After months of preparation, the High School Science Fair occurred Saturday, February 13. Out of the sixteen projects, six were awarded prizes and two were named as second round qualifications.

Ethan Bruggeman took first place with his project, "Does changing light affect a photovoltaic cell?" Chase Latham came in second with a project about heat, and Casey Blum received third for her project about equine estrous cycles and performance horses. In 4th place was Holly Atterbury with an Egg Drop Test. Jacob Rappa and Andrew Polk received honors as part of the top six. Second Round Qualifications included Kayleigh Hennington and Kory Kolholf.

All sixteen students have been working hard on these projects over the past months, and their creativity shows as their projects span everything from horses to sound to grapefruit. Each student will now compete at the Regional Science Fair on March 6.

 The Lincoln Lutheran middle school students stole the spotlight in the 2009-2010 school year science fair competition. Out of the seventh and eighth grade class, which was 125 students in all, 64 students have been invited to Regionals.  

2/13/10  Sixteen freshmen and sophomore biology students participated in this year’s Lincoln Lutheran High School Science Fair competition.

RESULTS:  winners, project titles, and prizes/awards

First Place: Ethan Bruggeman (Does changing light affect a photovoltaic cell?) - Trophy & $100 LL SCRIP Voucher

Over the past months, seventh and eighth graders have been busy creating science fair projects. Fingerprints have been analyzed, memories have been tested, and baseball has been turned into physics. Students have hypothesized, manipulated variables, recorded results, and come to conculsions. They have experimented with digestion rates, oxidation, and stroop effect. Creativity, strategic planning and careful testing have gone into these projects, and after months of work, the competition is near.

On Saturday, February 13, students will set up their projects in the small gym. The next day, these seventh and eighth graders will be thinking about more than their Valentines. They will be wondering what the judges decide. After a day of judging, the Science Fair will be open to the public on Monday from 9-4pm and on Tuesday from 7:30-3pm. The students will take their projects home on Tuesday. Select students will be invited to districts in Crete on March 6. Last year, two Lincoln Lutheran students were not only invited to districts, but even advanced to state, creating high hopes for this year as well.

Lyle Ziems began teaching at Lincoln Lutheran in 1989. In addition to teaching, Mr. Ziems also serves as the chapel coordinator, powerlifting coach, and the head football coach. He grew up on a farm ten miles south of Ewing, Nebraska with his younger brother and two younger sisters. His family was a very traditional farm family that was conservative and very involved in the local community and church. His favorite memory is working with his dad, grandpa, uncle, and brother in the hayfield during the summers. After high school, Lyle attended Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. In addition to his family at Lincoln Lutheran, Mr. Ziems also has a family at home. He is married to Sheila and they have three children, Caleb, Rachel, and Rebecca, who all attend Trinity Elementary. His wife also teaches at Trinity Elementary two days a week. When asked why he chose to teach at Lincoln Lutheran, Mr. Ziems replied “The Lord called me to Lincoln Lutheran.” He says that his favorite thing about Lincoln Lutheran is the daily focus on God with young people.

Chris Deeter began teaching at Lincoln Lutheran in 2003. He previously worked at Mayer Lutheran, Concordia University in Seward, UNL, and Goodrich Middle School. Mr. Deeter grew up in Indiana with his two sisters and one brother. He then went to Concordia in Seward. Chris is married to Tammy Deeter, and they have five children, Rachel, Alex, Nicholas, Emelia, and Maria. Mr. Deeter says that he came to Lincoln Lutheran because he had been teaching in a public school and wanted to return to the Lutheran education setting. In his free time, he used to coach middle school basketball and soccer, but he is taking a break from that to follow his kids’ activities. Mr. Deeter says that his favorite thing about teaching here is the students. His funniest moment in teaching was during his very first year of teaching, when he ripped his pants playing four square, and nobody told him about it until the end of the day.

Laura is excited to be the new seventh and eighth grade science teacher. She is new to Lincoln and is slowly finding her way around town. Laura is originally from the very small town of Linn Grove in northwest Iowa. She attended Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa and has been teaching at Isaac Newton Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids for the past six years. She greatly enjoyed teaching at a Christian school and is blessed to continue to have that opportunity. Much of her summer was spent with her family on the farm. In addition to her twin sister, she has a younger brother and sister who are also twins. Her younger sister, Katie, and her husband, Pete, recently moved to Lincoln and so Laura is enjoying spending time with her niece and nephew.