On March 14th, Hastings students won fourteen awards at the Regeneron Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF), an annual event in which high school students from across Westchester and Putnam counties showcase their individual science research projects. This was a monumental achievement for both the Hastings Science Research Program and the individual participants, as it is indicative of the growth of the program and the hard work of the students involved.
Hastings’ tremendous success spanned a variety of categories, including medical research, computer science, environmental science, behavioral science, and more. Five students placed in the top four in their category, with Andre Forrest achieving Second Place in Computer Science, David Franco winning Second Place in Environmental Science, Eden Goldman-Wetzler winning Third Place in Behavioral Science, Emmy Swart winning Third Place in Behavioral Science, and Corina Tucker winning Fourth Place in Behavioral Science. On top of category awards, nine students received special awards given to competitors with excellence in a certain aspect. Harley Griffin won the Science Research Academy Award for Excellence in Remote Research, Rian Kacmarczyk & Henry Sliker won the Collaborative Impact Award, Lukas Kovac won the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award, Aidan Maloney won the Scientific Inquiry and Research Initiative Award, Adela Mihalcescu won the Ingenuity in Research Award, and both Emily Taylor and Katharine Sobol won the Excellence in Medical Research Award. In order to claim their prizes, the seniors attended the awards ceremony on March 18th, which students reported was very well-organized and enjoyable.
To prepare their projects, a long process must be completed. The seniors started in their junior year by researching their topic of interest, emailing potential mentors, drafting research plans, and then eventually conducting their research and writing a research paper about their work. Therefore, a lot of hard work went into composing their projects. In order to determine these awards, students are judged by multiple experts in their fields, all of whom are volunteers. Top competitors are given the opportunity to advance to the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). This year, The Hastings Science Research seniors presented at the fair among a total of 820 students from 44 schools.
Just as seniors attended when they were juniors, the majority of sophomores and juniors in the Hastings Science Research Program attended during the public viewing session, which happened in the late afternoon after the judging sessions. There were some conflicting feelings among the younger students. The majority of interviewees said that seeing all of the seniors’ presentations made them inspired and excited for their own presentations. Hazel Kuniholm, a junior, expressed pride in the Hastings seniors, saying “They’ve been working really hard on them, so it was cool to see that come to fruition.” Another junior, Francesca Dimartino-Blanco, said “It was cool to see all these kids who are super passionate about what they’re doing.” On the other hand, a few sophomores and juniors said that they felt very overwhelmed by the number of people and complexity of the projects at the event. One sophomore, Akansha Muthukrishnan, confessed that she “felt a little stressed imagining presenting next year.” The main sentiment among interviewees, however, was that the event seemed to be filled with passionate kids and fascinating presentations.
Hastings students found the 2026 WESEF to be a successful experience. The fair proved to be an inspirational event in which seniors had the opportunity to share their research with the next generation of science research students and gain recognition for their diligence. Mrs. Shandroff and Mrs. Barenfeld, the facilitators of the Science Research Program in Hastings, also shared that they thought it went really well. Mrs. Shandroff stated, “We are tremendously proud of all of our Hastings students for their hard work, intellectual curiosity, and the dedication they demonstrated in presenting their research at such a competitive and inspiring event.”
