On March 20 and March 21 several of Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s seniors, sophomores and freshmen took part in the Prince Georges Regional Area Science Fair (PGRASF) at Charles Herbert Flowers High School. Set up for PGRASF was on Friday March 20 and the judging and awards ceremony took place on Saturday March 21.

Every year, those students that won, first, second and third place in their categories at their school’s science fair are qualified to take part in PGRASF.

ERHS students were accompanied by other students from Prince Georges Country, Calvert Country and St. Mary’s County schools in the regional science fair. The grade level of the competitors varied from county to county and school to school.

Students competed for several different scholarships, private awards, and the grand prize award, in which only the grand prize winners will go on to compete in Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2015 (Intel ISEF).

From ERHS, there was a 2^nd grand prize winner, 6 first place winners, 9 second place winners, 3 third place winners, 10 honorable mentions and 22 special awards.

“This is the fifth year in a row we sent a student from Roosevelt to the International Science Fair,” said Mrs. Jennifer Morgenthaler, who is the STEM Coordinator and a Science teacher at ERHS.

“There were a lot of Roosevelt people, so it was nice to hang out with people who I didn’t normally hang out with,” said senior Aiysha Scott, who along with her science fair project partner, Bukola Anifowoshe, placed first in the chemistry category and won 2 special awards. Their project was on the extraction of phosphate and nitrogen out of animal waste, such as cow manure and poultry waste. “We were excited,” Scott said, “but sad because we didn’t get a break,” she mentioned that she had to stay at the fair from 8 am to about 10 pm.

Senior Emma Thrift won the 2^nd place grand prize award. Thrift’s project was in the environmental management category as she investigated a more ecological and economical form of using pheromones to trap harlequin bugs to stop them from harming the brassacaceous crop and cole crop fields. “They are very destructing of these plants,” Thrift said as she explained her project, “this experiment used male aggravation sex pheromones, in addition to host and non-host plants to create an attractive trap crop and draw the bug away.”

As a finalist in the PGRASF, she will participate, with more than 1700 other students from around the world, in the Intel ISEF, according to Intel ISEF website.

“Oh my goodness,” said Thrift when first asked about her feelings on placing in the regional science fair. “First when I realized I won first place [in the category], I was extremely happy that I [got] the chance to be there longer.”

Once the student competitor won first place in their category, they, along with others who won first place in their categories, compete for the grand prize award.

“All the hard work paid off.” Thrift mentioned. “I didn’t expect to win grand prize or 1^st place to be honest. I wanted to, but didn’t expect any award.”

Along with winning the 2^nd grand prize, Thrift also won a yearly $5000 scholarship to University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

“They wanted to make sure it was an attracting option and I would consider it,” Thrift explained when she found out about the scholarship at the fair as she wanted to consult her parents on the amazing opportunity. “Actually I was a little overwhelmed. I went numb when the man asked me about it.” She said, “I replied that I would be really honored if that [scholarship] was extended to me.”

“I felt relieved because I was worried how I would pay for college. It felt great. Something so amazing came out of something I worked so hard on,” Thrift said.

“I was actually tearful, crying, really emotional,” Thrift shared her feelings about the moment she went on stage to accept the award. “I was taken a back, hesitating if it actually happened. I was so elated; I didn’t know that I would go on to Intel. I didn’t even think about it.”

Thrift said she looks forward at competing at Intel ISEF.

“I expect to grow from the experience, both in knowledge and in person by meeting so many people, like people that made discoveries and important contribution,” mentioned Thrift. “I’m really happy that I would be representing Roosevelt and going to international. I got a lot of support and others are happy.” Thrift added, “Ms. Massagli (Mrs. Morgenthaler) was really proud and I was happy that I could make her proud.”

“I never got to really leave Maryland, so I’m getting a new environment to link my project and sharing it in a new way around people who are interested in guiding me to what I may want to pursue in the future.”

The Intel ISEF is to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from May 10 to May 15.

The complete list of names of all the students that placed in the PGRASF.

Second Grand Prize Winner: Senior Emma Thrift

First Place winners included: Senior Aiysha Scott, Senior Charles Bond, Senior Clara Beckert, Senior Elizabeth Johnson, Senior Emma Thrift, Senior Michael Stevens and Senior Olubukola Anifowoshe.

Second Place winners included: Senior Allison Lehman, Senior Bethany York, Sophomore Brendan Shimizu, Senior Caitlin Conn, Senior Caroline McWithey, Senior Cathy Ly, Sophomore Hunter Whaples, Senior John Bielec, Senior Joshua Kawasaki and Senior Pendo Abbo.

Third Place winners: Senior Nana-Bilkisu Habib, Senior Temiloluwa Okusolubo and Senior Teresa Smith.

Honorable Mention: Senior Alexandria Renfro, Sophomore Bryce Dubayah, Senior Danielle Forrey, Freshman Greta Forbes, Senior Holly Hughes, Senior Isabella Brewer, Senior Kathleen Leonard, Senior Leslie Kelly, Senior Monique Joseph and Senior Nicholas Yaculak.

**Thrift is a writer for The Raider Review.