Junior Scientists at SA Head To State Competition

Sewickley Academy was represented by junior Alex Wang, Grade 8 students Chelsea Hahn, Grace Jardini, Abdullah Khan, Emily Milanovich, and Olivia Stefanik, and Grade 7 students Harper Cross and Renae Phillip-Knight. Khan, Milanovich, Stefanik, Cross, and Phillip-Knight all earned second place finishes with their projects, and Wang, Hahn, and Jardini will continue to the state competition. 

 

The Middle School chapter of the PJAS Club at Sewickley Academy is in its first year, started by science teacher Andrea Shannon who had led the program while previously working in another school district. Lori Sherry joined as a co-sponsor, and Shannon shared some of her former students’ projects with SA’s seventh and eighth grade students. They couldn’t wait to get started. 

 

“I have a passion for science, and I’m very excited that my school got started with PJAS,” said Khan. 

 

The students began meeting weekly in November with 50 minutes per week to work in class and otherwise completed their projects on their own time. Each student researched various topics and selected a category from the PJAS guidelines. Knowing they’d be investing a significant amount of time into their projects, each student was careful to select a theme that was truly important to them. 

 

“I picked my topic because both of my parents are engineers,” said Stefanik. She examined various building materials and their ability to withstand flooding. 

 

Jardini and Hahn, who are both moving on to the state competition, entered in the Biology category. Jardini examined how emotions affect heart rate, while Hahn, an avid young horsewoman, studied the effects of various saddle fits on horses.

 

Taking on the Physics category, Cross researched the burn rate of multiple combustible substances. Milanovich entered her work in the Biochemistry category and focused her research on the digestive system and the pH level of ten different non-carbonated beverages. Phillip-Knight’s examination of the growth rate of certain plants as affected by temperature was presented in the category of Botany. And Kahn pursued his interest in Behavioral Science by testing the reliability of eyewitness testimony. 

 

Wang, who spent seven weeks last summer conducting scientific research focused on materials science and biopolymers at Stony Brook University in New York, has already submitted a research manuscript for publication. He was sponsored by Sewickley Academy physics teacher, Ben Spicer, and his PJAS project, “Inducing Neural Differentiation via a Dynamic Magnetic Field,” was submitted under the category of Biology. 

 

More than 50 schools and 450 students participated across the junior and senior high school levels at the regional competition. Each student had to present research, experimental plans, and data to a panel of judges and peers from around the region. Wang, Jardini, and Hahn will receive written feedback from the judges and will be able to modify their projects accordingly before presenting at Penn State in May. (Update 5/21/23: Chelsea Hahn earned a second place award at the state competition.)

 

The group of young scientists, along with Grade 8 classmate Molly Ladue who was unavailable for the regional PJAS competition, also intend to present their projects at the 84th Annual Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center at the end of March.