Carrollton City School district winners competed at the West Georgia Regional Science and Engineering Fair on Friday, Feb. 7. Pictured back row from left are John Cobb, Cash Greenwood, John Williamson, Lirun Johnson and Sienna Simmonds-Moore. Pictured middle row from left are Kate Smith, Jackson Westbrook, Tinsley Tolbert, Liberty Thomaston and Addison Sewell. Pictured front row from left are William Schmelzer and Max Weaver. 

CARROLLTON, GA – Eleven Carrollton City Schools students— eight from Carrollton Middle School and three from Carrollton High School— won first place at the West Georgia Regional Science and Engineering Fair and will advance to the state competition, April 3–5, in Athens, Georgia.

The regional and state science and engineering fairs allow students opportunities to share their research findings in a public forum and attend presentations and demonstrations from professors and scientists working in a variety of fields. 

“Participation in the science fair allows students to put the scientific method into practice. They can determine if their hypothesis was correct or incorrect by analyzing the data collected from their experiment,” said CHS Science Teacher Jennifer Sewell. “Through this, students are able to understand that science is a process.”

At the district level, Amanda Ledbetter organizes the middle school competition and Jennifer Sewell facilitates the competition at the high school.

CMS students competed in groups of two or three. The teams were Max Weaver, William Schmelzer and John Williamson; Liberty Thomaston, Tinsley Tolbert and Olivia Schuchman; and Cash Greenwood and Addison Sewell. Seniors John Cobb, Sienna Simmonds-Moore, and Lirun Johnson brought wins back to the high school. All won first place in their respective categories and will move on to the state competition.

These competitions aim to empower students to conduct research that is meaningful to them. One project by the CMS team of Liberty Thomaston, Tinsley Tolbert and Olivia Schuchman investigated which popular water bottle maintains its temperature for the longest amount of time, allowing them to settle the debate amongst their peers.