On Feb. 17 and 18, 13 participants from Madison County High School were selected to compete at the Suwannee Valley Regional Science Fair in Lake City.
As if that honor alone was not enough, four of those students shone above the others as they presented in a manner that showed the potential in themselves, their school and county.
Eric Rykard, Bailey McClellan, Drew French and Kylie Duarte (as a selected alternate) will be going on from the regional science fair to compete at the State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida in Lakeland on March 29 through March 31.
Bailey McClellan placed third in Behavioral and Social Sciences; Eric Rykard placed first in Animal Science; Kylie Duarte place second in Biomedical and Health Sciences and Drew French placed first in Engineering.
In addition to the four who will be heading to the state competition, other MCHS students who gave a superb showing of talent are: Anna Collins, who placed third in Biomedical and Health Sciences; Mary Hannah Smith, who placed first in Physics; Montoya Brown, who placed second in Physics and Quinn Lee, who placed third in Physics.
Of the four going on to the statewide competition, two students, French and Rykard, will be heading on to other competitions out of state after winning personal awards given to them for their outstanding presentation and projects.
Rykard – whose project was titled “Quantifying and Diminishing the Biogas Emissions of the Bos Taurus by Utilizations of Zingiber Officinals Through Dietary Supplements” – was selected to compete in the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad (I-SWEEP) in Houston, Tx. from April 26-30 after he became the recipient of the Best Senior Division Biological Science Project Award.
French – whose project was titled “Thermoelectric Generation: Preventing Diabetic Foot Ulcers with the Seebeck Effect,” – was presenting with the Senior Division Best Overall Project/Best of Fair Award and will be headed to Phoenix, Az. from May 8-13 to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
With award-winning students like the ones from MCHS and MCCS representing their schools and county, it’s clear that the future of Madison County is in good hands.