Students from Bensalem Township School District attended the State Competition of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, held from May 15-17, at Penn State University, State College. Thousands of students from all over Pennsylvania presented their scientific research at this annual competition.
Twenty-five Bensalem High School students competed, with 11 receiving first place awards. They are: Ali Ahmad, Sofia Ferrandez, Josh Mathew, Victoria Mocarski, Mohak Parmar, Ayush Patel, Gunjan Patel, Jia Patel, Meet Patel, Yashvi Patel and Phoebe Ting.
Second place award winners are: Candice Chen, Sara Devlin, Krishiv Gandhi, Tiffany Gao, Kaitlyn Higgins, Brian Olsen, Aastha Patel, Aayushi Patel, Astha Patel, Mahi Patel, Keira Seidman, Diya Shah, Zaid Shaik and Madison Thai.
A scholarship was awarded to Mahi Patel in the amount of $2,000 per year to the Eberly Science School at Penn State University Main Campus.
Ali Ahmad, Sofia Ferrandez, Krishiv Gandhi, Tiffany Gao, Brian Olsen, Ayush Patel and Mahi Patel received special recognition for their dedication to PJAS (States) for four years. Additionally, PJAS regional recognition awards were received by BHS seniors Mohak Parmer (3 years) and Ali Ahmad (5 years).
The BHS team was sponsored by their advisor Lisa Tokmajian. Chris Sterman served as a chaperone.
In the middle school division, five Robert K. Shafer Middle School students participated, with Jeet Patel earning a first place award and a perfect score. Four students earned second place awards: Mary Beck, Lucas Ferrandez, Sophia Seidman and Sarah O’Neil. The Shafer students were sponsored by Morgan Golombek.
Seven Cecelia Snyder Middle School students attended states. The first place winners are Abigail Krevolin and Jhanvi Pathak. Four students received second place awards: Heeti Desai, Daphne Gao, Anna Marks and Diya Patel. Michael Larbi received a third place award. The Snyder students were sponsored by Kate Liese and Tom Hoffman.
