Derrick Miller
DUNCAN — It took a lot of research, but in the end, it paid off.
The Duncan Optimist Club and Halliburton teamed up to sponsor the Stephens County Science Fair on Friday and Saturday at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center.
Chris Totty, Duncan Middle School eighth-grader, received the Marion Nottingham Award, which is the best in show award for the science fair. The award was presented by Nottingham.
“I’m proud to get this award,” Totty said. “I’m pleased to meet him. It was an honor.”
The science fair ended up with 220 entries. The entries were in categories including engineering, life science and physical science. Totty’s project “Lorentz Accelerator” was in the physical science category.
“I had heard about it,” Totty said. “Navy is doing something with it. I wondered if there was a way to scale it down.”
All projects had to have a poster with details following the scientific method. Totty said it took a while for him to put his poster together because he wanted to make sure he explained enough about the project.
“I spent probably three or four days on it,” Totty said.
Each project also had to have a research paper to go with it. The paper was more detailed about the project.
In addition to the Nottingham Award, awards were given in the three categories by grade. Ninth- through 12th-grade projects were put in the same category with eighth grade. There were also awards given for innovation and communication.
Other awards included the AAUW Outstanding Young Lady Project, agriculture science award, Duncan Regional Hospital Health Science Award, science and engineering award, Halliburton Environmental Award and the Cotton Electric Energy Electricity Award.
The final award given was the Nottingham Award.
The Nottingham Award was named for Marion Nottingham, who helped to get the science fair started. Nottingham brought the awards ceremony to a close with a few words.
Nottingham said he was excited to see so many students participating in the event. He said he hoped to see the students participating in the future.
“Keep up the good work,” Nottingham said.
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
