Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Carter and Moyers School of Education hosted the Clinch-Powell Educational Cooperative Science Fair, where 26 sixth grade students from six counties competed in a regional science competition with over $2,000 in prizes, on Feb. 19.
Wyatt Hammer, a student at Rutledge Elementary School and representing Grainger County, took home the $1,000 first prize for his project entitled “Which is a Must to Avoid Rust?” Joe Ferguson, a Hancock Middle School student representing Hancock County, earned second place honors and $750 for his project entitled, “Crank it Up.” Zak Williams, a student at Jacksboro Middle School and representing Campbell County, placed third, winning $500.
Dr. Kevin Cooper, assistant professor of physics, coordinated the judging. The judges included a variety of natural science faculty members and graduate students from the Master of Science program. Dr. Amiel Jarstfer, dean of the School of Mathematics and Sciences, gave a keynote address on “The Substance of S.T.E.M.” during the program. He noted that the judges were impressed with the advanced scientific theory and techniques utilized in all the projects.
“The judges, many of whom have judged this contest in previous years, were very impressed with the use of controls in many of these experiments,” Jarstfer said. “This was a very hard competition to judge, and it was a particularly close decision between first and second place. The high level of thought and understanding of the scientific process gives me great hope that we’ll be seeing these scientists make big impacts in our community down the road.”
The Science Fair at LMU was the culmination of a science contest among all Clinch-Powell Educational Cooperative schools. All sixth graders from Campbell, Claiborne, Hancock, Grainger, Scott and Union county school systems competed in the contest, which included judging at the school and county level prior to the finals at LMU. Each winner at the school level won an Apple iPad tablet. Projects judged to be the top in each county advanced to the contest at LMU where master’s level science students and professors judged the competition.
Clinch-Powell Educational Cooperative is a regional education service agency dedicated to comprehensive changes in the access to quality education in the Clinch-Powell service area. It was formed to assist individual Boards of Education overcome obstacles due to limited resources. Currently, the Cooperative consists of six counties in the rural, mountainous area of upper East Tennessee. These include Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Scott and Union counties. The Cooperative operates with state and federal grant resources and programs, the largest begin Head Start which serves 511 children in four of the six counties.
Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies. The main campus is located in Harrogate. For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions at 423-869-6280 or e-mail at admissions@lmunet.edu.
