T-L Photos/GAGE VOTA Belmont County commissioners pose on the courthouse steps with local students who competed at the Ohio State Science Fair. From front left are: East Richland Christian School middle school students Bastian Woods, June Chance and Emi Ross, St. Clairsville Middle School student Wyatt Mowery and East Richland student Trenton King. Second row: East Richland students Elizabeth Bolen, Daisy Miner, Jackson Parsons, Caleb Gooch and Amos Miller. Third row: Commissioners Vince Gianangeli, left, and Jerry Echemann.

St. Clairsville Middle School STEM teacher Elaine Wood tells the Belmont County Board of Commissioners that her student Wyatt Mowery received an excellent ranking for his Ohio State Science Fair project.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Nine East Richland Christian School students and one St. Clairsville Middle School student were honored by the Belmont County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday for their accomplishments at the Ohio State Science Fair.

Commissioner Jerry Echemann applauded the students and joked that he always hated participating in his school’s science fairs while growing up.

“We did it in teams every year, and I had a friend who was so smart. So we went into the woods and collected this different kind of fungus and stuff, put it on a board and labeled what it was and what it does. But it was all his work,” Echemann said. “The very last year for it, they said, ‘You guys are old enough now,’ this would have been eighth grade, ‘no partners, you’re on your own.'”

He added that he did a project making invisible ink.

“That was an awful fair, because three possible things your project can get — superior, good or fair, and I got fair, which really means it’s lousy. They wouldn’t say lousy, so they said fair.”

Commissioner Vince Gianangeli added that one of the roles of a commissioner is to be transparent.

“I got to come clean. Science was not my favorite subject, math was,” he said. “But since you guys are here, I’m kind of going out on a limb, and I think the board of education at St. John Central Academy might be OK with this, so I’d like to make a donation to your science department.”

Gianangeli, who has served as the fiscal officer for the now-closed St. John Central Academy, said the private school had put about $120,000 into its science, technology, engineering and math program. The academy is in the process of putting its building and equipment up for sale.

“It’s beautiful. It’s on the third floor of what used to be St. John Central High School,”Gianangeli said. “I don’t know what your availability is like, but if you want to meet together just to show you a few things and maybe make a nice little contribution to both of your programs.”

Both East Richland Christian School middle school science teacher Alisha Parsons and St. Clairsville Middle School STEM teacher Elaine Wood agreed to meet with Gianangeli and thanked him for his generosity.

The board then gave Parsons the floor to speak about what her nine students accomplished at the 2025 State Science Fair. She said East Richland Christian School had 44 students between fifth and eighth grades participate in its school science fair. Of those, 23 went on to the regional science fair at Belmont College.

Parsons added that $1,800 in awards and scholarships went to East Richland Christian School. Fourteen of those 23 students then went onto the State Science Fair. She said that since the COVID-19 pandemic happened, the State Science Fair has been moved to a virtual format.

“Of the 14, we had 12 superiors and two excellents. So we did really good,” Parsons said. “Our school also won the Harold C. Shaw award for being an outstanding school. It’s the highest possible team recognition at the State Science Fair. Fewer than 3-5% of participating schools qualify, and East Richland Christian Schools were one of only 19 in the entire state. We last won that in 2013, so it’s quite an accomplished accomplishment.”

The board then gave Wood the floor.

She began by saying that St. Clairsville Middle School only had one student participate in the State Science Fair. Fifth-grader Wyatt Mowery’s project about how dogs’ noses are all unique, similar to human fingerprints, received an excellent score at the State Science Fair.

Echemann asked Mowery how many dogs he tested. He replied that six separate dogs were tested.

“We’re proud of all of you. I think it’s awesome,” Echemann told the students.

He then read a resolution recognizing Sept. 10, 2025, as State Science Day.

“For 75 years, State Science Day has been the pinnacle of academic achievement for students pursuing inquiry-based scientific research and engineering design,” Echemann said. “Whereas this spring, 614 STEM scholars in grades five through 12 competed for nearly $400,000 in sponsored scholarships and awards, a total of 187 schools participated.”

He added that State Science Day is the academic equivalent of a state athletic championship.