Hundreds of local students were honored Thursday and Friday night for their work in this week's Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair.
Ten of the youngsters won what could be deemed the fair's highest honor — a trip to Indianapolis to observe or participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
Four students — Christian Suyat and Nicolas Baird of Sonoran Science Academy, Lyda Harris of Doolen Middle School and Caroline Brown of Emily Gray Junior High — will act as observers and guides for local students at the fair.
The other six — Ariel Potter and Christine Pak of Rio Rico High, Liz Baker of University High, Ahmed Badran of Tucson High, Tyler Clark of Salpointe Catholic High and Emily Hartley of the Academy of Math and Science — will display exhibits at the fair in May.
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Three teachers won honors as the top educators at elementary, middle and high school levels: Eva Bemer of Billy Lane Lauffer Middle School, Ivan Yocum of Doolen Middle School and Margaret Wilch of Tucson High.
The fair, which celebrated the 300th birthday of Ben Franklin, encompassed 1,453 projects from about 3,000 students in public, private and charter schools in Southern Arizona, director Shirley Briggs said.
The Tucson Convention Center hosted the fair, which Briggs said had 120 more projects on display than in any past year. The exhibits focused on topics ranging from ecology and biology to physics and astronomy.
"We had a wider variety of projects, and we're seeing a distinct growth in the projects," Briggs said. "The quality, quantity and enthusiasm were up this year."
The names of all elementary school winners will run in the Star's Accent section Monday, on the BYOBrain page. Middle and high school winners will be published the following Monday, April 3, on the same page.
