WCPSS Students Win Science Competition, Trip to China
January 18, 2010 - Two students from the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences and one from Knightdale High, all members of Project SEED, won the North Carolina International Science Challenge held at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill on Jan. 16.Victoria Jones and Victoria Melbourne (Wake Early College) and Chelsea Sumner (Knightdale High) were named finalists in the science competition and will present their projects on March 16-23, 2010, at the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition in China.
This opportunity was afforded to these students through the North Carolina Project SEED program,
which is open to any North Carolina public high school student who meets the eligibility requirements.
Project SEED is a cost-free, statewide, year-round science enrichment program for academically talented students. Entrance into the program is very competitive. The goal of North Carolina Project SEED is to encourage talented, underrepresented, and/or disadvantaged North Carolina High school students to pursue terminal graduate and professional school degrees in chemistry, or chemistry related science disciplines through a scientific research experience at North Carolina State University, Duke University or UNC-Chapel Hill.
Semifinalists in the competition included Diana Gorgy and Xavier Joyner from Wake Early College and Michaela Jones from Knightdale High.
The NC International Science Challenge (NCISC) is a yearly North Carolina science competition offered to high school students by the Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative and the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center. Several excellent inquiry-based science projects are chosen for their student creators to display those projects at the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition (BYSCC). The students chosen through the NCISC process are the sole US representatives at the BYSCC which features students from many countries, offering students the opportunity to interact with future scientists from around the globe.
The BYSCC is an exiting experience along with the breathtaking cultural events such as visiting the Great Wall of China. The Beijing Association of Science and Technology (BAST) is host to the delegation that consists of students and North Carolina science leaders. BAST generously funds many of the expenses. The North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Center (SMT) adds very significant financial support helping students to incur few travel expenses except for their passports.
A major purpose of the NCISC is to encourage excellent science projects in schools. “Science project” is defined broadly and can be an investigation in any of the STEM areas: Science (physical or life), Technology, Engineering or Mathematics. It may be empirical (controlled experiment) or might incorporate another design: for example, analytical or construction-based.
You can find more about the visit to China here and more about the North Carolina International Science Challenge here. More information on Project SEED is here.