COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Two Palmer High School (PHS) students won awards last week at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Reno, Nev. This year's conference was titled "Gathering Genius."
Laura Gudvangen and Tonya Pavlenko, sophomores at PHS, won third place in the team project category at the event. Both students are former alumnae of North Middle School. The girls brought their love of science fair competition from North and have inspired other students to push themselves in the competition.
This is the second consecutive year that Gudvangen and Pavlenko have been selected to compete at the international fair.
The pair conducted an experiment at the UCCS Bioenergetics Lab and discovered a way to initiate an immune system response to melanoma. Their project is entitled "The Internal Battle With Melanoma: Triggering an Immune Response Using Toll Ligands."
Their success at this year's ISEF is a monumental accomplishment. This is the only international science competition for students in grades 9 through 12, and involves 1,563 students from 53 countries across the globe.
"The collective brainpower of those young people gathered in one huge room is quite intimidating," said Greg Busby, who accompanied the students to ISEF as their sponsor and former teacher.
In addition to the PHS students, Ethan Hahn from Classical Academy also placed third at the science fair.
Other students from Classical Academy who competed in the fair as finalists from the region are Lorne Muir and Nathan Weeks. Aarthi Shankar from Rampart High School was also a finalist.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM