SRA student Coral Noonan excels in national science fair

News release from Santa Rosa Academy about an SRA student who won national honors:

MENIFEE – Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science announced the Top 300 MASTERS — a list of the nation's premier Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) students in a national competition for middle school students. The Broadcom MASTERS, a program of the Society for Science, seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers, and innovators to solve the grand challenges of the 21st Century.

Santa Rosa Academy student Coral Noonan, a 7th grader on Red Track, was one of only three students from Riverside County placed in the top 300 MASTERS, which was selected from 1,841 students from 48 states, Washington, DC, and three US territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands) applying to be a Broadcom MASTER.

This is Coral's first science fair competition, and for her project, she looked at the differences in radish root length for organic and non-organic seeds. She was curious to see if there were any differences among the different types of seeds and found differences in the root length of the radish, which made her curious about a lot of other things regarding the differences between types of radish plants.

Coral has been at Santa Rosa Academy since 2nd grade and feels encouraged and academically challenged to excel at what she loves.

"My science teacher, Mrs. Wood, and my parents were my mentors throughout my project and offered advice, inspiration, and support. I do science because I love it, and I am honored to be a part of the Broadcom MASTERS group,” Coral said.

When asked why the family chose SRA for Coral, Mrs. Noonan responded, "It is important to us that our kids go to a school that is academically challenging and also focuses on character development. We feel that SRA really provides both, and we are so happy with all that SRA does to provide to the students in our community!"

It's interesting to note that Coral did her experiment while her parents were ill with COVID. Coral and her sisters helped take care of each other and their parents while Coral was dutifully watering and taking out and bringing in her plants every morning and night. That's part of the character education instilled at Santa Rosa Academy.

"Congratulations to the 300 Broadcom MASTERS," said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of the Society for Science and Publisher of Science News. "These students have shown tremendous grit and perseverance by conducting scientific or engineering research during a worldwide pandemic. Their curiosity and determination are inspiring for all."

"Those of you in the Top 300 are exemplars of all young people who aspire to become scientists, engineers, and innovators in Society-affiliated science fairs," said Paula Golden, President of the Broadcom Foundation. To learn more about the Broadcom MASTERS premier science and engineering competitions for middle school students around the United States, visit www.broadcomfoundation.org/masters.