By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY
christopher.tuffley@newssun.com
SEBRING -- Highlands County middle school students did well at the Regional Science Fair held at South Florida State College on Feb. 5. Students from Highlands, Desoto, Glades, Hardee and Okeechobee counties competed for the opportunity to advance to the state level of competition. While not every first place winner advanced, to advance a student has to place first in his or her category.
Three of the 12 students moving on to the State Science Fair, and both alternates, are from Highlands County.
They are Hannah Livingston and Ritika Manik, both eighth-graders at Hill-Gustat Middle School, and Griffin Chynoweth, a seventh-grader at Sebring Middle School.
The first alternate is Grace Brauer, in the eighth grade at Hill-Gustat, and Grant Ritenour, a sixth-grader at Sebring Middle.
While they do not advance, the following students all placed in the competition:
First place awards in the fields of behavior and social sciences, biochemistry, medicine and health, microbiology and zoology went to Hill-Gustat students Jaydee Grice and Nayalie Hintz, both eighth-graders. Another Hill-Gustat student, seventh-grader Hannah Luciano, won a second place award in the same category
First place awards in the field of botany went to Hill-Gustat eighth-grader Siddharth Ananthan, and Sebring Middle sixth-grader Jade Sinness.
Sanhitha Raghuveera, a seventh-grader at Sebring Middle, earned a second place ribbon.
Avon Park Middle School sixth-grader Robert Deen and Hill-Gustat sixth-grader Samantha Goodwin won third place awards.
Three Hill-Gustat students won first place awards in chemistry: eighth-grader Hannah Livinston, seventh-grader Rachel Boyd, and sixth-grader Jarod Metzger.
Two other Hill-Gustat students received second place awards, eighth-grader Kelly Weill and seventh-grader Madison Leaphart. Kadie Crosson, a seventh-grader at Avon Park Middle, won a third place ribbon.
Highlands students showed a particular strength in the categories of earth and space, engineering, environmental and mathematics.
Four students won first place ribbons: Luke Halpern, sixth-grader at Lake Placid Middle School; Griffin Chynoweth, a seventh-grader at Sebring Middle; and two eighth-grade Hill-Gustat students, Grace Brauer and Jessica Hamilton.
And finally, in the physics division -- Edwin Ayala, an eighth-grader from Hill-Gustat, won a first place ribbon; Josh Jantz, a seventh-grader from APMS, won a second place ribbon; and Carson Angell, a sixth-grader at Hill-Gustat, and Amy Schlosser, a sixth-grader at Avon Park Middle, earned third place awards.
Six students also were selected as rising stars and given nomination packages for the national level science fair, and the chance to compete there. This is regardless of what happens at the state level. Three of the students have already qualified, and one of the alternates. Rising Stars are Siddharth Ananthan, Grace Brauer, Griffin Chynoweth, Hannah Livingston, Ratik Manik and Grant Ritenour.
Friday, February 15, 2013 - www.newssun.com/021513-ct-Regional-sci-fair