A project about floating vehicles rose above those presented by 47 seventh- and eighth-graders at Saint Joseph School on Dec. 6.

Eighth-grader Mia MacDonald’s project titled “The Power of Maglev” was deemed the overall winner by a panel of local science experts who judged the fair in the Martinsburg school’s STEM laboratory. Individuals and teams studied chemistry, medical sciences, physics, behavioral science and environmental sciences, among other topics. 

Those who placed first, second and third in their categories will compete in the Berkeley County Science Fair on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at Spring Mills High School.

The projects were judged by Procter & Gamble employees Heidi Brown and Ally Walker, quality assurance lab analysts; Maxwell Sheaffer, lab leader; and Nicholas Sheetz, digital leader; as well as Harold Bostic, director of professional services for Voyager Search, a software company; Tona Childs, a retired registered nurse; Colleen Landi, director of mobile integrated health for the University of Maryland Medical Center; Michael Martino, an engineer at The Aerospace Corp.; and Dr. Erica Patthoff, a Martinsburg dentist.

Those who will compete at the county level are:

    • Animal sciences: First place, Maxwell Stephen-Hassard, “Do Animals Prefer Real or Synthetic Foods?”; second place, John Millay, “Largemouth Bass Feeding Habits in Different Water Temperatures”
    • Behavioral and social sciences: First place, Evan Thames, “The Proof Is Out There”; second place, Elianna Kaudy, “The Inner Workings of Muscle Memory”; third place, Noah Harding, “Cracking the Case: Eyewitness Reliability”
    • Chemistry: First place, Franklin Koons, “Electrolysis”
    • Earth and environmental sciences: First place, Alana Esplenaub and Cheyanne Bennett, “Bye, Bye Germs!”; second place, Matthew Billmyer, “How Do Different Soils Affect the pH of Water?”
    • Energy: First place, Jake Alderton, “The Power of Lemons”; second place, Charlotte Carter and Lorelei Oligmueller, “Big Hair, Don’t Care”
    • Engineering: First place, MacDonald; second place, Oliver Heng, “Rubber Band Fan”
    • Material science: First place, Presley Moulton, “Water Bottle Wars”; second place, Wyatt Fiorita, “Which Popcorn Pops Best?”; third place, Aubrey Lee and Rebecca Powell, “Which Nail Polish is Best?”
    • Medical science: First place, Laith Al-Saleh, “Mitochondrial Cell Aging Effect on Physical Performance”; second place, Reston Barrow, “What Acne Cleanser Will Zap That Zit?”; third place, Shaan Sood, “Reaction Time: Video Gamers vs. Nongamers”
    • Physics and astronomy: First place, Ricky Monroe, “Can Model Trains Drift?”; second place, Ethan Severance, “Paper Airplanes: Which Material Flies Best?”; third place, Izaak Rodriguez, “Impact of Ball Material”
    • Plant sciences: First place, Addie Alter, “How Does Music Affect Plants?”; second place, Sara Vloedman, “How Does Coffee Affect Plants?”; third place, Gaby Galicia Ruiz, “How Do House Chemicals Affect Plant’s Growth?”