On Feb. 22, 11 students from the Advanced Science Research and Advanced Project: CSCI and Engineering classes traveled to Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to compete at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

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Annie Zhang

Junior Evan Morris reaches for a slushie cup at the annual Kwik Trip stop.

Unlike some states that have their own state JSHS competitions, Minnesota is a part of the North Central region, with participating students hailing from North Dakota and South Dakota in addition to all over the state.
This year, JSHS introduced a new format. Rather than requiring all students who submitted a paper to give a 10-minute oral presentation, only the top 24 research papers were selected, while the remaining students presented their work through poster sessions. SPA students chosen to give an oral presentation were juniors Evan Morris, Amanda Hsu, Shefali Meagher, Huxley Westemeier and senior Deling Chen. All other students gave poster presentations.
“It wasn’t similar to the normal structure of the [state] science fair. Instead of standing in front of a poster and waiting for judges, the oral presenters had a set time slot and could watch the other presenters in their group,” Westemeier said. “I enjoyed this aspect thoroughly. It gave me the opportunity to hear research from my peers, which is usually limited at traditional science fairs.”
Additionally, the prizes differed between the two presentation formats. Only oral presenters had the chance to advance to the national competition held in Chantilly, VA this year, with first through fifth place qualifying and sixth and seventh place serving as alternates. For poster presentations, among the 48 posters, one $250 scholarship was awarded based on a peer vote.
On the afternoon of Feb. 21, students left SPA by bus and traveled four hours alongside researchers from St. Paul public schools. Continuing a tradition introduced in the 2023-24 school year, the group made two stops at Kwik Trip, where students showcased their purchases on the student-run Instagram page @spaasr2425.
“I think honestly, the most fun part about it was not even the competition or presenting, but was going on the bus ride with everyone from the ASR class and being Amanda’s roommate,” Meagher said.
After arriving at the hotel late in the evening, students were given free time to spend as they chose. Some, like Morris, used the time to rehearse their presentations, while others opted for different ways to unwind.
“I lowkey didn’t do much though. I basically just did some homework and went to bed early,” junior Charlotte Talbot said.

The following morning, oral presenters delivered their presentations alongside three other students across the competition in groups, with sessions taking place in three rooms across two time slots. Prior to the presentations, attendees participated in a keynote speaker session, student panel and networking event. After lunch, poster presenters stood by their displays for 20 minutes– similar to the format of a traditional science fair. The event concluded with an awards ceremony.
“Even though in the moment, it was a bit scary to present, I think that after, I was kind of proud of myself because I was under the time limit, and I kind of said everything that I wanted to in the way that I wanted to. And so, I’m pretty happy that I didn’t just get nervous and forget everything,” Meagher said.
Meagher won fourth place and Chen and Westemeier took sixth and seventh place in the oral presentation category.