Page 8 - SUSQUEHANNA TIMES
April 6, 1977
Photo above shows prize winners from Donegal in the county science fair. They are, from
left to right, kneeling: Becky Ruhl, Douglas Anspach, Dean Bricker, Grant Markley, Barb
Landis, Jacob Sherk, Karen Albright, Phyllis Shope and Sherri Kinsey. Greg Zimmerman
Why Donegal is tops in science
Once again Donegal
High has cleaned up at the
Lancaster County Science
Fair. Cynthia Emenheiser
and Greg Lindemuth car-
ried away the
Championship and the Re-
serve Championship, re-
spectively, and other DHS
students scooped all three
top places and the honor-
able mention in the Bio-
logy, Chemistry, and Earth
and Environmental Science
divisions. Donegal students
also won mentions and
awards in the two other
divisions (Physics and En-
e. DHS
[continued from page 1]
Kathi Shelly and Michael
Seaman (Honorable Men-
tion).
Earth and Environment:
al: Grant Markley (1st),
Douglas Anspach (2nd),
and Becky Ruhl (3rd).
Physics and Engineering:
Eileen Jones (Honorable
Mention).
General Science: Sherri
Kinsey (6th) and Donald
Armold (Honorable Men-
tion). General Science is
the Junior High division,
open to 9th graders.
Numerous other awards
Grand
gineering, General Sci-
ence).
Overall, Donegal took
nine of the twelve prizes in
the county and 42 of the 96
awards and mentions.
That's 75% of the top
prizes and 48% of the
total. Of Donegal’s approx-
imately 90 entries, 51 were
winners. Of the 158 entries
from all other high schools
in the county, SS won.
Obviously Donegal is a-
head of other schools in
science. What accounts for
this impressive perfor-
mance?
DHS Principal Donald
Drenner told the Susque-
hanna Times, ‘‘Here at
Donegal, we have a tradi-
tion of doing well in the
Science Fairs. We're ex-
tremely proud of the stu-
dents.”” He related how, at
a meeting of school princi-
pals, the principal of an-
other high school told Mr.
Drenner that he thought of
every school in terms of it’s
being outstanding in some
field. “I always think of
Donegal in connection with
science,”’ the man said.
‘Although we did a little
is not shown. Standing in the background are Grand Champ Cindy Emenheiser and
Reserve Champ Greg Lindemuth.
better this year than last,
we've been very strong in
this event since I've been
here at DHS—that’s about
ten years,” Mr. Drenner
added.
Besides the strong tradi-
tion which inspires the stu-
dents, DHS has other
things going for it. Every
student at Donegal must do
some sort of research or
project in science every
year. Some do extra out-
side reading, some do re-
search, some take other
options—but about ‘half
choose to do a Science Fair
sweeps science fair (cont’d)
were given by various
organizations, companies,
and the armed services.
Winners were: Dennis
Ebersole, Bruce Eyer, Jay
Behling, William Dommel,
Denise Grimm, Kevin Mc-
Kain, Ann Studholm, Bruce
Walters, Michelle Fisher,
and Karen Risser.
On Friday morning Dale
Arnold, president of the
Dean Buchenaurer
Swim team
Dean Alan Buchenauer,
son of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Buchenauer of New
Haven Street in Mount Joy,
is a member of The Johns
Hopkins University varsity
swimming team.
A 1975 graduate of
Donegal High School, Dean
is a sophomore at the Uni-
versity majoring in physics.
The BlueJay swimming
team, coached by Frank
Board of Education, came
to Donegal High to con-
gratulate the winners over
the PA system. Principal
Donald Drenner also con-
gratulated the students.
on
Comfort, has won the
Middle Atlantic Conference
championship for the past
six seasons. Last year, the
team took second place in
Division III at the NCAA
championships.
project. This policy, in
addition to being an excel-
lent way for the student to
learn on their own initia-
tive, give DHS a lead in
numbers of available pro-
jects for the Fair.
Because many students
complete four projects
through their high school
years, they gain valuable
experience not only in
science research, but also
in layout and presentation
of projects. These aspects
of a project are very im-
portant in capturing the
judges’ eye and making a
neat impression. The best
research is unlikely to win
an award if it is not
presented in a cogent
manner.
With so many students
doing fair projects, there is
yet another effect: ideas
are floating around the
halls of DHS in higher
concentrations than at
other schools, which per-
haps leads to a better
choice of subject matter.
Some students may try
harder, also, knowing that
their friends have good
projects in the works.
Still, given all the factors
mentioned above, it’s hard
to account for the tremen-
dous lead of our local
- students. Donegal submits
a greater number of pro-
jects than other schools,
but that doesn’t explain the
fact that fully 57% of DHS
entries won, while only
34% from all other schools
were winners. The differ-
ence is the dedication of
the Science department.
The department has two
Biology teachers, one Earth
Science teacher, a Phy-
sics/Chemistry teacher,
and an Environmental Sci-
ence teacher. Donegal
swept up all the top places
at the Fair in Biology,
Chemistry, and Earth and
Environmental Science, the
same areas that the de-
partment is strong in. Don-
egal also placed in the
General Science and Phy-
sics/Engineering divisions
at the Fair, but did not pull
in every award as they did
in the other divisions.
Obviously the teachers
have a lot to do with local
eminence in the Science
Fairs.
While the entire depart-
ment deserves congratula-
tions and thanks, two men
were mentioned to the
Times as being especially
dedicated. Principal Dren-
ner told us, ‘‘William
Loercher (Chemistry and
Physics teacher) and Emer-
son Stehman (Biology
teacher and department
chairman) have put in
plenty of work, and many
hours of their own time on
weekends and evenings,
helping students with their
projects.’’
Whatever the reasons,
Donegal is certainly tops in
science.