The science fair project created by the team of Nathally Aguilar, left, and Jamie Flores of Contentnea-Savannah K-8 will be among nine projects representing Lenoir County Public Schools at the N.C. Science and Engineering Fair in Raleigh in March. Nathally and Jamie won second place in the middle school Bioscience competition at the regional fair in Greenville on Saturday. In all, LCPS students brought 12 awards. Photo by Patrick Holmes / LCPS

Ten LCPS elementary and middle school students will take their science fair projects into state competition after winning honors Saturday at the Northeast Region Science and Engineering Fair in Greenville.

The district sent 49 projects to the regional fair and 12 of them came home as winners. Students from 20 counties competed for the right to move on to the NC Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Raleigh on March 29-30.

The 10 winners represented nine projects, a record for LCPS in state competition, according to Mary Riddick, a science teacher at Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School who coordinates science fair activities for the district.

“LCPS students had an amazing showing at the Northeast Regional Science Fair. We are so proud of all the students for their hard work on getting this far and are especially proud of the nine projects advancing to the state fair,” Riddick said. “That is the highest number our county has ever sent to the state competition and we are excited to support them through their experience there.” 

Advancing in the middle school division are: Eli Kearney, E.B. Frink Middle School, first place in physics; Nathally Aguilar and Jamie Flores, Contentnea-Savannah K-8, second place in Bioscience B; Ahmad Zayyad, E.B. Frink, second place in Bioscience A; and Austin Williams, E.B. Frink, second place in Engineering and Technology.

Advancing in the elementary school division are: Adam Garcia, Pink Hill Elementary, second place; Christian Wiggins, Northwest Elementary, third place; and honorable mention winners Marissa Doyle of La Grange Elementary, Coleman Taylor of Pink Hill Elementary and Silas Rigsbee of Moss Hill Elementary.

Additionally, Liam Barwick of Moss Hill Elementary won second place and a $30 award in the Water Works and Water Environment Association Award competition. Middle school students Shayla Squires of Woodington and Samantha Peyton and Kaylee Stocks of Contentnea-Savannah won third-place honors for projects in chemistry and physics, respectively.

In the elementary division, first-, second- and third-place winners as well as eight honorable mentions are chosen for the state science fair. In the middle school category, first- and second-place winners advance.

LCPS students prepared for the regional event during the district’s first-ever Science Showcase held in January. That event gave students whose projects were selected as winners at the school level to interact with adults who quizzed them on their entries in the way judges would.