St. Francis High School student advances in the global Breakthrough Junior Challenge
St. Francis High School student Gianni P., Class of 2021, advances to the next round of voting in the global Breakthrough Junior Challenge. The Breakthrough Junior Challenge organized by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, is an annual global competition for students to inspire creative thinking about science.
Students age 13 to 18 from countries across the globe are invited to create and submit original videos that bring to life a concept or theory in the life sciences, physics, or mathematics.
Gianni's creatively insightful video illustrating the idea of dark matter, is one of 30 world-wide entries selected to advance to next stage of the challenge - the Popular Vote.
For 16 days beginning Sept. 5-20, people from around the world will be able to vote for their favorite video.
The entry which gets the highest combined total of likes, shares, and comments on their video posted on the Breakthrough Facebook page will be named Popular Vote Top Scorer and will automatically bypass the next round of judging (selection committee) and be placed in the final round of judging.
The winner of the challenge will be awarded $400,000 in educational prizes including a college scholarship, winnings for the science teacher who inspired the student and a state-of-the-art science lab for the winner's school.
"A state-of-the-art science lab, in my view, would provide students an area with cutting-edge equipment and technology that would encourage collaboration, discussion, and exploration for testing student-generated scientific ideas. said Dr. Tom Juliano, science teacher at the Wheaton school. "It may help students delve further into areas of astronomy, microscopy, and environmental science."
ABOUT ST. FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL: St. Francis High School is a Catholic, college preparatory learning community that promotes spiritual, academic, physical, and social development in the daily presence of Jesus Christ.
THE BREAKTHROUGH JUNIOR CHALLENGE
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a global competition to develop and demonstrate young people's knowledge of science and scientific principles; generate excitement in these fields; support STEM career choices; and engage the imagination and interest of the public-at-large in key concepts of fundamental science.
THE BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE
For the ninth year, the Breakthrough Prizes will recognize the world's top scientists. Each prize is $3 million and presented in the fields of Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics. Laureates attend a live televised award ceremony designed to celebrate their achievements and inspire the next generation of scientists. As part of the ceremony schedule, they also engage in a program of lectures and discussions. The Breakthrough Prizes are sponsored by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Ma Huateng, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki. Selection Committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize laureates in each field choose the winners. Information on the Breakthrough Prize is available at breakthroughprize.org.