Weston Students Recognized as a Finalists in Science Contest

WESTON, CT – Weston students Thomas Carlon, Annalise Kimura, Nicole Linell, Kaeli Mecca and Nicole Sztachelski were recently honored as finalists in the 15th annual eesmarts™ Student Contest.

Presented by Energize Connecticut sponsors, Eversource and United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, the eesmarts Student Contest invites Connecticut students in grades K-12 to create projects about energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability.

The students competed in the 9th – 11th category where they were tasked to develop a community-based project that addressed energy-related issues in their community.

Nicole L., Nicole S. and Annalise received 2nd place for their proposal to minimize the amount of wasted electricity at their high school. "By using electric timers, teachers are able to set their devices to a certain schedule that is customized to fit their needs. When they are done using the smart board it will automatically turn off, reducing the electricity being wasted."

In their plan, Thomas and Kaeli lobbied for their community to invest in hybrid or electric vehicles. "Promoting the use of electrically-powered vehicles and hybrid vehicles will safeguard our environment, lower our environmental footprint, work to stop the exploitation of energy-use, and will encourage sustainable means of transportation for all students and staff members." Their project won 3rd place.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Energize Connecticut sponsors updated the contest this year to allow students to submit their projects through an online platform, and a congratulatory video presentation was created to announce the winning participants.

More than 300 students from 76 schools in 49 Connecticut towns submitted their work for consideration. Thirty-five entries were selected as this year’s winners and each finalist received a certificate and Amazon gift card.

The video may be viewed online here.