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Buchholz High student takes top honors in science fair, headed to international competition

Jeffrey Xue

Press release from Alachua County Public Schools

A total of 30 local students qualify for state fair

Just a few days after being recognized by the School Board of Alachua County as one of the top high school students in the state for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), Buchholz High School junior Jeffrey Xue has earned top honors in the Alachua Region Science and Engineering Fair. He will now go on to represent the district in the International Science and Engineering Fair, which will be held in May.

Xue’s project, entitled ‘College Football Playoff Expansion: A Statistical Analysis via Monte Carlo Simulation,’ was also recognized as the Best in Show in the Senior (high school) Division in the Physical Sciences category. The Best in Show winner in the Senior Division’s Biological Sciences category was Buchholz High School junior Aditi Shukla with her project, ‘Precision Targeting and Brain Stimulation for Treating Depression.’

In the Junior (middle school) Division, the Best in Show winners included Westwood Middle School 6th-grader River Ernest-White for a Biological Sciences project called ‘How Does Temperature Affect the Survival Rate of Tardigrades?’ and fellow Westwood 6th-grader Gloria Milosevic with her her project in the Physical Sciences category called ‘How Does the Type of Flour Added into Banana Bread Affect Its Bake Time?’

Xue, Shukla, Ernest-White and Milosevic are among the thirty Alachua County students who have now qualified for the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair, which will be held March 30 through April 2. Due to COVID, the state fair will be held virtually, as was the Alachua Region Fair. Xue, Shukla, and Milosevic also earned special prizes from outside organizations for their work.

Xue was recently named Alachua County’s Sunshine State Scholar for 2021. He is among 100 high school juniors in Florida recognized this year for their outstanding achievement in the STEM field. 

The awards video for this year’s fair can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/dvKyCNXG0hs

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