinson Middle School, first place; Alexandra Jonas, “Paw Preference,” seventh grade, St. Joseph’s, second-place tie; A. Debilzen, “Color and Absorption of Light,” eighth grade, St. Joseph’s, second-place tie; C.B., “Chill Out,” eighth grade, St. Joseph’s, third place; G. Nsibirwa, “Which cardiovascular Exercise Gets My Heart Rate the Fastest?” seventh grade, fourth place; Y. Palomec-Garcia, “Melting Ice,” eighth grade, St. Joseph’s, fifth place; K.H., “Corrosion,” eighth grade, St. Joseph’s, sixth place. 

Grades 9-12: Calvin Ficenec, “Computer Maintenance to Reduce CPU Temperature,” ninth grade, Fort Atkinson High School, first place.

Medals and cash prizes of $50, $30 and $10 were awarded to students earning first- through third place, respectively. Rosette ribbons were awarded to blue-ribbon tier projects for up to six places.

Meanwhile, Graham Ralston, a fifth-grader at Barrie Elementary School, won the drawing for a stereomicroscope donated by Nasco.

Jordi O’Neill of Lincoln Elementary School in Whitewater, won the Friends of Rose Lake Special Award for “Egg Out.”

Kiera Gille of St. Joseph Catholic School in Fort Atkinson won the T-shirt design contest. Honorable mentions went to Zoey Allard, 9; Jason Hertzfeldt and Lerissa.

Judges for the 2022 science fair were Baocheng Han, Chris Veldkamp, Crystal Nata, Durga Kutal, Erinn Bell, Evan Massouras, Jessica Kienbaum, Jeton Dehari, Jon Zheng, Kim Nabger, Kirsten Crossgrove, Lina Han, Lori Trimble, Michael Hendrix, Nathaly Cormier, Robyn Pohlod, Rocio Duchesne, Sarah Maloney, Steve Anderson and Steven Girard.

Science fair sponsors were Bender, Kind & Stafford Dentistry; W.D. Hoard & Sons Co.; Nasco; Fort Atkinson Kiwanis Club; Ball Corp.; University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Fort HealthCare.

Other contributors included Armstrong Heating & Cooling, Badger Basement Systems, Fort Atkinson Hometown Pharmacy, Friends of Rose Lake, J.M. Carpets, Handy Art, Steven Sahyun, Phil and Linda Niemeyer and W&A Distribution Services.

The Fort Atkinson Regional Science Fair Board of Directors includes Steven Anderson, Jessica Bonjour, Cynthia Ficenec, Paul Hable, Jordan Nelson and Steven Sahyun.

Science fair participants may pick up their projects between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson.

The winning T-shirt design for the 2022 Fort Atkinson Regional Science contest features an astronaut which was created by Kiera Gille of St. Joseph Catholic School in Fort Atkinson. 

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