A Clarkston girl could be only one step away from being named ‘America’s Top Young Scientist of the Year.? Sarah Pierz was named as the one of the 40 finalists in the Discovery Channel’s Young Scientists Challenge.
Pierz, 14, entered Everest Academy’s science fair in January as an eighth grader. Sarah won first place and moved on to statewide competition in Flint in April, where she placed third.
Throughout the summer, Pierz began participating in Discovery Channel’s challenge by preparing a series of application essays and reports on her own experiment and submitting them to judges for consideration.
? (The judges) got like 7,500 applications, then they narrowed it down to 400, and then to 40,? Sarah said.
After the elimination process was complete, Sarah said she got a call on Sept. 14 from multiple judges congratulating her on her placement.
However, Sarah almost lost her chance to apply in May when her computer crashed, erasing all of her application essays.
‘There were a lot of tears shed over that,? said Kathleen Pierz, Sarah’s mother. ‘But she recovered from it, apparently effectively.?
Sarah and her family will travel to Washington D.C. on Oct. 15-20 for the final round of competition. This year, students will work in teams on various challenges with the theme ‘Forces of Nature.?
‘When I first get there, I’m going to give a presentation of my project. It’s going to be lots of different challenges and we’re going to be split up into teams and they’re going to judge us on how well our teams do and then individually how we do,? said Sarah.
Sarah’s project this year was designed to test the moisture retention level in a dozen commercial products, including several name brand lotions and hand creams.
‘I took twelve different products. I tested them over a week. I put them in petrie dishes and had a thin level of gelatin to represent skin. Then I just put a thin layer of moisturizer on top of the gelatin,? Sarah said.
Throughout the week, Sarah checked each sample and weighed them to determine how much moisture had been lost by each sample.
Through her experiment, Sarah was able to determine how effective each product was at moisturizing skin. She discovered one of the worst products was relatively expensive and sold exclusively through in-home marketing. One of the best products ended up being one used for treating diaper rash, which was given to Sarah by a neighbor.
‘She has really dry hands so she’ll try anything,? said Sarah.
Sarah, who just started her freshman year at Marion High School, said she is interested in science and wants to be a pediatrician one day. This series of competitions is a first for Sarah, and even though the process is time consuming, she said she can handle the extra workload.
‘It takes up homework time, but I can manage,? Sarah said.
‘I hate to say I’m stunned and amazed,? said Kathleen Pierz. ‘I love my daughter and I think she’s really smart, but I have to confess that, even as her mom, I guess I just never thought she’d get this far.?
Regardless of how Sarah does during the final competition, Kathleen said she thinks this accomplishment is an honor.
‘It’s especially fun to watch her because she’s so excited and so into it,? Kathleen said, recalling how Sarah called all her friends to tell them the day the judges called her.
Kathleen said she thinks going to Everest Academy made a huge difference in Sarah’s education.
‘They have small class sizes and super-focused faculty and staff,? she said.
Sarah is the daughter of Michael and Kathleen Pierz and has an older brother, Eddie.
The nationwide competition for middle school students spans several months, and for Sarah began with local competitions. The event ends in Washington D.C. at the University of Maryland. The winner gets a $15,000 scholarship, but there are over $100,000 worth of prizes to be given away to the finalists.