18 science fair entries advance to Guam expo

The Public School System on Sunday named 18 outstanding science projects that will represent the Commonwealth in the Guam science exposition in March.

Sunday marked the second year of the islandwide competition that saw the participation of 18 schools on Saipan, Rota and Tinian.

Held at the Marianas High School gymnasium, 86 individual entries were publicly viewed Saturday while awarding of honors was held Sunday.

Tess A. Reyes, islandwide science fair coordinator, said five competing groups entered equally amazing projects that impressed the contest jurors.

She described this year’s entries as more “challenging and creative” reflecting the students’ enthusiasm and interest on their projects.

The groups competed in the four contest categories: life, physical, health/nutrition and medical, and earth and space science.

Adjudged top winners in the kindergarten through first grade division were Kagman Elementary’s Keith Villagomez and San Antonio Elementary’s Alannah Sablan.

Jesus Untalan of Tinian Elementary, Teo Laniyo of Dandan Elementary, Aysha Cabrera of Kagman Elementary, and Miguel Aninon of Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School won for the 2nd to 3rd grade division.

Awardees in the fourth to fifth grade division were Vanessa Gramlich of San Vicente Elementary, Patrick Agustin of Gregorio T. Camacho, Ann Margaret Norcio of Oleai, and Angela Aninon of Gregorio T. Camacho while similar honors were given to Neri Bles Jingco of Rota Junior High, Zachery Yamagishi of Garapan Elementary, Zalika Joyner of Chacha Oceanview, and Blesilda Maratita of Koblerville Elementary for the sixth through eight grade division.

Recognized students in the ninth to twelfth grades were Allison Madamba and Kaelani Demapan of Saipan Southern High School, Aisha Joyner and Allyssa Shara-Mae Arangorin of Kagman High School.

The 18 students were the first place winners in each contest categories in every grade division.

PSS also awarded ribbons, medals and gift items to the contest runner-ups during Sunday’s ceremony.

This year, each school entered five projects to the competition.

Tess Reyes said PSS intends to bring next year’s competition to a hotel to showcase the public school talents to the community and tourists.

She commended the volunteer-teachers who worked hard for the success of the event.

The event was in collaboration with the schools’ science/wellness learning community, headed by Sharlene Crisostimo.

Entries were judged based on scientific thought, creative ability, understanding, clarity, dramatic value and technical skill.

Allyssa Shara-Mae Arangorin, one of the 18 top winners, said she’s excited to be in the Guam competition.

“This is my first time in the islandwide competition…and it feels great!” she told Saipan Tribune.

The student entered “A conventional way of filtering rain water” which took her days to complete.

In this difficult times, Arangorin said, she wants to offer the public an “easy, simple, and better way” to filter healthy water.

The CNMI was represented by five students in the 2008 science exposition in Guam where the overall champion competes in the national level.

Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, in her message, said the fair is designed to provide the opportunity for students to further investigate science in different categories.

“The inquiry in science is a never-ending process and we would like our students to showcase such talent that they bring with them with their entries,” Sablan said, adding that it is their hope to expand the science fair to include other disciplines such as engineering, electronics, technology, mathematics and the arts to prepare students with their career interests and future studies.

Winning entries for this year included “rocking candle”; “best ant repellant”; “the best bleach”; “best stain remover”; “attack of the killer vine”; “wind versus water”; “saving soil from water erosion”; “which bread grows mold the fastest” “deforestation and reforestation”; “explosion with Diet Pepsi”; “water in the Pacific”; “organic multi-vitamin super malunggay”; “big things come in small packages”; “fastest way to chill a soda”; “bringing down greenhouse gases”; and “a conventional way of filtering rain water.”