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EA Students Excel at PJAS State Competition

From May 17-19, 19 students in grades 8-11 traveled to Penn State University to present their research projects at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) State Meeting, where every participant proudly earned a first- or second-place award.

The students, who were all eligible to compete at States after earning a first-place award at the regional event in March, were among some 2,000 students from 12 PJAS regions invited to present their projects. 

In addition to 12 first-place awards and seven second-place awards, both Faye Mo '29 and Connor Myers '27 earned perfect scores and special awards.


Individual projects and accolades were as follows:

8th Grade

  • Leo Wang—1st Place (Impact of Temperature on Mold Growth in Bread)

9th Grade

  • Effie Goebeler—1st Place (Situational Choice Patterns)
  • Maggie Gomez—1st Place (Yeast Clump Size Survival in Response to Env. Stressors)
  • Faye Mo—1st Place and Perfect Score, Zappa Award in Mathematics (How the Properties of Convex Polyhedra Influence their Nets)
  • Myra Ralhan—2nd Place (The Impact of Sales on Consumer Decisions)
  • Angela Zhou—2nd Place (Body Image Perception)

10th Grade

  • Keira Gallagher—1st Place (Splint Providing Distraction and Flexion to the PIP Joint)
  • Max Guo—2nd Place (Correlation of Measured Sky Temperature and Cloud Cover)
  • Aarav Khandelwal—1st Place (Designing a Braille Keyboard for the Visually Impaired)
  • Jaina Markle—1st Place (Food Allergy and Aversion Study)
  • Jayden Zhu—2nd Place (CFD Analysis: Aerodynamic Impact of 2026 F1 Regulations)

11th Grade

  • Isabel Ding—1st Place (Subspace Structure and Reasoning in Multimodal Models)
  • Annie Le—1st Place (Microplastic Shedding from Contacts and Its Effects on Eyes)
  • Connor Myers—1st Place and Perfect Score, Excellence Award in Mathematics (Exploring Properties of Lissajous Curves)
  • Cai Parker—2nd Place (Exploring Native and Non-Native Plants for Green Roof Usage)
  • Karen Shi—1st Place (Social Media Engagement as a Predictor of Political Interest)
  • Laura Tarau—2nd Place (The Effects of Music on the Brain's Ability to Focus)
  • Benjamin Wang—2nd Place (Antioxidant Protection Against Oxidative Stress in Yeast)
  • Ryan Wen—1st Place (Slime Mold and Public Transportation Systems)