By Chris Spangler
Winners have been announced in the 2024 Fort Atkinson Regional Science Fair.
The event, which this year added engineering projects, took place Sunday, April 14, at the Fort Atkinson Club community center.
Award-winning experiments are on display in the children’s area of the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson through Saturday, April 27.
Science fair winners are, according to grade divisions:
Grades K-1: Emmerson Wojtkunski, kindergarten, Lincoln Elementary School, Whitewater, first place, “Which Type of Soil Do Earthworms Prefer?”; Max Fortney, first grade, Barrie Elementary School, Fort Atkinson, second place, “Solar Eclipse, and Max Fojut, kindergarten, Purdy Elementary School, Fort Atkinson, third place, “Color-Changing Flower.”
Grades 2-3: Corbin Schneider, second grade, Purdy, tie for first place, “Garbage Hunt”; Harper Wojtkunski, second grade, Lincoln, tie for first place, “Trash Vs. Trash Bins.”
Ira Wessely, third grade, Crown of Life Christian Academy, Fort Atkinson, third place, “The Most Eggs-cellent Cookies”; Josie Chaphalkar, second grade, Lincoln, fourth place, “Stains Vs. Detergent,” and Mason Poston second grade, Purdy, fifth place, “Lettuce Grow.”
Grades 4-5: Claire Kettner, fifth grade, Northside Intermediate School, Milton, first place, “Souring Your Smile”; Adler Schneider, fourth grade, Purdy; second place, “My Efficient Dish Scraper”; Erin Vosburgh, fifth grade, Barrie, third place, “Hanging In There”; Aspen Thiede and Elena Fellin, fifth grade, Barrie, fourth place, “Organic Power”; Julia Turrittin-Johnson and Paysen Allie, fifth grade, Barrie, fifth place, “What Treat Does Coco Like the Most?” and Charles Fortney, fourth grade, Barrie, sixth place, “The Bike Battery.”
Grades 6-8: Grace Tess, seventh grade, St. Joseph Catholic School, Fort Atkinson, first place, “How Does Sound Affect Memory?”; Felicity Kuefler, eighth grade, St. Joseph, tie for second place, “The Five-Second Rule”; Claire Yin, eighth grade, St. Joseph, tie for second place, “I Wet My Plants.”
Maia Esparza, sixth grade, St. Joseph, fourth place, “Cold Feet”; Breely Poole, seventh grade, St. Joseph, fifth place, “How Well Can You Smell?”; and Cole Schaning, seventh grade, St. Joseph, sixth place, “Here, There, Everywhere.”
Along with medals, cash awards of $50, $30 and $10 were given to the first- through third-place winners, respectively. Rosette ribbons went to students with blue-ribbon-tier projects for up to six places.
The exhibit voted “Most Practical” was “Both Liquid and Solid,” an entry by Isabelle Hernandez, a fifth-grader at Barrie.
“Most Creative” honors went to Charles Fortney, a fourth-grader at Barrie, for “The Bike Battery.”
Named “People’s Choice” was “Souring Your Smile” by Claire Kettner, a fifth-grader at Northside Intermediate, Milton.
The Friends of Rose Lake presented a pair of Vortex Optics binoculars to a student whose project related to the wildlife, plants, or processes at Dorothy Carnes County Park west of Fort Atkinson. The recipient was Harper Wojtkunski, a second-grader at Lincoln, for her entry, “Trash Vs. Trash Bins.”
Nasco Education presented a Celestron digital microscope to drawing winner Breely Poole of St. Joseph Catholic School.
Camerson Holloway, a student at Fort Atkinson Middle School, designed the science and engineering fair’s T-shirt.
St. Joseph Catholic School received $100 for sending the greatest number of award of excellence (blue ribbon)-qualified projects to the science fair. Its science teacher also received $100 to spend on science-related materials or activities.
Barrie Elementary School was runner-up.
Science fair judges were Baocheng Han, Chris Veldkamp, Crystal Nata, Dylan Spence, Eric Stoner, Hepsi Kumpaty, Jacob Schumacher, Jessica Kienbaum, Kim Naber, Kirsten Crossgrove, Kris Curran, Lauryn Swanson, Libby Nabhan, Lina Han, Lori Trimble, Luis Perez, Michael Hendrix, Miles Hagen, Paul House, Robyn Andrey, Rocio Duchesne-Onoro, Sarah Wendt, Shirisha Jonnalgadda and Susan Devries.
Science fair sponsors were the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Letters and Sciences, Epic Resins, Steven Sahyun, Jones Dairy Farm, Ball Corp. and the MIT Club of Wisconsin.
Also contributing to the fair were Badger Basement Systems, Inc., Design Alliance, Fort Atkinson Hometown Pharmacy, Fort Community Credit Union, the Friends of Rose Lake, Jon Bundt, JM Carpets, Nasco Education and PremierBank.
The event’s board of directors includes Steven Anderson, Jessica Bonjour, Cynthia Ficenec, Nathan Fortney, Paul Hable, Jordan Nelson and Steven Sahyun.
Photos by Chris Spangler unless otherwise indicated.
Youngsters explore 3-D shapes and play fractal games at a table sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Math Department.
Barrie Elementary School first-grader Max Fortney explains his project, titled: “Solar Eclipse.” It placed second in the grades K-1 division.
Michael Tess of Fort Atkinson, the science teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School, views a project titled: “Which Type of Soil Do Earthworms Prefer?” Entered by Emmerson Wojtkunski, not pictured, a kindergarten student at Lincoln Elementary School, Whitewater, it took first place in the K-1 division. With Tess are his children, Grace and Jacob.
Shauna Wessely of Fort Atkinson and her children, Ira and Serilah, read a science fair entry researching “Cat IQ.”
Members of Whitewater High School’s robotics team, Ferradermis, demonstrate their robot used in competition last year. Officially Team 6574 in FIRST Robotics Competition, Ferradermis is participating in the World Championships April 17-20 in Houston. Ferradermis members on hand Sunday were sophomore Chacha Binagi, who in charge of 3-D printing; sophomore Isabella Cohen, impact presenter; junior Andrew Zimmermann, business sub-team lead, and Erison Kreisler, electro-mechanical sub-team lead.
Whitewater High School’s Ferradermis, also known as Team 6574 in FIRST Robotics Competition members sophomore Chacha Binagi, from left, who is in charge of 3-D printing; sophomore Isabella Cohen, impact presenter; junior Andrew Zimmermann, business sub-team lead, and Erison Kreksler, electro-mechanical sub-team lead, are among the guest presenters at the Fort Atkinson Science Fair Sunday. The group brought its robot built for last year’s competitions. On Sunday, this year’s robot was already in Houston, awaiting the World Competition, which will be held today, through Saturday.
Members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Astrology Club, including Adam Miller, a sophomore from Brookfield, from left, and Alexander Kiner, a junior from Bloomington, Minn., chat with a young science fair participant. Aided by telescopes, the college students on Sunday offered science fair attendees close-up glimpses of the sun and moon.
Two photos above, at top, Russell Cuhel, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Great Lakes Studies addresses fair-goers Sunday. His talk focused on his work on climate change; above, fair-goers enjoy the professor’s presentation.
Winners in the Fort Atkinson Regional Science Fair’s K-1 Division are Emmerson Wojtkunski, a kindergarten pupil at Lincoln Elementary School in Whitewater, who won first place with “Which Type of Soil Do Earthworms Prefer?” at left, and Max Fortney, a first-grader at Barrie Elementary School, Fort Atkinson, whose “Solar Eclipse” project won second place.
This photo, and those that follow, are courtesy of Craig Ficenec.
Science fair winners in the grades 2-3 division are Harper Wojtkunski, from left, a second-grader at Whitewater’s Lincoln Elementary School, whose “Trash Vs. Trash Bins” tied for first place; Ira Wessely, a third-grader at Crown of Life Christian Academy, Fort Atkinson, who placed third with “The Most Eggscellent Cookies,” and Josie Chaphalkar, a second-grade Lincoln student who won fourth place with “Stains Vs. Detergent.”
Grades 4-5 division, science fair winners are Claire Kettner, from left, a fifth-grader at Northside Intermediate School in Milton, who won first place with “Souring Your Smile”; Erin Vosburgh, a fifth-grade student at Barrie Elementary School in Fort Atkinson, who placed third with “Hanging In There,” and Charles Fortney, a fourth-grader at Barrie, who placed sixth with “The Bike Battery.”
Cole Schaning, a seventh-grader at St. Joseph Catholic School in Fort Atkinson who won sixth place for “Here, There, Everywhere,” from left; Grace Tess, a seventh-grader at St. Joseph who placed first with “How Does Sound Affect Memory?”; Felicity Kuefler, an eighth-grader at St. Joseph who tied for second place with “The Five-Second Rule”; Claire Yin, an eighth-grader at St. Joseph who tied for second place with “I Wet My Plants”; Breely Poole, a seventh-grader at St. Joseph who placed fifth with “How Well Can You Smell?” and Maia Esparza, a sixth-grade student at St. Joseph who won fourth place with “Cold Feet” were among winners, grades 6-8, at the Fort Atkinson Regional Science Fair held Sunday at the Fort Atkinson Club community center.
“Souring Your Smile” by Claire Kettner, from left, a fifth-grader at Northside Intermediate, Milton, is named a “People’s Choice” winner on Sunday. “The Bike Battery,” entered by Charles Fortney, a fourth-grader at Barrie Elementary School in Fort Atkinson, was voted “Most Creative.”
Jordan Nelson, customer engagement manager at Nasco Education, Fort Atkinson, at left, presents Breely Poole of St. Joseph Catholic School with a Celestron digital microscope. Poole was a drawing winner at the science fair.
Tom Belzer, a member of the Friends of Rose Lake presents Harper Wojtkunski, a second-grader at Lincoln Elementary School in Whitewater, with a pair of Vortex Optics binoculars. The equipment was awarded to a student whose project related to the wildlife, plants or processes at Dorothy Carnes County Park west of Fort Atkinson. Wojtkunski was recognized for her entry, “Trash Vs. Trash Bins.”
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