On March 30th Lake Region had two incredible and clever students enter in the 2024 VT STEM Fair and bring home many prestigious awards and honors for themselves and Lake Region.
Sylvia Brownlow is a senior at LR and has been participating in the VT STEM Fair for the past 3 years, consistently producing impressive projects. This year she developed a device that can be used to measure the health of plants by utilizing LEDs lights, a sensor, Arduino software, and 3D printed hardware. She started the device while at The New Hampshire Academy of Science during this past summer, which she attended via scholarship from the 2023 VTSTEMF. Her device can be created for under $50 and also has the potential to aid in multiple UN Sustainable Goals. This is the second time she has presented her project, the first time being at the Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium securing 4th place in the oral presentations, which then landed her a spot in the poster competition at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.
At this past year Sylvia brought home,
Mary Hoppe Memorial Award:
Mary Hoppe was Professor of Chemistry at Norwich University and was a role model for a generation of female college professors, physicians, and researchers. She was director of the VT STEM Fair for many years. The Mary Hoppe memorial award is a prize of $100 to an excellent project by a young woman scientist in any grade level that exemplifies good use of the scientific method.
Society of Women Engineers-North Country Section:
Highest ranked outstanding project (certificate and $125 award) These awards recognize young women whose outstanding projects involve engineering, physics, computer science, or math.
The US Air Force and Air Force Research Laboratory Award:
Packages for the best projects in any area, including a sling pack, power bank, flash drive, usb car charger, and a certificate.
VSTEMF Gold Medal:
Recognizing the highest ranked 10% projects in any grade level
Bella Hanover is a sophomore at Lake Region. Bella also participated at the Region Junior Science and Humanities Symposium project competition this year. This was her very first VT STEM Fair and despite not receiving her initial expected outcome, her project and presentation was extremely successful and is leading her to a path that will boost her future science career greatly. Her project was on the behavior of zebra mussels and which material they prefer to adhere to. Hanover took multiple different tanks with different controlled groups of mussels each with a different material pipe inside the tank. She tested copper, steel PVC, and treated PVC material pipes. In the end, her actual experiment was inconclusive, having many of the mussels meeting an untimely end, however by displaying an intricate knowledge and use of the scientific method, she was able to bring home many awards and honors at this past fair.
New Hampshire Academy of Science Full Scholarship to NHAS three-week session:
The NHAS supports students in VT and NH to perform original research in an advanced research lab near Dartmouth College, with the final project and research presentation at Dartmouth.
The US Air Force and Air Force Research Laboratory Award:
Packages for the best projects in any area, including a sling pack, power bank, flash drive, usb car charger, and a certificate.
VSTEMF Silver Medal:
Recognizing projects ranked in the top 10% to 30% in any grade level
Over all this year’s Lake Region STEM Fair participants should be very proud of themselves. We hope that these victories for our students will encourage them to continue their work in the scientific field, and will push them forward by opening the door to new opportunities. We also hope that the STEM Fair Club program continues to grow, and that the success of Brownlow and Hanover will inspire the current students involved in the club, as well as others who are interested to join and create projects of their own. None of this could have been done without the help of Lake Region’s Mr. Gilson and Mr. Myrenton, the proud teachers who run the LR STEM Fair Club.
