Thirty-seven students from four schools in Central Louisiana competed at the Louisiana Region IV Science and Engineering Fair held Saturday, March 11 at the LSU-A Campus in Alexandria. East Natchitoches Elementary School set the pace, bringing in a bus with 15 students under East Natchitoches Elementary Principal Chrystal Davis and science teachers Lori Bertrand and Britani Fields, and art teacher Daniel Rockett. The students were the top finishers among the competitors at their school’s science fair. It should be noted that the Natchitoches group comprised almost half of the competitors present and was the largest contingent from a single school. That is a remarkable achievement that speaks well of the students, their families, and their teachers.
As a writer for the Natchitoches Parish Journal and a former teacher in one of the poorest parishes in the state, I have long maintained that there are talented and intelligent children in each and every one of our parish’s schools. They will rise to any challenge placed before them. All they need is leadership. It is quite evident that the leadership and faculty of East Natchitoches Elementary School share that belief. It is long past time for every single public school in the parish to have students competing at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair.
The following East Natchitoches Elementary School students won honors at the 2023 Region IV Science and Engineering Fair.
Halayah Wafer Honorable Mention Animal Science
Jordan Willis 2nd Biomedical
Nahla Hobley 3rd Chemistry
Kyron Bolton Honorable Mention Environmental Engineering
Braxton Kennedy 1st place Environmental Engineering
Jaquan Lair 1st Material Science
Aniya Antwine 2nd Material Science
Sandra Ponce 2nd Microbiology
Taylor Hardison 3rd Microbiology
Chancelor Williams 3rd Physics
The following East Natchitoches Elementary School students will represent their school and our community at the state Science and Engineering Fair at LSU Baton Rouge in April.
Jordan Willis
Braxton Kennedy
Jaquan Lair
Aniya Antwine
Sandra Ponce
The Natchitoches Parish Journal wishes to commend the faculty and staff of East Natchitoches Elementary School for all their hard work in providing this wonderful opportunity to the children entrusted to you. We also extend our best wishes to the young men and women who are going on to compete at LSU. Go Eagles!
