Nine students represent Jimmy Carter ECHS at 2019 Regional Science and Engineering Fair (RGV RSEF).

Students followed the scientific process, posing questions and providing clear responses to their quandaries. Science fair projects afforded students the opportunity to advance to the district level competition and ultimately qualify to the next stage of the yearly competition.

Secondary science fair entries were subjected to rigorous evaluation and yielded top competitors who advanced to compete at the regional level.

On Saturday, February 2, students and sponsor Brenda Treviño traveled to compete at the event run by The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley which hosts the yearly Regional Science and Engineering Fair (RGV RSEF), this competition stems from the effort to not only support but also further the understanding and appreciation of the STEM field.

Angela Cantu, regionals qualifier, said she was nervous to compete, but the opportunity to represent her father was enough.

“I’m nervous about the competition because they are the best projects of the entire Rio Grande Valley…Honestly, the fact that I’ll be able to take that project to regionals in order to represent my dad is more than enough for me.”

Mr. Villarreal, physics teacher, said that in order for these students to move on to regionals, it took hard-work and dedication.

“First of all,  I think they carefully picked a topic of their interest, something they can actually work on, something they like, besides that they put a lot of time, they did a lot of research, they put a lot of work, a lot of energy, and a lot of mind, and they followed the scientific method, they did everything, every single step according to the scientific method.”

Carter students distinguished themselves at the event by being selected as finalists.

Ana Karen and Ana Fernanda Jardon earned a fifth place award at the regional showdown.

Ana Karena and Fernanda Jardon.

The Carter staff and faculty would also like to congratulate Miranda Vasquez and Ruby Lopez and Brandon Gomez for having earned 2nd places and becoming qualifiers to the state science fair competition.

Miranda Vazquez, state qualifier, said that she was excited for this experience.

“… it’s gonna look good on college resumes and it’s going to help me get ahead and all that. I’m excited, I dont think I’ve ever spent 3 days outside of school for school.”

Ana Karen and Ana Fernanda Jardon

Angela Cantu

Brandon Gomez

Leslie Perez, Chelsea Gutierrez, and Angela Rodriguez.

Ivan Silva serves as the advisor for RedGold News Student Publications, where he mentors student journalists and oversees all aspects of the publication. In addition to his work with RGN, Silva teaches Dual Enrollment courses in Speech Communication and Interpersonal Communication, helping students bridge the gap between high school and college-level academics.

He is also an adjunct instructor at South Texas College (STC), where he brings his expertise in communication studies into higher education classrooms. On campus, Silva is actively involved as the UIL Coordinator and UIL Journalism Coach, guiding students to success in academic competitions at the district, regional, and state levels.

Through his combined roles as Journalism Advisor, RGN Advisor, and educator, Silva is dedicated to fostering student voice, leadership, and excellence in communication, both in print and beyond.