On March 6, eight middle school students from Lexington and Rockbridge County won awards at the Shenandoah Regional Science Fair at James Madison University.

Three eighth graders from Lylburn Downing Middle School - Harrison Branner, Caroline Connelly and Diego Velasquez - all got gold medals in their categories. Branner also received the Naval Science Award for Earth and Planetary Science awarded by the Office of Naval Research for his Hair Hygrometers Experiment. Connelly competed in behavioral and social science with her experiment on The Effect of Emotion on Perception. Velasquez studied depth perception and competed in the Medicine, Health, and Nutrition Science category.

Spencer Hough and Jackson Beacham were each awarded a silver medal in the engineering category. Hough investigated windmill design and Beacham worked with bilge keels.

Toree Baldwin also received a silver medal in Medicine, Health, and Nutrition Science for her project on Fingerprint Genetics.

Katherine Bowles represented LDMS in the very competitive category of physics with a study on Storing Tennis Balls.

Audrey Johnston is the eighth grade science teacher at LDMS who guided all the students through their independent projects. It was the most awards ever for a group of LDMS students.

Two Maury River Middle School students also received awards.

There were also two winners from Maury River Middle School. Jennifer Hildredth won a bronze medal in the Environmental Science category. Kayleigh Addington received a special award from the Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association, which comes with a $200 savings bond for her project in the earth and planetary science category.

Over 100 middle school students from public and private schools were in the competition.

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Local Middle School Students Win Awards at Regional Science Fair