Several Mars Area Middle School students participated in the 2018-2019 “You Be the Chemist” Challenge, held March 9 at Seneca Valley Middle School.

Seventh-grader Declan Abbey earned second place and will advance to the State “You Be the Chemist” Challenge” on Saturday, April 27, at Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pa.). Other participants were eighth-graders Lucie Morlino, Naiya Patel, Cole Winstead and Madeline Wolf; and seventh-graders Nameer Dheen, Mitchell Kulfan and Aidan Teboul.

The annual question-and-answer competition, sponsored by The Chemical Education Foundation and BASF Corporation, engages students (Grades 5-8) in learning important chemistry concepts, historical discoveries and safety awareness.

For more information, visit www.chemed.org/programs/challenge/.