Two Goessel High School students placed second April 11 at the Kansas State Science and Engineering Fair hosted by Friends University, Wichita.
Competing against Kansas high schools of all sizes, Stefen Henkel and Anthony Esau won second place for Division I (high school) with their hydrogen fuel cell project.
“For perspective, first place went to a student from Olathe North in a pre-engineering program, and a student performing cancer research with faculty from MU won third place,” said Donna O’Neill, GHS science teacher.
By placing second, Henkel and Esau will present their research to the Kansas Junior Academy of Science on May 1 with a chance to win a place at the National Academy of Science competition in Chicago in February 2009.
Goessel’s foray into science competition began March 3 when GHS held its first science fair with 22 posters competing in three categories.
The top two competitors in each category were encouraged to attend to the regional science fair in Eureka March 8. Four groups decided to compete. At Eureka, GHS took first, second and third place in the Division I (high school) competitions.
Winning first for their entry on “Doppler Effect” were Carmen Tang, Amy Brubaker and Austin Unruh. Winning second for “Hydrogen Fuel Cell” were Henkel and Esau. Placing third for “Influence of Household Chemicals on Aquatic Plants” were Jessika Jesse, Kristin Hoffman and Travis Fensky.
Those three groups were eligible to compete at the Kansas State Science and Engineering Fair at Friends.
“The competition was fierce, with most of the competitors hailing from 6A metropolitan schools, including Olathe North and Blue Valley,” O’Neill said.
“The Goessel students were not intimidated and turned in excellent performances on the interviewing phase of the judging process.”
