Pinelands Students Meet With President Obama

President Obama yesterday hosted the White House Science Fair and celebrated the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country - including Pinelands Regional High School.

The President also announced new steps as part of his Educate to Innovate campaign, an all-hands-on-deck effort to get more students inspired to excel in these key subjects.

“When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future,” said President Obama. “That’s why I’m proud to celebrate outstanding students at the White House Science Fair, and to announce new steps my Administration and its partners are taking to help more young people succeed in these critical subjects."

The White House Science Fair featured 100 students from more than 40 states, representing 45 different STEM competitions and organizations that recognize the talents of America’s next generation of scientists, engineers, inventors and innovators.

Approximately 30 student teams had the opportunity to exhibit their projects for President Obama as part of the Fair - including Jon Kubricki and Bridget Zarych, both 16-year-old students at Pinelands Eco Regional High School in Little Egg Harbor. 

These students are winning team-members of the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge.

Jon, Bridget, and their teammates designed a low-cost mini-press that can turn biomass waste products, such as banana peels, into a viable wood-alternative for cooking.

Jon lived the first two years of his life in a Guatemala City orphanage, before moving to New Jersey with his adopted family. He is a football player, wrestler, and fisherman who hopes to pursue a fisheries science degree in college. Bridget is deeply involved in theater arts at school, and saied her hero is her Mom.

The President viewed exhibits of the student work, ranging from breakthrough basic research to new inventions, followed by remarks to an audience of students, science educators and business leaders on the importance of STEM education to the country’s economic future.

The White House Science Fair is a key commitment in the President’s Educate to Innovate campaign to inspire more girls and boys to excel in STEM subjects. As the President has noted, “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”

In remarks to the inventors after he looked and tried their inventions, Obama said the science fair is one of his "favorite" events, and noted that the inventions this year particularly those of the Pinelands students were particularly appropriate given that yesterday was Earth Day.