March 1, 2004 News Media Release

Murchison and Connally Win Top Awards at Austin Energy Regional Science Fair

Murchison Middle School (AISD) and Connally High School (Pflugerville ISD) were the Sweepstakes winners at the Austin Energy Regional Science Fair held February 27-28 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin. Sweepstake Awards go to the Middle School and Senior High respectively with the largest number of winning science projects in the 14 areas of science fair competition. These include Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and health, Computer Science, Behavioral and Social studies and Biochemistry, to name a few. This is the fifth year in a row Murchison has won the Sweepstakes award.

The Austin Energy Regional Science Fair is one of 21 science fairs across Texas from which students can advance to the State Science Fair. Middle School and Senior High students awarded first, second and third place at a regional science fair are eligible to compete in state fair competition. This year the state fair will be held at Texas Tech in May.

Santhisri Kodali of Connally, Craig Wilson of Wilson Private School, and Christine Hsu and Zhi Hui Lu of Connally (team project) won "Best of Fair" and move on to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Portland, Oregon in May.

Some 14 Central Texas school districts represented by almost 150 schools participated in this year's Austin fair. More than 1,800 projects (pre-K-12) were displayed during the event at the Palmer Events Center - the largest number ever in the history of the fair here in Austin. The Austin regional is one of the largest in the state.

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