On Saturday, Mar. 17, Niles North High School hosted the annual Illinois Junior Academy of Science (IJAS) regional science exposition Project Session, and North representatives garnered their 22nd consecutive first place trophy in the Senior Division due to the plethora of Gold Awards received by the students that participated.

Of the 65 students that participated at North in both the Project and Paper sessions, 41  qualified for the State science fair at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in early May.

In total, Niles North students also received 10 out of the 19 Best in Category Awards for the Senior Division. They are listed below:

Astronomy – James Gilbert; Behavioral Science – Raymond Truong; Cellular & Molecular – Ariella Hoffman – Peterson; Electronics – Zain Lakhani; Engineering – Elan Ness-Cohn; Environmental Science – Jacob Cohn; Health Science – Ayana Jamal; Material Science – Micah Beller; Physics – Yonatan Segev; Zoology – Ashley Thomas.

Emmanuelle Asrow  and Jeffrey Gaynes were also awarded the two “Best Papers” in the Senior Division for Paper session, held the Wednesday prior to the Project Session.

Beyond the many Special Awards North and West students received, five District 219 students were selected to attend the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) from May 13-18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North seniors Ariella Hoffman-Peterson, Ayana Jamal, and Elan Ness-Cohn, West senior Felix Angelov and North junior Haley Sproull. ISEF is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious pre-collegiate science expositions that brings together more than 1,500 students from across 65 different nations to compete for scholarships, internships and much more — with a grand prize of $50,000.

North students had pushed themselves to their fullest potential this year more than any other in honor of science teacher and sponsor Jacklyn Naughton’s final year at Niles North. The IJAS also recognized Naughton for her years of service, dedication, and inspiration to students throughout her career by creating the Jacklyn Naughton Inspirational Award, which will be awarded annually at the regional fair with a plaque and $100 monetary prize.

“Mrs. Naughton has instilled a lasting drive for excellence in all of us and encouraged us to set high expectations for what we can achieve, even as high school students. Her dedication to us and to science research has truly changed my life, and I know has inspired many before me and now. We are happy to have brought home the top place trophy for her in her last year sponsoring Niles North students at the regional fair,” Ness-Cohn, recipient of the first Jacklyn Naughton Inspiration Award and third time ISEF qualifier, said. “This new IJAS Jacklyn Naughton Inspiration Award could not be more aptly titled. She truly is an inspiration to us all.”

The North students involved in the science program in District 219  are looking forward to the State exposition and hope to keep up their tradition of succeeding in coming years despite Naughton’s retirement.

For full information on the fair, please follow the link to the previous story on the regional fair: https://www.northstarnews.org/news/north-hosts-illinois-junior-academy-of-science-regional-exposition/