French International School Students Earn Top Awards at Delaware Valley Science Fair
April 15, 2015Two French International School students received top awards at the 67th Delaware Valley Science Fair, which took place March 31 to April 2 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Marielle Buxbaum, Grade 7, won first place in the Environmental category for her project “Desalinate to Change Our Fate” probing how desalinated seawater might be used for irrigation purposes in farming. Ravi Balasubramanian, also Grade 7, won first place in the Microbiology category for his research on the protist Euglena’s ability to detect light and dark spaces and to seek environments with cleaner water (“Plantimals: A Photosynthetic Protist Plays Hide and Seek”). Buxbaum also earned the Gold Medal recognizing her project as best in show across all categories in the Einstein Fair for grades six through eight, as well as two first place Special Awards from the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Statistical Association and the Philadelphia Section of the Society of Women Engineers. Additionally, both Buxbaum and Balasubramanian were nominated to enter the Broadcom MASTERS, a prestigious national-level Middle School science and engineering competition. Mrs. Valerie Denny, the students’ science teacher at the French International School, oversaw both projects and sponsored Buxbaum and Balasubramanian for the 58th Annual Montgomery County Science Research Competition where the two won first place in their categories leading to their competition at the Delaware Valley Science Fair. The two young scientists will have another opportunity to present their findings when the school hosts its own Science Fair on Friday, April 17, at 8:30 a.m.
The French International School of Philadelphia is a bilingual pre-K through eighth grade independent school in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania offering a dual curriculum in French and English.