At the 2012 Galveston County Science & Engineering Fair held Feb. 4, 31 Friendswood High School students participated. The event was held at Moody Gardens Convention Center in Galveston.
            Cash prizes were awarded to the 9th grade winners who won $40, $25 and $15 for first, second and third places respectively and to the Senior Division winners who won $50, $25 and $15 for first, second and third places respectively.           
            The following FHS students came away with certificates and trophies for their projects.
            In the 9th Grade Division, in Behavioral/Social Sciences category,
Shanika Silva won first place with Written All Over Your Face! And Katherine Harclerode received second place with Seeing 20/20?
            In Biochemistry/Microbiology, Karan Jerath received first place with Water’s Evil Twin, Emelie Nelson won second place with Staph is Out of this World and Pahno Georgeton was awarded third place with The Spyce Who Didn’t Love Me.
            Kelly Janak’s Blue Light Special won first place in the Chemistry category.
In Engineering, Audrey McKee is the first place winner with The Trouble with Bubbles.
             In Medicine/Health, Nikita Gupta received second place with Eye Love Light and Owen O’Neill has Honorable Mention for Ankle Braces- Performance vs. Stability.
In Senior Division, Garrett Benson won first place with Weigh to Go in the category of Behavioral/Social Sciences.
            In Biochemistry/Microbiology, first place was given to Derek Abraham for So Sweet.
            In Botany, first place was awarded to Janae Bonnen for Future Farming:  Irradiated Seed Growth. Matthew Laitkep won second place with Drought-Tolerant Landscape.
            In Computer Science, Roma Pradhan received first place for Mission to Encryption, Rachel Goeken second place for Got Flu?, Chandika Silva third place for Words on the Go and Timothy Crews with Honorable Mention for Yoshi Pilgrim Vs. The World.
            In Environmental Science, Lauren Peplinski won first place for Get the Lead Out: Phytoremediation of Lead in Water, Julia Conger second place for Warming Up to Thermoelectrics, Caroline Landon third place for Tweak the Leak and Rachel Truong Honorable Mention for Composting Capers.
            In Engineering, Ben Burdick won first place for Wing It, Daniel Bellian second place for Safe Steam, Michael Laitkep third place with Can Paint Insulate?, and Julie Rogers tied for  Honorable Mention for Can You Hear Me Now? with David Bordelon’s Harnessing Wave Power.
            In Math category, Daniel Bradley won second place with Who Will Be President Next.
            In Physics, Jamie McCullough received first place for Get the Point? and Derek Janak won second place with Block the Broadcast.
            Special Awards were given in four categories.
            The Naval Science Award Recipients included Ben Burdick, Jamie McCullough, and Emelie Nelson.
            Texas A&M University at Galveston 12th Grade Scholarship for $2500 was presented to Chandika Silva.
            9th Grade Overall Division Awards were presented to 1st place- Shanika Silva- Plaque, $80; 2nd place- Emelie Nelson- Plaque, $60; 3rd place- Audrey McKee- $40; 4th place- Nikita Gupta; 5th place- Katherine Harclerode; and Honorable Mention- Karan Jerath.
            The Senior Overall Division Awards were presented to 1st place- Ben Burdick- Plaque, $150; 3rd place- Lauren Peplinski; 4th place- Garrett Benson; 5th place - Jamie McCullough; and Honorable Mention- Daniel Bellian.
            Sponsoring organizations of the science fair are Galveston College, Texas A&M University at Galveston and the University of Texas Medical Branch with generous corporate donations coming from many Galveston area businesses. Friendswood students were awarded over $1300 in cash and prizes and $2500 in scholarships, according to Science teachers Rebecca Clark and Janet Townsend.
            “Thank you to all the Friendswood High School science teachers for supporting these students. Thank you to the organizers of the Galveston Science and Engineering Fair for their generous support of science,” Clark said.
            In early March, 36 students from FHS will be competing in the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston.