Students place in state science competition

Eight Fox Chapel Area School District students won awards at the 2025 State Meeting of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS). Fox Chapel Area first-place state winners were seniors Omar Al-Bataineh, Anna Delale-O’Connor and Etash Jhanji; sophomores Heidi Stiger and Param Thawani; and eighth-grader Rishabh Krishnamurthy. The second-place state winners were senior Rohit Velankar and sophomore and Rachel Kim. Additionally, Rishabh received a Perfect Score Award and a special award for Junior High Excellence in Earth/Space Science Research presented by the Pennsylvania Earth Science Teachers Association (PAESTA).

The participating Fox Chapel Area High School and Dorseyville Middle School students were among approximately 2,000 students in grades 7-12 from across Pennsylvania who qualified to participate in the state PJAS competition. The students researched their science projects for several months and were required to give an oral presentation in front of a panel of judges.

The state competition was held at Penn State University, Main Campus, May 18-20. All of the Fox Chapel Area students participating at the state level were named first-place winners at the annual Region 7 Meeting of the PJAS in February.