Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — Jessica McQuigg, a junior at Mount Vernon High School and one of the local students competing in the 60th annual State Science Day, received a superior rating for her project and won several special honors for her performance at the state event: a $10,000 renewable scholarship to The College of Wooster, $1,000 renewable from the University of Findlay, and $500 from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health and OSU Health Systems.

McQuigg’s project, titled “Over the counter effectiveness of antacids,” involved testing how well chewable, liquid and single-dose antacids work. She said she picked the topic because she wants to pursue pharmaceutical biochemistry as a career.

“I’m kind of curious about pharmaceuticals,” she said, “and this was one of the only things that could be tested without using human subjects — in science fair you aren’t allowed to use human subjects. I could do this using hydrochloric acid to simulate the stomach.”

As the fourth-place winner in the district science fair, McQuigg was chosen to serve as an observer at International Science Day held in Atlanta, Ga., last week.

“It was amazing,” McQuigg said. “It was kind of a social event. You had a lot of time to spend with people from all over the world, and get to know a lot about their cultures. Ohio actually fared very well as a state at the event. A student from Ohio was one of the three grand champions at the national level.”

There were people curing cancer at the international fair, McQuigg said.

“One girl actually did a project on a tree root in Africa that can help stop rectal cancer from spreading — and it works,” she said.

McQuigg also befriended a young scientist from Jordan.

“His project,” she said, “was a computer program that allowed the blind to speak to the deaf. A blind person could speak into a microphone on a computer. The computer would hear it and sign language back to the deaf person. The deaf person could type something in and the computer would speak back to the blind person. It worked perfectly with his accent. He speaks Arabic, and even with his Arabic accent on his English, the program could understand that and translate it into sign language. It could understand me as well.”

McQuigg said she will probably accept the scholarship from The College of Wooster, which will be waiting for her when she graduates from MVHS next year. She plans to major in biochemistry.

“We’re very proud of her,” said MVHS principal Kathy Kasler. “I think it’s a tribute to her diligence and hard work. I would also like to commend Mrs. [Bonnie] Schutte for having a local science fair so that Jessica and the others had the opportunity to advance to and experience state competition.”

Several Mount Vernon Middle School students also did well at the state science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition. Receiving superior scores were Steven Duvall, grade seven, “How clean are your hands? Bacteria on surfaces”; Zachary McQuigg, grade seven, “Do video games affect your heart rate or blood pressure?”; and Matthew Omahan, and William Teater, grade eight, “What length barrel on a compressed air cannon shoots a foam golf ball the farthest?”

Meridia Brooks, grade seven, earned an excellent rating for her project titled “How do fears change with age?” Other excellents were awarded to Sarah Fowler, grade seven, “Will a cat react to native or exotic bird calls the quickest?”; Willa Kerkhoff, grade seven, “Does caffeine affect heart rate in Daphnia?; and Douglas Reitsma, grade eight, “Paper chromatography separation of marker dyes.”

“It’s always nice to see our students do well,” middle school principal Bill White said. “People would be surprised if they knew all the talents and the successes we do have with the students on a daily basis in this building. A lot of that credit goes to parents; most of the credit goes to the students and the teachers who work together to create projects. Our teachers work very, very hard on a daily basis to edcuate the students and we are always pleased when we have results such as this. It does show the hard work on everyone’s part — it’s worth it.”

McQuigg had some advice for other students choosing a science fair topic.

“Make sure it’s something you’re passionate about, not just something random,” she said. “Make sure it’s something you really want to study. It’s going to show in your enthusiasm when you’re presenting that project and you’re going to work harder on it.”