This year’s Westfield Public Schools Science & Engineering Fair was one of the largest in recent memory, with over 100 judges, 350 students and 228 projects. “The projects this year were especially creative, and we are noticing some new categories of research gaining popularity among the students, particularly engineering, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and the remediation of environmental pollution,” said Science Fair Coordinator Christina Smith.
Smith said the projects that will move on to regionals have yet to be determined at this time, but Westfield will bring up to 17 projects to the regional fair, which will take place on March 6 at Western New England University.
“Our students from both WHS and WTA [Westfield Technical Academy] did an excellent job representing themselves, their teachers and their schools. We’re very proud of all the hard work they did leading up to the fair, and of their conduct and professionalism at the fair itself,” Smith said.
District-wide Top Scoring Projects:
Giovanni Santaniello, WHS first place — “Mycoremediation Employing Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus to Degrade Plastics.”
Kaitlynn Goulette, WHS second place — “Acheta domesticus Consumption Rates as a Function of Varying Electromagnetic Wavelengths.”
Teagan Chisholm-Godshalk, WHS third place — Smile Say ‘Plastics’: Investigating How Many Microplastics Are Hidden in Cheese.”