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Montessori Students Grow Award-Winning Crystals
(Hartford, CT) Three students from CREC’s Montessori Magnet School recently grew crystals that won awards in the U.S. Crystal Growing Competition.
One award-winning crystal was a collaborative effort between two fourth-grade students. Anna Maria Tippner, of Cheshire, and Jayla Walker, of Hartford, and it won first prize in the overall competition in the division for kindergarten through grade eight students. They received a $200 cash prize.
Fifth-grade student Natalie Norbut, of Bristol, won sixth-place in the best quality category.
The crystals began as a class project. More than 25 students at CREC’s Montessori Magnet School met in small groups to experiment with different conditions when growing their own crystals. They checked on their crystals daily, and the two best crystals were sent to the national competition.
“The winning crystal was submitted by two students who worked together, and we are very proud that they were able to collaborate and produce such a specimen,” said Vivian Novo-MacDonald, the school’s assistant principal.
