Freeport Area School District student recognized in national science competition

For one Freeport Area School District student, science fairs are about more than academic competition — they’re also about making an impact.

Anne Lindsay, a 14-year-old freshman at Freeport Area High School, was recognized as one of the top 300 Broadcom MASTERS for a science project she completed during her eighth-grade year. The Broadcom MASTERS competition claims to be “the nation’s premier STEM program for middle school students.”

Lindsay has been competing in science fair programs since she was in sixth grade.

Her project, titled “The Optimal Amount of Titanium Dioxide Needed to Reduce Bacterial Proliferation,” was an extension of research into natural water filters that she’d started in seventh grade.

“Clean water’s a really big issue,” Lindsay said. “There’s so much in the world that needs improved, so it was just one issue that I could try to put a footprint on, make my mark.”

Her research aimed to find an effective and affordable way to filter water by studying how much titanium dioxide would provide the best filtration.

“She wanted to make sure that it would benefit other people,” said Eleanor Savage, a science teacher at Freeport Middle School who spearheads their science fair club. “She wanted to do something that would help others. She researched problems around the world.”

Lindsay said she began developing this project last October and spent hours researching and collecting data after school. She finished her project in February and finalized her application for the contest in April and May.

When she found out she’d been recognized on a national level, Lindsay was excited.

“I jumped in the air,” she said. “I never expected it would be me, of all people.”

Timothy Walters, Freeport Middle School’s principal, said he shared in her joy.

“Anne is a tremendous student,” he said. “She’s always been a student that leads by example.”

Lindsay said she hopes her achievement will spark an interest in science for other students.

“I’m hoping that more kids do science. I think it’s a really great way to be creative,” she said. “I feel really accomplished about my science. Science makes you feel grown-up, that you can put together this project and present it in front of a panel of scientists and they’ll listen to you and take you seriously.”

Savage, too, said she’s hopeful that Lindsay’s accomplishment will help students see the sciences in a new light.

“A lot of people, when they hear science fair, they think of a bunch of brainiac kids huddled in a classroom, staring at bacteria,” Savage said. “This is much more about kids taking ownership of their learning. You just have to be curious and be willing to get your ideas out there in the world.”

Lindsay said she’s already contemplating what kind of project she’ll dive into for this year’s science fairs. Covid-19 will keep her from working with bacteria in the school and push events to a virtual platform, she said, but those are obstacles she’s already working to overcome.

“I might have to take a completely different track this year,” she said. “I definitely want to find out what I can do at home and I definitely want to do it, because science is such an important part of my life.”

If there’s one takeaway Lindsay has from the experience, it’s that science can provide opportunities for students to leave an impression.

“I want people to realize you can make an impact,” she said, “even if you’re only 13 or 14 years old.”

For Lindsay, these science fairs may be pointing her toward a career in the sciences. She said she’s interested in becoming a medical microbiologist.

“I’d want to use bacteria and viruses to try to find vaccines or help people people with sicknesses. I feel like that’d be an amazing job where I’d be making an impact on the world. That’s what I want to do — I want to make an impact.”