Desert High School wins at science fair Published April 29, 2008 By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Desert High School students participated in the 21st Annual Kern County Science Fair at the Rabobank Convention Center in Bakersfield, Calif., April 2. Desert High received two first-place winners, four second-place winners and six third-place winners. The school also received the Perpetual Trophy Award. "Our school (performs) well annually at science fairs," said Debbie Lewis, Desert High School biology teacher. "The Perpetual Trophy Award was created three years ago for the school that is most successful in the competition, and we've won it every year." Five Desert High students also received Kern County Science Foundation scholarships and two earned Naval Science awards, Mrs. Lewis said. Overall, the students received $6,800 for their effort. Prior to the Kern County science fair, students competed at the Muroc Joint Unified School District science fair. Only district winners were selected to compete in the county-wide competition. Seven projects will be entered in the 57th Annual California State Science Fair at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on May 20 and 21, Mrs. Lewis said. The competitors were questioned by the judges to prove their knowledge of their project, Mrs. Lewis said. "At the district competition, I only got third place," said Mark Canning, DHS sophomore. "The judges told me that I would've done better, but I didn't have enough data. I added more (information) and that's what contributed to my success at the county science fair." Science fair judging varies from competition to competition because the judges are always looking for something different, Mrs. Lewis said. The students must be ready to address questions about every aspect of their experiment. "We have been successful at the science fairs because of the teachers," said Kehly Kirk, DHS senior. "They showed us experiments that have done well in the past." This gives the students an idea as to how they should design their project for the science fair, Ms. Kirk said. "I'm proud of how well our students performed," Mrs. Lewis said. " To compete in a science fair takes a tremendous amount of effort. Having so many students do well shows how much work they're putting into it." The following Desert High students won at the 2008 Kern County Science Fair: 1st place Mark Canning for physics Kehly Kirk for behavioral sciences 2nd place Tarah Franklin and Kaitlyn Kennett for behavioral sciences Timeka James and Gaylene Siguenza for plant biology Richard Martinez and Kaitlyn Wakefield for physics Aley Barnum and Emily Wright for mammoth biology, physiology and zoology 3rd place Ashley Anton for math Julie Baker and Karen Nichols for mammoth biology, physiology and zoology Leo Banuelos and Andrew Orme for applied mechanics Jennifer Hines and Cybrina Lukenbill for behavioral sciences Brianna Lawerence for math Chris Barnum and Michael Struve for physics