By David R. Nelson, El Tejon School [photo by Denise Nelson]

This year’s El Tejon Unified School District Science Fair was a blast. A full 186 projects were submitted.

I found interest in almost every single project. Some of the projects were insane. I had never even heard of some of the ideas that were placed in this competition. When I saw that some of the projects did not have a ribbon or medal, I was shocked. Most the projects were really good. This was a great year.

One of the projects that caught my attention was "The Early Bird Gets the Worm." It was a unique concept, well investigated.

Another outstanding project was about distractions while driving. The investigator played Mario Kart on his Nintendo Wii console, recording how well he "drove" while he ate or talked. It is amazing how distractions can affect how you drive.

The most interesting project to me was the one on how to stop brain freezes- that awful ache you can get in your head when drinking a cold beverage. Not only did the test participants go through chronic brain freezes, they had different ways to solve it. I learned that from now on, I will put my thumb on the top of my mouth when I get a brain freeze.

I also interviewed some winners. Here were some of their answers.

Brent Howell, 8th grade team with Austin Kleider and Joey Bizzini- Q: Why did you do your project on manure gas? A: A lot of people complain about gasoline prices. Manure can be an alternative resource to some people.

Sedona Vivirito, 6th grade-Q: What was your favorite part of the Science Fair?

A: Putting the board together, because I like all the sparkles I got to put on my board.

Bruno Perez, 8th grade- Q: Why did you pick this project?

A: I thought it would be interesting and fun to do. I found it on the show Doomsday Prep, then I looked it up on the internet.

Our district has held science fairs for 14 years. A shout out to teacher Lee Bizzini for coordinating for the past four years. Special thanks go to the judges, including Lisa Arreola, Scot Pipkin, Catherine Hallmark, Dana Edwards, Ken Hurst, Ph.D. and Dick Albright.

Eleven winners go on to compete March 19 in the Kern County Science Fair.

4th Grade Winners:

• Chili Tanner
• Matt Matte

4th Grade Honorable Mention:

• Sadie Thomason
• Sara Hon
• Gwen Smith
• Jason Martinez
• Kelsey Zuniga
• Jesse Townsend (PMLC)
• Hunter Hawley (PMLC)
• Ivan Stawski
• Jason Stawski
• Stori Haflich
• Zoe Watson

5th Grade Winners:

• Winston Robertson
• Jayden Childs
• William Edward

5th Grade Honorable Mention:

• Alex Penner – also an alternate
• Knight Jarecki – also an alternate

6th Grade Winners:

• Sedona Vivirito
• Tristan Csulak

6th Grade Honorable Mention:

• Christina Zorich

7th Grade Winners

• Team of Charles Robertson and Michael Stegeman
• Rachel Hallmark

7th Grade Honorable Mention:

• Team of Kelly Stegeman and Jackie Stewart

8th Grade Winners

and Brent Howell

Honorable Mention:

• David Nelson – also an alternate
• Hannah Hagoort

FMHS Winner

• Forrest Csulak

This is part of the February 08, 2013 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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