After big wins regionally, East County students head to state science competition

East County middle school students have been doing their science homework.

Of the 17 Manatee County students who secured first-place recently at the 2015 Lockheed Martin Manatee Regional Science and Engineering Fair, eight students hail from East County middle schools — Carlos E. Haile, R. Dan Nolan and Braden River.

Regional winners include: Haile Middle students Simone Lang, Reed Blankenship, Zachary Vanschoor, Griffin Hudson, Caleb Phillips and Hannah Arduini; Haileigh Norris, of Braden River; and Nolan Middle student Cassandra Atzrodt.

Braden River High student Naima David also won first-place for the high school division, along with Manatee and Bradenton Christian high school winners.

The winners will represent East County at the 60th annual State Science and Engineering Fair, held March 31 through April 2, in Lakeland.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].