Twenty-two MMI Preparatory School students received First and Second Awards during the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) regional competition earlier this month and 12 of them will move on to represent MMI at the virtual state competition in May.
Olivia Bartholomew, Lindsay Horvat, Amelia Minzola, and Jessica Zheng received a perfect score. Additional First Award winners were: Rachael Betz, Louis DeAngelo, Brenna Eckhart, Jillian McGeehin, Nathaniel Neidlinger, Dustin Paul, Grace Warner, and Darren Zheng.
MMI’s Second Award winners were: Viva Barrett, Annabel Dobash, Christian Homnack, Ashley Loss, Kate Malay, Thomas Mayernik, Manal Muhammad, Abigail Sparich, Connor Spencer, and Morgan Strecker.
MMI competes in Region 2 with students from schools throughout Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties. MMI instructors Amanda Shonk, Melissa McHale, Michael Mele, Justin Vincent, and Susan Moyer served as advisors for the competition.
The PJAS competition is open to students in grades 7-12. During the PJAS regional competition, students conduct a scientific research project in one of the 12 Scientific Categories of Research identified by PJAS and then orally present that research to a team of judges. The categories are: Behavioral Psychology, Biology, Biochemistry, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Space, Ecology, Engineering, Mathematics, Microbiology, Physics, and Zoology.
Olivia Bartholomew is the daughter of Dean Bartholomew and Cheryl Serafin-Bartholomew of Jim Thorpe; Lindsay Horvat is the daughter of Thomas and Lisa Horvat of Drums; Amelia Minzola is the daughter of Joseph and Debra Minzola of Drums; Jessica Zheng is the daughter of Hongzhi and De Zheng of Jim Thorpe; Rachael Betz is the daughter of Amy Houm of Tamaqua and Richard Betz of Honesdale; Louis DeAngelo is the son of Grete and Aaron Floryshak of Sugarloaf and Louis DeAngelo of Hazle Township; Brenna Eckhart is the daughter of Charles and Kim Eckhart of Lehighton; Jillian McGeehin is the daughter of Larry and Amy McGeehin of Sugarloaf; Nathaniel Neidlinger is the son of Amanda Neidlinger of Weatherly; Dustin Paul is the son of Rustin and Cynthia Paul of Jim Thorpe; Grace Warner is the daughter of Stanley Warner and Heather Warner of Drums; Darren Zheng is the son of Hongzhi and De Zheng of Jim Thorpe; Viva Barrett is the daughter of Mark Barrett and Kheshan Melendez-Barrett of Pottsville; Annabel Dobash is the daughter of Gregory and Stacey Dobash of Mountain Top; Christian Homnack is the son of Dennis Homnack of St. Johns and Lori Pavell of Hazleton; Ashley Loss is the daughter of Frederick and Melissa Loss of Hazle Township; Kate Malay is the daughter of John and Kathryn Malay of Jim Thorpe; Thomas Mayernik is the son of Thomas Mayernik and Valerie Rudawski of Freeland; Manal Muhammad is the daughter of Ikram and Alia Muhammad of Mountain Top; Abigail Sparich is the daughter of Joseph and Michele Sparich of Weatherly; Connor Spencer is the son of Christopher and Christina Spencer of Mountain Top; and Morgan Strecker is the son of Peter and Tara Strecker of Mountain Top.
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