Bay View Academy Students Receive Top Awards At Rhode Island Science And Engineering Fair (RISEF)

Back Row, L to R: Lily Gucfa of Rehoboth, Jillian Lee, Victoria Castano, Amelia Brown of Seekonk, Sarah Bain, Rebekah Pendrak, Olesya Tamburro Middle Row, L to R: Catherine Donnelly of Rehoboth, Cassandra Gendron, Krystyna Kula, Taylor DeNuccio Front Row, L to R: Grace Holden of East Providence, Sophia Javid, MacKenzie DeFaria, Grace Farrow, Tania Turenne

Lori DesVergnes

Posted Thursday, April 16, 2015 12:00 am

East Providence, RI – Bay View Academy students in Middle and Upper School participated in the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair on March 21 - 22 at the CCRI - Knight Campus. Six students were award First Grants; nine earned Second Grants; and, two earned Third Grants. Junior Mackenzie DeFaria (Pawtucket, RI) was one of the First Grant award winners, a finalist for Best in Fair, and a special award winner. Lily Gucfa (Rehoboth, MA), grade eight, was a First Grant winner as well, and she also qualified to apply for the Broadcom Masters Competition.

Bay View Upper School students participate in RISEF of their own volition, as an independent research project. According to Janell Johnson, Ph.D. (Cranston, RI), Upper School science teacher, “these projects took months to complete and required an immeasurable amount of intellectual brainstorming and problem solving.” Students who wish to be considered for Bay View’s Chapter of the Excalibur National Honor Society for Excellence in Science are required to have completed a science fair project for RISEF.

All eighth grade Middle School students participate in the Bay View science fair. Only the top projects, as judged by a panel of Bay View Upper School faculty, are selected to progress to RISEF.

The following are the results for the Bay View students who competed at the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair in March:

Grade Eight:
Lily Gucfa, First Grant, Qualified for Broadcom Masters, Rehoboth, MA
Tania Turenne, First Grant, Attleboro, MA
Grace Farrow, Second Grant, Providence, RI
Sophia Javid, Second Grant, Coventry, RI
Olesya Tamburro, Second Grant, Cumberland, RI
Grace Holden, Third Grant, East Providence, RI

Upper School:
Mackenzie DeFaria, Best in Fair Finalist, First Grant, Special Award, Pawtucket, RI
Sarah Bain, First Grant, Smithfield, RI
Amelia Brown, First Grant, Seekonk, MA
Jillian Lee, First Grant, North Scituate, RI
Madeline Brannon, Second Grant, Special Award, Warwick, RI
Victoria Castano, Second Grant, Special Award, Portsmouth, RI
Cassandra Gendron, Second Grant, Cranston, RI
Catherine Donnelly, Second Grant, Rehoboth, MA
Taylor DeNuccio '18 Second Grant, Special Award, East Greenwich, RI
Rebekah Pendrak '18 Second Grant, North Providence, RI
Krystyna Kula '17 Third Grant, Smithfield, RI