Plano ISD students take two first grand prizes at state junior science academy and earn trips to a national conference

Of 45 Plano ISD students accepted to present at the Texas Junior Academy of Science in College Station, four won first place in their categories, and those winners are invited to a national conference in Chicago in February.

Plano ISD high school researchers came home from the Texas Junior Academy of Science competition with two first grand prizes and a third grand prize, the district reported Thursday.

The statewide contest, held Oct. 8-9 in College Station, asks high school students in grades 9 through 12 to carry out research during the school year and then defend it in both a spoken presentation and a written paper. Plano ISD said 45 of its students were accepted to present this year.

Ten first-place category winners statewide moved on to a second round that decides the grand prizes, and four of those 10 were from Plano ISD, according to the district. The district said its students won the first grand prize in both the Physical Science and Engineering division and the Natural Sciences division, and also took third grand prize in Natural Sciences.

Winning projects included a wearable system designed to translate American Sign Language and a computational study aimed at post-transplant organ rejection.

The full tally

The district's published results list:

4 first-place category awards
16 second-place category awards
12 third-place category awards
13 honorable mentions

Students from Plano West, Plano East and Plano senior high schools and Jasper High School appear on the list. The district noted that it only lists students whose families have a publication consent form on file, so the count of honorees may be incomplete.

Next stop: Chicago

Every first-place category winner is invited to the American Junior Academy of Science conference, which meets alongside the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Students there present their work to scientists in oral and poster sessions and meet student researchers from across the country. The 2027 conference is set for Feb. 17-20 in Chicago.

Sources

pisd.edu

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