The Seneca Valley High School held its annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Fair Thursday night at six o’clock in the senior high gymnasium.

Students ranging from seventh through twelfth grade teamed up to create projects relating to any of the STEM fields, ranging from magnetic levitation to reaction time with texting or talking on the phone.  Senior Hannah Stephens-Forsyth did her project on psychology, which is also serving as her senior project.  “I started in September and probably spent about 35 hours on it.  It was a great experience,” says Stephens-Forsyth.  “It was a little nerve-wracking talking to all the judges and remembering everything to say.”

Sophomores Adam Mascio and TJ Turley did their project on reaction time while talking on the phone versus reaction time while texting.  They found that, on average, people will react faster when they are on the phone as opposed to texting.  “We spent about five to six hours on this project,” says Turley.  “It was worth it.  It’s a great experience dealing with the judges and trying to take all the judges comments into consideration for next year’s fair.”

Well over one hundred projects were presented on Thursday night, and many of the students went above and beyond what was expected.  Senior Rob Kunkel created a remarkable device that could transmit music from one phone or device to another with the use of a laser.

Family and friends came to support the bright young minds that contributed to the fair Thursday night.  Sophomore Isaac Daley, who made an appearance in support of his older brother Jacob, shared his impression of the event.  “It was incredible to see how amazing the projects were.  You could really tell that the kids worked really hard and put a lot of effort into their work.”

I get the feeling that this was the way that everyone felt after experiencing the fair.  I paid the projects a visit on Thursday afternoon and was blown away by the dedication and hard work that was put in by all who participated.  I heard one student say he had been working on his project for nine months, and it showed.  It was amazing to see how enchanted people were just by looking at one person’s hard work and creativity.

The winner of the fair has not yet been announced, but expect a winner within the upcoming week and expect not to be disappointed in the result.