Texas Border Business
McAllen ISD will have a record 15 students competing at the Texas Science and Engineering Fair on March 30 at Texas A&M University in College Station. McAllen I.S.D. has participated as part of this ISEF event for nine years. Students from three middle schools and one high school will represent the district.
“This is the first time that 15 students, to include both middle school and high school students, will compete at the Texas Science and Engineering Fair,” McAllen ISD Secondary Science Coordinator Jeanette Nino said. “A willingness to learn and be resilient, no matter the outcome, is why our students excel and offer their peers a competitive edge.”
Students are eligible to compete at the state competition by earning/placing first to third places in their category at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair, which took place on February 2 at UTRGV in Brownsville.
This will be the fifth straight year McAllen ISD has sent students to compete at the state level.
McAllen ISD was honored to have the Middle School Grand Champion at the regional competition and a student receive second runner up for High School Grand Champion. Itzel Ramos, a sixth-grader at Fossum Middle School, earned first place in the Plant Sciences category and won the Junior Division (Middle School) Grand Champion and senior Valeria Stevens, student at McAllen High School, earned first place in the Chemistry category and also received the honor of being the second runner up for the Senior Division (high school) Grand Champion. Because of Valeria’s performance, she is eligible to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona in May 2019. Valeria is the first student from McAllen ISD to earn this recognition and be invited to attend the International event.
Other students who are state qualifiers are Hailey Garcia (Cathey Middle School, Behavioral and Social Sciences), Alondra Ortiz (Fossum Middle School, Engineering Mechanics), Eduardo Cavazos (Fossum Middle School, Environmental Engineering), Diego Ramon (Fossum Middle School, Math), Edith Garza (Fossum Middle School, Physics and Astronomy), Dana Garibaldi (Fossum Middle School, Physics and Astronomy), Moira Arney (Fossum Middle School, Plant Sciences), Earl Velasquez (Fossum Middle School, Robotics and Intelligent Machines), and Mykel Propst (Morris Middle School, Biomedical Engineering).
Two teams, both from Cathey Middle School, also qualified for the state competition for the cellular and molecular biology category. The first team is students Alyssa Garza and Gisele Garza and the second team is comprised by students
In addition, Emma Lopez, a
“Teachers serve as the pillar behind our students’ pursuit for competing at these events,” Nino said. “Our department is not only researching competitions to offer students but for opportunities that will extend a student’s learning outside the classroom and ignite a future pathway once they graduate from our district. Our parents continue to support their children alongside with teachers and staff. That is what makes McAllen ISD unique for students to engage in the sciences at our district.”
