Middle school students Anika Patel and Angela Riggins, shown here, from Forest Ridge School in Bellevue, Washington, exhibited their 2010 first-place ExploraVision project titled Ecological Paper Printer and Ink Collection today at the White House during the White House Science Fair, hosted by President Obama.

In addition to Anika and Angela, students representing 36 competitions journeyed to the White House to meet President Obama and to be recognized for their accomplishments as young winning scientists, engineering, and technicians.

• Watch the YouTube video of the President’s remarks from the White House Science Fair
• Read more about the White House Science Fair

Teams from the other NSTA competitions included  Team “No1Idling”—Novi (Michigan) Middle School students Raj Raina and Yash Sathe, who were being honored at the White House for their first-place entry in the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, which addressed the issue of  reducing community pollution by raising awareness about the environmental impact of vehicle idling among area drivers.
Two students represented the DuPont Challenge Science Essay Competition. Alex Sincere (at left), a junior at Evanston (Illinois) High School, wrote an essay about stem cell research on mice that could lead to a treatment for human blindness. Alexander Xu (at right), a seventh-grader at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware, wrote an essay that explores the use of algae as a sustainable biofuel.
The Science Fair was part of the Administration’s Educate to Innovate initiative, which today the President announced has reached over $700 million in public/private partnerships aimed at improving K–12 STEM education.