Lancaster Country Day School to Host Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS)

For Release 9.24.2024 – Lancaster, PA – Lancaster Country Day School (LCDS) today announces the school will host the next Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS). The PJAS is a science and engineering research competition open to all students in grades 7-12 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

For students in our region (Region 4 - one of twelve regions across the state), the 2024-25 event will be held at LCDS on February 22, 2025. Region 4 contains a mix of student participants, ranging from large schools to smaller schools and homeschool communities. Students receiving First Awards at this regional competition are invited to participate in the State Competition held at Penn State University in mid-May 2025.

For the PJAS, students develop research plans in conjunction with adult sponsors (usually a teacher), submit their plans, execute their 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 PJAS, although some choose to do only one or the other. But all participants benefit academically and personally from the challenge.

LCDS hosted the PJAS last year, with more than 100 students from 9 south-central PA counties participating in the regional competition. Nearly half of these students received an invitation to participate at the three day State Competition at PSU. Of those invited, three quarters chose to attend the State event, which includes staying in residence halls, eating in the dining halls, presenting their work in one of the academic buildings, taking campus tours and attending special events. At this past year’s event, a number of first place awards, perfect scores, and special awards were achieved by these students. In addition, the opportunity to meet new friends and have fun together made the event a success for all. Sixteen hundred total students were in attendance at the 2024 State Competition.

If you are a parent or student interested in this opportunity please take a look at pjas.net for more information.

For prospective teachers, please consider joining our regional introductory Zoom meeting September 25 at 4 p.m. Regional director Jim Ringlein will provide a link. Both Jim and regional treasurer Michelle Banks welcome direct inquiries about PJAS.