Willie J. Williams Middle School recognized winners at its recent STEM Fair.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Sixth and seventh grade students who attend the Willie J. Williams Middle School were awarded in their recent STEM Fair. 

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Sixth and seventh grade students were instructed to complete a STEM Fair project, according to a press release from the school. This project was aimed at addressing a problem or product that could be improved.

The students were required to use a process called the “Engineering Design Process” in order to show the improvements they made. 

This process included defining the problem and asking how the situation could be improved, narrowing down solutions to be implemented and developing a plan of execution for the desired solutions. Afterwards, the students were supposed to create prototypes that they tested and make improvements where they were needed. 

According to the submission, the most important aspect of STEM Projects such as these is the value students gain by exercising critical thinking skills. Furthermore, through such projects, students were able to develop solutions to problems in the real world. 

Each grade, sixth and seventh, had its respective competitions and entered projects in categories such as Physical Science, Earth Science and Life Science. They also had awards for Grand Champion and Reserve Champion. 

The winners of each competition are listed as follows:

Seventh Grade Physical Science

• First — Julianne Thompson and MaLeigh Lagle.
• Second — Melanie Stephens and Hannah Bennett.
• Third — Eduardo Aguirre.

Sixth Grade Physical Science

• First — Deysi Ruiz Cinto.
• Second — Jude Sparkman and Gavin French.
• Third — Alexis Hunt and Mia Avila.
• Fourth — Zane Bullard, Lauren Nelms and Sophie Zimmerman .
• Fifth — Sebastian Revell and Rinoa Bass.

  

Seventh Grade Earth Science

• First — Gracie McKellar and Rhylee Tillery.
• Second — Chloe Stallings and Charity Romero.

Sixth Grade Earth Science

• First — Jordan Garcia and Bo Griffin.
• Second (tie) — Mayra Perez and Sandra Perez; and Khloe Law and Karleigh Heard.
• Third — Kameron Davis and Clay Sloan.

Seventh Grade Life Science

• First (tie) — Ya’Kerria Moore and Asya Harris; and Luke Strong and Arbashaun Curry.
• Second — Peyton George and Molly Dell.
• Third — Jerzie Coots and Adan Cardenas. 

The sixth grade section did not have the Life Science category. 

The Grand Champions and Reserve Champions for the sixth and seventh grades are listed as:

• Grand Champion (seventh): Gracie McKellar and Rhylee Tillery.
• Grand Champion (sixth): Deysi Ruiz Cinto.
• Reserve Champion (seventh): Julianne Thompson and MaLeigh Lagle. 
• Reserve Champion (sixth): Jordan Garcia and Bo Griffin.