Story by student reporter Brianna Parker

Thomas County Central High School budding scientists’ innovative ideas dominated at region competition.

TCCHS students competed in the ABAC Regional Science & Engineering Fair held Feb. 10 in Tifton. TCCHS students earned half of the state qualifying spots, including both the first and second place Overall Senior Division awards.

“Our students tend to come up with unique topics and new twists on familiar topics,” advisor Laura Kornegay said. “They conduct thorough research and thoughtfully analyze their results. I am thrilled that, after review by outside judges, our students came home with so many awards.”

There were 14 first place winners, seven second place winners, and six third place winners. However, only students who earn first place move on to state.

Freshman Kaleb Ward was the only student of his grade from TCCHS that advanced to the state competition. He is excited to be a state qualifier because his topic genuinely interests him. His project is titled “Typing on Tempo.”

“My topic was about how the tempo of music that people listen to while typing affects their productivity,” Ward stated.

The first and second place Overall Senior Division awards went to Ashlyn Quattlebaum and Katelyn Hancock, respectively.

“The excitement that comes when others recognize your hard work and dedication is one that is indescribable,” Quattlebaum said. “Each competitor hopes that the judges realize the hard work put into the projects and I am grateful for the judges realizing that of my project.”

The most exciting part of the competition to her was whenever she was announced “First Overall Senior Division” winner.

“The announcer began calling out names of the state qualifiers, and as he went down the list I began to realize my name was not on the list,” she began. “By the time they were announcing the ‘First Overall Senior Division’ winner I was convinced that I was not advancing to state. He announced my name, and I was overwhelmed with excitement.”

Quattlebaum’s project was titled “Can you take the heat? Phase two.” She tested capsaicin from four types of peppers, then quantified the concentration of the capsaicin she extracted by using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Mass Spectrometry.

“I truly believe that with the assistance of Dr. Molek and the University of West Florida allowing me to use their facilities, I stood out by the extensive research I conducted,” Quattlebaum said.

Science fair is an event that many students look forward to competing in each year. It brings out both friendly but competitive spirits and shared passions for various scientific fields.

“The most exciting part of the competition was being able to look at other people’s backboards in order to see what problems they decided to focus on and the creative ideas they approached to test problems,” state qualifier C’lee Kornegay said.

Kornegay, Quattlebaum and Eli Kosciw are state qualifiers who were not required to complete projects for a science class this year but still chose to conduct their own experiments.

“Without it being a requirement, I feel like I put more effort [into the project],” senior Eli Kosciw stated. “This project was my choice, so it needs to be the best I could make it.”

C’lee Kornegay’s project is titled “How does diversity impact algal response to ocean acidification?” She tested different levels of diversity among species of algae. Then, she acidified the samples and recorded the dissolved oxygen levels in order to observe productivity.

“I chose this project because of the important impact ocean acidification has on marine ecosystems,” she said.

Kornegay said completing the project gave her the chance to “earn the experience of working in a style like scientists, experiment with real-world problems, and draw conclusions about potential ways to improve an aspect of our lives.”

“I am excited to be advancing to the state level of competition in order to compete against more competitive projects and to see other students’ work,” she said.

Now state qualifiers will start preparing for the next level of the competition.

“Most students will review their research so that they can easily discuss their projects with the judges at state,” Laura Kornegay said. “To help with this, students will participate in practice interviews before state.”

Students are ecstatic to go to state competition.

“I feel honored to know that a judge acknowledged all of my hard work in and out of the classroom,” winner Katelyn Hancock exclaimed. “I am excited to go to state and show judges what I've researched!”

TCCHS Region Science Fair Winners Box

First Overall Senior Division—Ashlyn Quattlebaum

Second Overall Senior Division—Katelyn Hancock

First Place & State Qualifiers

Nathan Blanchard

Chase Darly

Katelyn Hancock

C’lee Kornegay

Eli Kosciw

Parker Maroney

Irvin Moore

Ashlyn Quattlebaum

Chad Shelton

Jeremy Simmons

Landon Trotter

Gretchen Turnbull

Kaleb Ward

Ben Wilhelm

Second Place

Tyler Carter

Adrienne Carson

Nick Herndon

Cheyenne Little

Gabby Melnick

Josh Stephens

Mary Beth Wise

Third Place

Gabby Hoffs

Emily Johnson

Jade Moser

Trinity Sanders

Matt Sherrod

Abigail Witcher