Terrace hosts regional STEM fair

By Mylin Nguyen and Madeline Simkowiak • March 27, 2025

Terrace hosted the Central Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair for high school students on March 8. Posters and boards were lined across the gym filled with projects demonstrating various complex topics like cell biology, computer science, engineering and behavioral sciences. Students competing at the fair have been studying and working on their projects for months, sometimes even years. As pairs of judges walk by and students give their presentations, everybody in the gym learns something new.

The Central Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair, or also referred to as CSRSEF, is a STEM fair where students from around King and Snohomish counties show their passion for STEM.

Teachers guide their students in creating their independent research projects for the competition. Participants from Terrace were all seniors, taking the STEM 12 class as the last jump for their honors and exploratory diplomas – in addition to completing one of the three pathways of aerospace, biotechnology and computer science – as part of the STEM program.

Towards the beginning of the school year, MTHS engineering teacher Bryan Smelcer took his STEM 12 students to the Suzallo and Allen Libraries at the University of Washington in preparation for the fair. The students got to gather many different resources like articles and books to help with research for their projects, along with having mentors in the field aligning with their project to ask for assistance.

Mentors ranged from UW students studying similar subjects to the Puget Sound Fire Health & Safety Division Chief.

The projects covered a massive variety of topics, but all of them demonstrated student’s creativity and commitment, as well as addressed and provided innovative solutions to real challenges. Students dressed professionally, most wearing suits. The project displays showed their methodology, the problem they were studying, their hypothesis and goals, their experiment process, their final results and their conclusions with plans for if they were to do it again.

The approval process for CRSSEF for the STEM 12 students was a long, stressful, and aggravating one, according to some students. Many students had to resubmit their fair forms multiple times due to problems with experimentation start dates or the safety of their projects. But all of the students at the end were able to get their projects approved in time for the fair.

Amongst the more than 300 students participating, seven students from the Edmonds School District received awards. Sam Arguelles and Allen Vernon placed fourth in the Chemistry, Material Science, and Energy award. Cyrus McMillion and Ethan Holt both received Inspiring Excellence awards. Bennett Harvey received an Office of Naval Research Naval Science award. William Konings received a Society of Professional Engineering Award for Excellence in Engineering. Lastly, Nicholas Iwouha received an Office of Naval Research Award for Excellence in Science and Technology.

The judges were looking for projects that stood out for their creativity, but that were also executed professionally, accurately and thoughtfully.

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One judge stated that they were looking for projects with a ‘wow’ factor, and that they wanted projects to be unique and proper rather than following common themes. Another judge said that the most important factor for them was that regardless of the student’s skill levels, they still produced a quality project.

The students at the fair, although nervous, were also generally excited. They enjoyed many things at the fair, with one of the most common being just getting to meet the other students and judges.

Students also said they enjoyed getting to be part of a group, and really liked seeing their final complete project.

The students who placed as the top two winners in the regional fair will be allowed to move up to the partnered competitions at the international level, called the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Columbus, Ohio.

All CSRSEF participants from Terrace will be competing in the Washington State Science and Engineering fair (WSSEF) for high schoolers on March 29, at Bremerton High School.

After WSSEF is over, future plans for the STEM 12 class include learning how to reformat their research papers to match different style guides, such as Modern Language Association (MLA) or American Psychological Association (APA). Seniors will also be assigned to a junior signed up for STEM 12 as part of the Junior Jump Start program, helping them develop their ideas and find mentors for their future CSRSEF project.

Afterwards, seniors will compete in groups to produce a short film for the annual Terrace film festival at the beginning of June, where the STEM 12 and Honors Humanities classes compete against each other to win first place for their films.

About the Contributors

Mylin Nguyen, Hawkeye Staff

Mylin Nguyen initially joined HSM because she had an interest in writing, particularly fashion writing. She had many friends in
journalism and found a community within journalism. Mylin loves and will try to help others as much as she can. She will try to help
others find a sense of community in journalism like how she found a community in HSM. Mylin loves to hang out with her friends and
listen to music in her free time. She loves to listen to Laufey, Lana del Ray, and Olivia Rodrigo. Mylin also loves to talk with her sister
about fashion. Her post-high school plans are to attend UW or a state university and study either journalism, biology, nursing, or
pharmacology.

Madeline Simkowiak, Op/Ed Editor

Charli “Rain” Gilchrist, Tempo Co-Editor-in-Chief & Graphics Editor

Charli “Rain” Gilchrist (he/they) joined HSM in 2022, their freshman year to learn more about journalism and to continue from where they had left off in their role at the Brier Terrace middle school Bulldog Brief. They serve as a writer, graphic artist and graphics editor, and has recently taken on a major role in designing the TEMPO yearbook as well. In their free time, they usually enjoy studying clouds, listening to music, and scrolling through Pinterest. They plan on going to a university of the arts after graduation, but for now they can enjoy contributing to the school paper.

Dewey Jones, General Manager

Dewey Jones joined HSM in 2022 because he wanted to help produce content for the Hawkeye, and improve in his writing and drawing skills. His goal is to create many pieces of art for The Hawkeye, and make articles that its students find interesting and informative. In his free time, Dewey enjoys chatting with his friends and playing games. He also finds time to draw, in hopes of improving his skill as much as possible. While he doesn’t know his post-high school plans yet, he hopes to study some form of digital art, and possibly go into a career in animation.

Efrata Solomon, Photo Editor

Photo Editor Efrata Solomon is a junior at MTHS and in her second year of journalism. She joined journalism in 2022 in order to engage more with school activities and find a community of like-minded people, as well as learn about newspaper production. Outside of journalism, Efrata hopes to pursue a career in forensic biotechnology to exonerate those wrongfully convicted. She also participates in TSA, HOSA, Girls Who Code, orchestra and NHS, and her hobbies include completing puzzles, reading, hiking, going to local concerts, thrifting, and spending her money on overpriced boba.

David Cardwell, Distribution Manager

David Cardwell joined HSM in 2022, and had been in journalism outside of HSM for two years prior. He wants to try and create content for the organization that will make a difference in the community for the better. He enjoys music and playing instruments as his main hobby.