MMI Preparatory School, Freeland, recently held a special assembly to honor students whose projects won prizes at the April 20 Open House. MMI Open House, held each spring, requires students in all grades to develop an independent research project, which is evaluated by an off-campus team of judges that selects winners in the categories of science/mathematics, art/humanities and cooking.

Judges for the Open House were Dr. Carl Frankel, Dr. Kenneth Dudeck and Tammy Brill, faculty members at the Hazleton campus of the Pennsylvania State University, who evaluated projects in the science/mathematics and art/humanities areas; and Bernard Byorek, proprietor of Knotty Pine Restaurant, Hazleton, evaluated the cooking projects.

Winners of the science/mathematics projects were:

Sixth to eighth grades: first place, David Polashenski, son of Edward and Jessica Polashenski, Drums, for “Science of Ice Cream”; and Casey McCoy, son of Daniel and Danielle McCoy, White Haven, for “Brain Freeze”; and honorable mention, Casey Olszewski, son of Paul Olszewski, Weatherly, and Nicole Borland, Weatherly, for “Chesapeake Bay Watershed.”

Ninth and tenth grades: first place, Joseph Caputo, son of Fran and Richard Mannell, Hazleton, and Joseph Caputo, for “Nuclear Energy: The Mechanics Behind the Future of Sustainable Energy”; second place, Michael McGraw, son of Patrick and Michelle McGraw, Mountaintop, for “A Probability Game”; and honorable mention, Daniel Plavin, son of Steven and Dorothy Plavin, Lake Harmony, and Nicholas Triano, son of Nicholas and Michelle Triano, Hazleton for their project, “Rube Goldberg.”
Eleventh and twelfth grades: first, Jan Wessel, son of Dierk and Andrea Wessel, Drums, for “Brushless DC Motor Technology”; and second place, Daniel Migatulski, son of Michael and Mary Migatulski, Wilkes-Barre; and Jonathan Senczakowicz, son of Christopher and Christine Senczakowicz, Mountaintop, for their project, “Briggs-Rauscher Oscillating Reaction.”

Winners of the art/humanities projects were:

Sixth to eighth grades: first place, Rebecca Noga, daughter of Michael and Valerie Noga, Hazleton, for “Body Language”; and Paul Brasavage, son of Mark and Bernadette Brasavage, Freeland, for “Development of the English Language”; and honorable mention, Marianne Virnelson, daughter of Kathleen Virnelson, Fern Glen, and Frank Virnelson, for “Mary Cassatt.”

Ninth and tenth grades: first place, Sarah Careyva, daughter of Edward and Jill Careyva, Ringtown, for “Colonial Williamsburg”; second place, Taylor Olian, daughter of Anthony and Stacey Olian, Hazleton, for “To Kill a Mockingbird”; and honorable mention, Carley Bonacci, granddaughter of Ann Bonacci, Sugarloaf, for “Audrey Hepburn.”

Eleventh and twelfth grades: first place, Kristyn Lizbinski, daughter of David and Christine Lizbinski, Drums, for “Frankenstein vs. Romeo and Juliet”; second place, Lynsey Daniels, daughter of Bruce and Denise Daniels, Beaver Meadows, and Andrew Hoffman, son of Frank and Lisa Hoffman, Andreas, for their project, “The Death Penalty”; and honorable mention, Megha Patel, daughter of Dilipkumar and Minaben Patel, and Elizabeth Yale, daughter of Dominic and Pamela Yale, Drums, for their project, “The Jungle Book.”

Winners of the cooking awards were:

First place, Gabrielle Dei Tos, daughter of Nicholas and Patricia Dei Tos, Freeland; and Bridget Hine, daughter of Bernard and Cheryl Hine, Plains, for “Lettuce Bowl”; second place, Angela Carrato, daughter of Anthony and Carmine Carrato, Hazleton; Brianna Kramer, daughter of Brian and Nancy Kramer, Drums; and Diomedies Moronta, daughter of Ramon and Patricia Moronta, Hazleton, for “The Three Amigas”; and Megan DiBernadino, daughter of John and Cathy DiBernadino, Drums; Kecli Scirrotto, daughter of Chris and Ronda Scirrotto, Freeland; and Traci Smith, daughter of Steven and Debbi Smith, Conyngham, for “Greek Food.”