St. Thomas Student Receives First-Place in State Science Fair

Jameson C. Kief had a vision of what he wanted his science fair project to look like. He enjoyed working with pulleys and wanted to show what he’d learned during the St. Thomas School Science Fair this year.

Jameson hadn’t necessarily envisioned that he would be recognized as one of the state’s top science projected during the 2011 Connecticut Science Fair held this weekend at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.

Jameson took home the top prize for grade 7 in the category of “physical sciences” for his display “Pullin’ with Pulleys” said Karen Cohen, the fair’s media director.

Southington had four entries this year in the annual science fair, with five local students competing among a group of more than 150 finalists selected from more than 15,000 entries this year.

DePaolo eighth-grade students Mack Galos and Jake Moise presented their hands-on project “Is Fresh Water Safe to Drink?” while St. Thomas students Ryan Mills and Caleigh Waskowicz also made the final cut this year.

Ryan's display discussed the importance of cleaning up oil spills while Caleigh focused her project on well depth and contamination issues.

Jameson and three other award-winning middle school students selected Saturday will receive invitations to submit their work to compete in the nationwide Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) Competition, a program of Society for Science & the Public.

“Being here today renews one’s faith in our possibility in Connecticut,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said during the closing award ceremonies on Saturday. “The young people in our midst are capable of great things.”

“They have put together outstanding projects and research that may one-day solve problems in our society ranging from breast cancer to our dependence on foreign energy sources,” he said. “They are already working toward solutions to the great questions the world must solve in the next generation.”

The 2011 fair featured “the best of the best,” Cohen said, and although there were selected winners, each entry was something students should be proud of.

This year, a record 70 energy-related projects were entered in the fair. Some investigated revolutionary concepts, Cohen said.

One student built a wind turbine that does not have blades; instead, it utilizes a turbine invented 100 years ago by Nikola Tesla. Another used algae to create bio-fuels. Yet another project proposed using a kite that flies autonomously at high altitudes and acts as a wind-power generator to replace ground-based wind turbines.