Jefferson School students qualify for state competitions
March was a busy month for three Jefferson School students participating in various competitions. Seventh-grader Ellis Jack and eighth-grader Dylan Thomas both took first-place honors in their respective middle school divisions at the 27th Annual Sussex County Science Fair, fourth-grader Jack Thomas qualified for the 2019 National Geographic GeoBee State Competition, and Dylan Thomas will attend the 2019 Invitational Meets and Awards Banquet of the Delaware Secondary School Mathematics League.
Hosted by Delaware Technical Community College, the Sussex County Science Fair took place March 4. Ellis’s project, Microplastics Matter, tested a method for removing microplastics from water, a problem of growing global environmental concern. Del Tech awarded Microplastics Matter the overall middle school prize, and the project also received an award from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
Dylan’s project, titled Hi-Frugality, tested whether listeners could discern between hi-fi and lo-fi audio from sources such as Spotify and iTunes. His tests concluded that the average listener did not notice a difference in sound quality.
Both students are now eligible to participate in the Delaware Valley Science Fair in April.
Jack Thomas was notified by the National Geographic Society that he was one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2019 National Geographic GeoBee Delaware Competition. The contest was held at Sussex Central High School March 29.
This is the second level of the National Geographic GeoBee competition, which is now in its 31st year. School GeoBees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took an online qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the State GeoBees.
State champions will represent their state in the National Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters in May.
In April, Dylan Thomas will attend the Delaware Secondary School Mathematics League Invitational Meet and Awards Banquet. The purpose of the Delaware Secondary School Mathematics League is to cultivate an interest in mathematics through team competition. There are four levels of competition – Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, and Grades 10-12. Schools are separated into geographic regions for regional competitions.
Upon completion of the four regional meets, the top scoring teams and the top scoring individuals from each region are invited to participate in the Invitational Meets.
