The Bishop Feehan Science Department held its annual Science Fair on January 29, 2025. After the school day ended, students, faculty, and judges gathered in the cafeteria to witness an impressive showing of innovation and hard work.
The Science Fair is a yearly event that allows freshmen and sophomores to research a topic, conduct an experiment, and present their findings to both parents and judges. The process begins in the fall when students choose what their project will be about and create a research plan. From there, they must compile information from different sources, carry out their experiment, and collect data. The last steps for students participating in Science Fair include submitting a final paper and putting together a poster board to be displayed on the day of the fair. After the judges have observed each project, the awards ceremony takes place: students will be eligible to receive honorable mentions and first, second, or third place. There are also special awards for “Best of Fair” and “Excellence in Visual Presentation and Display.”
I talked to some students about their experiences with Science Fair and what they enjoyed most about it. For Avi Amin ‘27, it was the opportunity to learn and develop new skills that were most valuable: “[Science Fair] really boosted my public speaking, and I learned a lot of new things. Especially my writing skills, they improved a lot.” Olivia Abren ‘27 highlighted the freedom of choice when it came to choosing a Science Fair topic: “I enjoyed it a lot. I think it was really cool learning about different stuff and I liked how I got to choose what I wanted to do and I had so many options.” Others, like Mason Haynes ‘28, enjoyed the experience simply for what it was. “I liked it. It was fun researching and talking with people.”
Riya Kanury ‘27, who won second place at the Massachusetts Region III Science Fair last year, also said that she found Science Fair to be very fun. When asked about her experience participating in the event for the second time, she talked about getting to go to Harvard Medical Lab to work on her project, which focused on using sound waves to purify water. To underclassmen doing Science Fair for the first time, Riya says, “It’s really awesome! Definitely recommend.”
This year, Bishop Feehan’s Science Fair projects covered a wide selection of topics, ranging from the bacteria on dollar bills to machine learning to soil moisture. From the freshman class, Maeghan Serhal won first place for her project, “Bringing Bacteria to Light: The Effects of a School Environment on Bacteria Growth.” Liana Caldera, Elizabeth Castro, Elizabeth Cosgrove, Nicholas Franco, Isabel Lough, and Madeline Neary received honorable mentions for their projects. Giavanna Buckley received third place, and Matthew Symonds received second place.
From the sophomore class, Riya Kanury won first place for her project, “Aquasonic: Ultrasonic Waves for Sustainable Water Purification.” Olivia Abren, Helena Cornwell, Mackayla Creighton, and William Kennedy received honorable mentions for their projects. Avi Amin received third place, and William Sheehan received second place.
The Best of Fair Award was presented to sophomore Benjamin Davis for his project, “From Crude to Extrude: A Novel Approach to Combining Pultrusion and Extrusion Technologies into a Single Filament Production System to Recycle PET Bottle Waste and 3D Printing Purge Materials in Additive Manufacturing Filament.” Additionally, Benjamin Davis, Elizabeth Castro, and Madeline Neary received 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively for Excellence in Visual Presentation and Display. These students will now be eligible to compete in the Massachusetts Region III Science Fair in March. Congratulations to all of this year’s Science Fair winners!
Special thanks to Avi Amin, Olivia Abren, Mason Haynes, Riya Kanury, and Skyler Bouffard for their help with this article.
