On Friday, April 12, Julia Elder, a sixth grader at Montgomery County Middle School traveled to
St. Joseph, MO to compete in the Missouri Junior Academy of Scientists(MJAS) state level
science fair. Julia qualified for the fair by being one of six middle school students selected
during the northeast regional science fair at Central Methodist University in March.
Prior to the beginning of the state fair, Julia had to turn in a scientific paper about her project to
be judged by professors from Universities around the state. Then, during the morning session on
Medicine and Health, Julia gave a Powerpoint presentation about her project titled, “SPF, Is It
Just A Number?”. After her speech, the judges and audience members asked her some
challenging questions about how she did her project and her ideas for future experiments.
The session awards are given in the form of a 1 for a Finalist, a 2 for a Superior, and a 3 for
Excellent. Julia was excited to find out that she was awarded a 2 for Superior in the Medicine
and Health category. Her judges gave her some great encouraging feedback and Julia looks
forward to competing in the science fair again next year.
