Millburn High School Takes Home Prizes in Merck State Science Competition

STEM education is paying off in Millburn.

Recently, the student team from Millburn High School ranked 1st in the state in the 65th Annual Merck State Science Day competition.

The school’s Biology and Chemistry teams also earned 1st place, the Physics team earned 2nd place and the Integrated and Advanced Integrated Teams came in 4th.

Millburn had two Merck Scholars - Audrey Yan (Biology) and Yanjun Yang (Chemistry) - who scored in the top four in the state in their subject, and 17 honorable mentions (students who scored in the top 20 in the state).

According to a release, the Merck State Science Day Program provides for competition between individuals and teams of secondary New Jersey school students. Students compete in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Integrated Sciences. Students from 64 high schools around New Jersey competed in this year’s annual competition.

To participate in Merck State Science Day, students take a written test, given simultaneously around the state, which is scored both individually and as a team.

The competition is sponsored by the Merck Institute for Science Education and the New Jersey Science Teachers Association.

Millburn’s team members were:

• Biology: Audrey Yan, Mohar Kalra, Matthew Grossman, Daniel Rosen, Jenna Israel
• Chemistry: Yanjun Yang, Michael Tai, Allen Lee, Claire Hu, George Jiang
• Physics: Kirk Willens, Avery Lamp, Shantanu Laghate, Angela Jin, Alexander Lin
• Integrated: Amber Teetsel, Rebecca Blevins, Aidan Ahamparam, Billy Berns, Hannah Kanter
• Advanced Integrated: David Neiman, Ian Jaffe, Brian Lin, Yi Wang, Garrett Jones

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