Year after year, Central Methodist University welcomes middle school students from area schools to its Fayette campus for the Forbes Math and Science Competition.
It’s a chance for participants to experience Central’s atmosphere, while getting opportunities to impress professors and college students with their science and mathematics skills.
For a typical middle school student, stepping on to a university campus might be intimidating, but the students who visited CMU on Tuesday, Oct. 3, didn’t seem to mind their surroundings one bit. Fourth- through eighth-graders made up the approximately 78 students from seven schools who spent the day on campus.
The event is hosted by CMU’s Department of Math and Science, and is sponsored by the late Mary and Ted Forbes of Fayette.
Competing students had the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by answering rounds of questions related to biology, physical science, earth and space science, and math.
They also participated in science and math-related activities, with this year’s main event being a “ping-pong ball launcher” competition. Students were asked to use Popsicle sticks, straws, rubber bands, and glue to construct an apparatus to launch ping-pong balls. Given three attempts for maximum distance, the average was used to calculate their scores.
“I’m always impressed with the abilities of these young students,” said Dr. James “Tiger” Gordon, professor of chemistry and division chair at CMU. “They surprise me with their ability to think and solve math and science problems, and I’m grateful for the dedicated teachers who work with them every day.”
Participating students were from Northeast R-IV (Cairo), New Franklin R-I, Marshall, Slater, Miami R-I, Brunswick R-II, Carrolton, and Fayette, with a total of 78 middle school students involved in the competition.
Among the younger group of students, which included fourth and fifth graders, Carrolton Middle School (Jenna Edwards, Sophia Bartlett, and Sally Wohlgemuth) claimed the first place prize. Bueker Middle School (Eliza Papreck, Conner Newton, and Dalton Gaba) took second place, and Brunswick Middle School (Troy Zeilstra, Colby Jenkins, and Ben Rice) won third place.
The older students were made up of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Winners were Bueker Middle School (Coy Smith, Chase Laxson, and Owen Kiso), who took first place, Fayette Middle School (Devan Elliott, Miles Himmelmann, and Matthew Stornello) with second place, and Cairo Middle School (Madi Creed, Thad Harman, and Morgan McDonald), who won third place.