Amherst County Public Schools students competed in the Central Virginia Science Challenge May 8 at Randolph College, with several taking home first-place finishes.

Students competed with peers from school divisions in Lynchburg and Bedford and Campbell counties. Of the 10 categories Amherst County students took part in, they won five categories, said Brendon Albon, a mathematics, science and gifted instructional supervisor for Amherst County schools.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Winners include Connor Childress, of Monelison Middle School, for math/computer science; Emma Coleman, of Amherst Middle School, for chemistry; Trey Houchens, Amherst Middle School, for energy and transportation; Daniel DeChant, of Amherst Middle School, for physics; and Peter Garrison, of Monelison Middle School, for engineering. DeChant was named the overall Grand Physical Sciences winner.

The five students have opportunities to move onto the national level for the Broadcom Masters Competition through the Society for Science and the Public, according to Albon.

“The fact that so many of Amherst’s students performed so well comes down to hard work and deliberate instruction from our elementary and middle school science teachers, but more specifically from the school division’s enrichment work provided by our two Talented and Gifted specialists: Mrs. Elizabeth Schupp and Mrs. Beverly Brown,” Albon said in a statement.