Several Quaker Valley School District Edgeworth Elementary students recently participated in the state STEM Design Challenge Championships in Harrisburg.
Fifth graders Hannah Yocca, Lydia Beichner, Francesca Zeiders and Emily Custers, under the direction of coach Sara Schoener, showcased their science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills against multiple other school districts at the Farm Show Complex on May 3.
Edgeworth students represented the district after taking first place in a regional competition in March sponsored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
Each team was challenged to help Pennsylvania farmers by creating an agricultural robot or other high-tech farming equipment and building a prototype of their design using only K’Nex.
Each team had to share a blueprint of their prototype and a design notebook. They also had to give a 2-minute presentation. Judges from Thermo Fisher Scientific scored prototypes and project components, and awards were distributed to the three highest-scoring teams in each division.
Winners of the state competition in the grades 4-5 division were Lakeview School District in first place, Spring Grove Area School District in second, Ephrata Area School District in third and Coudersport Area School District earned an honorable mention.
The Stem Design Challenge began in 2010 as a competition at the AIU in Homestead with 37 teams.
It has since grown statewide with more than 5,000 students competing each year.
Art awards
Quaker Valley School District students recently won scholastic art and writing awards.
Gold key winner was Julia Garvic. Silver key winners were Kendall Foster, Olivia Parker and Lindsay Gledhill. Honorable mentions were Saige Capek, Gretel Christensen, Sydney Earlewine, Kendall Foster, Serena Hutchens, Annica Kagle, Olivia Parker, Lauren Tiesse and Layna Wilson.
They participated in the scholastic competition at Carnegie Mellon University in March.
High school teachers involved were Jeremy Pidhirny and Nina Strelec. The middle school teacher involved was Erin Woods.
Ceramics show
Quaker Valley High School recently earned the best overall school award in a ceramics show at the Standard Clay Company’s Student Exhibition at The Clay Place in Carnegie in early April.
Those selected for the exhibition were Annica Kagle, Anna Theis, Ava Savage and Serena Hutchens.
Science medals
Several Quaker Valley Middle School students recently earned medals at the Science Olympiad.
After qualifying at the regional competition, the team traveled to Penn State Altoona to compete in the state competition on April 27.
Students competed in individual events with 35 other middle schools across the state.
Medal earners were eighth grader Lucy Montagnese and seventh grader Stefan Mauer for their eighth-place finish in Can’t Judge A Powder.
Seventh grader Lawson Beichner and sixth grader Monty Minn took ninth place in Optics.
Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive reporter covering general news in Western Pennsylvania, with a penchant for festivals and food. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.