Westlake Students Win Awards At Ohio State Fair

WESTLAKE, OH — Westlake High students became ambassadors and award winners during this summer's Ohio State Fair in Columbus. More than 900,000 people attended this year's fair.

Students from the high school's technology and engineering department took part in a showcase held in the Lausche Youth Center building. Seniors Ethan Simon, Connor Reis, Robert Fulop and Austin Loosli were named Best of Show for their "multi-unit townhouse" and energy efficient model house design. They also won the people's choice award.

Simon also took home another Best of Show award for his Senior 3D Design Collection. Reis won the Outstanding Award for his Solar Submersible project. Westlake High's technology and engineering department display also won the Award of Excellence for Best Technology Exhibit.

During the event, Ohio's state superintendent, Paolo DeMaria, visited the Westlake High display and spoke with teacher Scott Kutz about his students' projects. The teacher highlighted a variety of exhibits, including a project by senior Eric Kronz in the unmanned aircraft systems drone technology class.

Kronz programmed a Parrot Mambo drone to fly autonomous patterns that mirror math functions. This allowed students to see the functions in 3D space, rather than on 2D graph paper.

Two Westlake students also served as ambassadors to the Junior Fair Board. Mickey Hamila, a junior, and Kaitlin Willi, a 2019 graduate, both took part on the Board.

Hamilia and Willi represented the high school's technology and engineering departments on the Junior Fair Board. Members of the Board, in most cases, serve a two-year paid internship.