Warwick School District

Students pictured Back Row (Left to Right): Rebekah Trovinger, Johnny Kellogg, Aaron Ruth, Jonah Ahlers, Maggie Turner

Front Row (Left to Right): Hayden Milchanowski, Aiden Troop, Kaitlynn Himelright, and Avery Stoner

Throughout the month of March, the students in the Science 8-Science Fair class and all Honors Chemistry students competed in the 2022 North Museum Science and Engineering Fair (NMSEF). 

Students began their research last summer and have spent the year gathering data and preparing their projects for the science fair. 

Timeline:

Project Submission: March 1 – March 6

Judges Review: March 7 – March 14

Interviews: March 17 – March 21

The Science Fair projects are overseen by Doug Balmer and Diana Griffith, two science teachers here at Warwick. Balmer’s favorite parts of the science fair are getting to see a variety of different projects, watching the growth in the students’ laboratory research skills, and hearing the students’ excitement about their project as they present what they’ve been working on for over 4 months.

Results:

North Museum Board of Directors’ Prize for Excellence in Science Education- Doug Balmer

Auxiliary Awards

• Eurofins Achievement in Analytical Chemistry- Kaitlynn Himelright (10th grade)
• ASM Materials Education Foundation- Rebekah Trovinger (10th grade)
• Union Fire Company - Keegen Dzurko (10th grade)
• Physical Science- Lyla Brenner (8th grade)

Honorable Mention Awards

• Biomedical & Health Sciences- Avery Stoner (10th grade)
• Chemistry- Maggie Turner (10th grade)
• Earth & Environmental Science- Keegen Dzurko (10th grade)

3rd Place Award

• Chemical Energy- Marin Davis (10th grade)

2nd Place Awards

• Biomedical & Health Sciences- Hayden Milchanowski (10th grade)
• Chemistry- Yeana Kim (10th grade)
• Chemical Energy- Aiden Troop (10th grade)
• Microbiology- Jonah Ahlers (10th grade)
• Plant Sciences- Isabella Smithson (10th grade)

1st Place Awards

• Physical Science (Jr. Division) Lyla Brenner (8th grade)
• Biomedical & Health Sciences- Kaitlynn Himelright (10th grade)
• Physics and Astronomy- Aaron Ruth (10th grade)
• Environmental & Mechanical Engineering- Johnathan Kellogg (10th grade)
• Material Sciences- Rebekah Trovinger (10th grade)

In addition to the accomplishments of our students, Balmer received the North Museum Board of Directors’ Prize for Excellence in Science Education award! 

Balmer was nominated by colleagues and chosen by the NMSEF Board of Directors for this award. He has been involved in running the Warwick Science Fair for several years which has resulted in many of our students making it to NMSEF. Additionally, he’s written or co-written grants totaling in ~$45,000 so that our students have access to some top-notch pieces of equipment to use.

Balmer feels honored to have received this award and follow in the footsteps of colleagues from Warwick who have also received this honor (Laurie Hess and Diana Griffiths). He loves that he gets to work at a district that values science fairs and is so proud of his students’ successes over the last 25 years. 

Keep up the great work!

You can view the NMSEF Award’s Ceremony here.