Goessel Wins 2nd Place at the Kansas State Science and Engineering Fair
by Donna O'Neill
April 16, 2008
Goessel High School held its first annual Science Fair this year, on March 3rd, with 22 posters competing in 3 categories. The top two competitors in each category were encouraged to attend to the Regional Science Fair, in Eureka, KS on March 8th. Four groups decided to attend the competition.
At Eureka, Goessel swept the board and took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the Division I (High School) competitions. Those groups were:
1st place- Doppler Effect group – Carmen Tang, Amy Brubaker and
Austin Unruh
2nd place – Hydrogen Fuel Cell group – Stefan Henkel and Anthony Esau
3rd place – Influence of Household Chemicals on Aquatic Plants group – Jessika Jesse, Kristin Hoffman and Travis Fensky
Those three groups were therefore eligible to compete at the Kansas State Science and Engineering Fair, at Friends University, Wichita, KS, on April 11th. The competition was fierce, with most of the other competitors hailing from 6A metropolitan schools. The students were not intimidated and turned in excellent performances on the interviewing phase of the judging process.
Stefan Henkel and Anthony Esau won 2nd Place for Division I with their Hydrogen Fuel Cell project. For perspective, 1st Place went to a student from Olathe North in a pre-engineering program, and a student performing cancer research with faculty from MU won 3rd Place.
Stefan and Anthony now have the privilege of presenting their research to the Kansas Junior Academy of Science on May 1st, with the potential to win a place at the National Academy of Science competition, taking place in Chicago in February 2009.