Seven Thomas County Central High School students have earned places at a state science competition.
TCCHS had 30 students participate in regional science fair, ABAC Regional Science & Engineering Fair, which was held Feb. 13 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton. Students who placed in the school’s competition moved on to region.
The students advancing to state placed first in their category at region competition. These students are: Kaleb Carter, Jonathan Castillo, Jacob Hancock, Noah Harris, C’lee Kornegay, Emily Kornegay, and Ashlynn Quattlebaum.
“The exciting things about science projects are that students get to pick a topic of interest and design their own experiment,” TCCHS Science Department Chair Laura Kornegay said. “Students learn a lot when they are interviewed by the judges and they get to see a wide variety of experiments when they compete beyond the school level.”
During judging, students had the chance to participate in a variety of activities, such as dissecting a sheep brain.
Students said they enjoyed their experience at region competition.
“I enjoyed spending the day with other students in our region and learning about their research and experiments,” senior Emily Kornegay, who placed first in her category, said.
Kaleb Carter was part of a group whose experiment is titled, “Can You Take the Heat?” The experiment uses various peppers and “reducers” mixed together to see which reducer works best to eliminate the pepper’s spiciness.
“I think our board made our project stand out,” Carter said. “We put it on a printed poster board. Also, our project helps out with a real life situation.”
Carter is excited to be moving on to state.
“I was excited that we won because we put a lot of work into this project,” he said. “Also, I am excited that we get to experience going to the state science fair.”
State competition will be held in March at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Senior Noah Harris, who is advancing to state, also placed second overall in the region.
“I am honored to have second overall and first in my category at region science fair,” Harris said. “My performance means a lot to me because this is my last year competing. I am also excited to move on to state and see great projects from all over the state.”