Congratulations go out to this year's 8th Grade participants in the Honolulu Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) District Science Fair Saturday, Feb. 18. Brandon Lum placed second overall and will move forward to the State Science Fair.

This year the Mid-Pacific Middle School sent 10 students to participate in the annual event including Ian Ishibashi, Jordan Lee, Brandon Lum, Kaya Goodwin, Jackson Morrice, Kaci Muramoto, Shanelle Nishimura, Hunter Nottage, Mikayla Peterson, Bailey Urasaki.

Students competed against more than 140 of the the top science students in the Honolulu District. At the end of a challenging two hour judging process, here's how the students faired:

Making the provisional list and runners up as alternates to the State Science Fair are Kaya Goodwin, Hunter Nottage and Jordan Lee. Qualifying to compete at the Hawaii State Science Fair are Jackson Morrice, Kaci Muromoto and Mikayla Peterson.

"As a teacher, the science fair takes a lot of background preparation and guidance," Said science teacher Nate Javellana. "Hours are spent creating an environment for student to be able to truly explore a scientific problem or engineering idea. Only after countless failed attempts do we truly see actual learning begin to take place. Those students who were brave enough to persevere thru disappointment and redesigning were the one who rise to the top. Their inquisitive minds and their drive achieve another level of learning. When the teacher is no longer present and the learning still continues because of something within them, we achieve success. I believe Mid Pacific Institute creates such an environment for our students. I'm very blessed to be part of this amazing community."

"A special thank you goes out to all of the parents and families that helped prepare the students for the event and who were in attendance to cheer them on," Javellana said.

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