Lancaster Country Day School (LCDS), 725 Hamilton Road, Lancaster, will host the next Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, from 8 a.m. to noon. The event is a science and engineering research competition open to all students in grades seven through 12 in Pennsylvania.

LCDS will host the portion of the competition for students in Region 4, which is one of 12 regions across the state. Region 4 includes students from a range of school settings, from large schools to smaller schools and homeschool communities. Students receiving first-place awards at the regional competition will qualify to participate in the state competition to be held at Penn State University in mid-May.

For the PJAS, students develop research plans in conjunction with adult sponsors, usually teachers; submit their plans; conduct research; and present their work via a slideshow to a panel of judges for feedback and scoring. Many students participate in both traditional science fair competitions and the PJAS.

LCDS hosted the PJAS last year, with more than 100 students from nine southcentral Pennsylvania counties participating in the regional competition. Nearly half of these students received an invitation to participate at the three-day state competition at Penn State. Of those invited, three-quarters chose to attend the state event, which included staying in residence halls, eating in the dining halls, presenting their work in academic buildings, taking campus tours, and attending special events. At the 2024 event, the students achieved a number of first-place awards, perfect scores, and special awards. In addition, students had opportunities to make new friends and have fun together. A total of 1,600 students were in attendance at the 2024 state competition.

Students interested in competing and their parents may visit http://www.pjas.net for more information. Online registration will close on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Prospective teacher participants may contact regional director Jim Ringlein at ringleinj@pjas.org or regional treasurer Michelle Banks at banksm@pjas.org for more details.