ELKO — The science of plastics and the reliability of artificial intelligence detectors won three Elko High School students grand prizes at the Elko County STEM Fair.
Avery Sholty, Max Fraley and Erika Lopez took top honors in the annual event that showcases science, technology, engineering and math projects from students throughout the Elko County School District.
Organizers said a final total of 326 projects were entered, which were exhibited throughout the Elko Convention Center.
In all, 119 of those projects were from high school students, 101 from fifth through eighth graders and 106 from elementary schools. There were 102 first-, second- and third-place ribbons awarded.
Thanks to community supporters, including the Elko County Robotics League, Empire CAT, Nevada Department of Transportation, Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, Desert Research Institute, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada Outdoor Schools and PACE Coalition, students and families who visit the STEM Fair can also get hands-on experience in STEM-related fields, said STEM co-director Anita Collins.
“It provides more to students than just coming in and seeing the projects, which are always fantastic. But the hands-on experience and the way the community uses STEM, we’re getting more vendors all the time, bringing that outreach to the community,” Collins said.
The STEM Fair also thanked its sponsors, including the Elko County School District, Nevada Gold Mines, Picture This, Knight Piesold, Canyon Construction, Nevada Bank and Trust, Richard and Lisa Perry, Jesse and Denise Lopategui, LP Insurance, Total Eye Care, Wells Rural Electric Co. Wilson, Barrows, Salyer and Jones, Print N Copy, Elko Tool and Fastner, ECSD Administrators Association, McConnell Law Office, Carlin Trend Mining Services. Dr. Sergio Guzman OD, Boss Tanks, Julian Tomera Ranches, Elko County Cattlewomen, Friends of the STEM Fair, Maggie Creek Ranch, Family Dental Care, Gaser Land and Livestock, The Star Hotel and Accelerated Medical.
Avery Sholty, first grand prize
Avery Sholty, a freshman at Elko High School, took first grand prize honors with her project “Biodegradable Algae Plastic.”
“This is a cool example of how we can create things we have from the earth, and I think it’s interesting,” Sholty said.
Elko High School freshman Avery Sholty sits next to her project in biodegradable plastics that took first grand prize in the Elko County STEM Fair on March 12, 2025.
Her idea came from finding a solution to plastic pollution, which “is one of the biggest problems we have currently, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon,” she explained. “Plastic consumption is used daily, if we want to eliminate the use of plastic itself, we need to come up with a proper alternative.”
Her research, which took a couple of months, led her to discover “how different vegetables and starches could be turned into plastic, but I specifically decided to use algae because it’s high in biopolymers, which will apply structure to whatever it’s mixed in with,” she said.
“It took me six hours to prepare all three batches, it took about a week to cure, and testing was pretty straightforward.”
Looking ahead to next year, Sholty said she was looking at all options, including expanding on this year’s project. “I think I could go either way. There are a lot of different things I’m interested in the STEM field, but I think there’s definitely a lot to improve with this design. This was only a baseline prototype, and I have so many ideas on how this could be improved.”
This was the second STEM Fair she entered. She will consider pursuing a career in s STEM field as she progresses through high school. “It’s very high on the list.”
As a first-place grand prize winner, Sholty will compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in May.
“It will be super cool to travel, but I think the big thing is getting to look at what all the other young minds are conjuring up,” she said.
Max Fraley, second grand prize
Max Fraley, a freshman at Elko High School, looked at creating plastics from milk.
He said his research showed him that plastics were comprised of polymers that could be simple or complex. Looking at simple polymers, he saw that milk, when heated up to its boiling temperature with an acidic solution, such as vinegar, added to it, creates plastic.
Max Fraley, Elko High School freshman sits next to his project "Milk to Plastic" that won second place in the Elko County STEM Fair on March 12, 2025, at the Elko Convention Center.
Fraley then wondered what kind of milk — 0%, 1%, 2% or whole milk, would make a better plastic, testing for extension, stiffness and elasticity.
He found that fat-free milk produced a “stiff and crumbly” material, while the others were “stretchy and soft.”
Fraley called the project “fun and thrilling to figure out all these different milks and which was better or worse in certain categories.” He said he was also inspired by observing the thickness of the material.
“There are so many different plastics such as plastic bags that are stretchy, while other plastics are rock hard and are sometimes harder than metals,” he said. “Why are they so different, and what makes them different? I tested that through the different milks.
This is Fraley’s third time entering the STEM Fair, and he said he might continue his project next year using other liquids, such as applesauce, to be turned into a solid component.
“If milk can be turned into a plastic easily, maybe others can be turned and it could be a good solution for our limited plastic reserves,” Fraley said.
He said he’s excited about competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair. “It’s a great opportunity. I think I’ll have a great time and it will probably the highlight of my year.”
Fraley said his “dream job” is being an EMT. “I love the medical field in general, especially when it comes to emergency care. I know my project isn’t dedicated to that, but I do want to go into the medical field.”
For those who struggle trying to figure out a STEM project, he advised leaning into their ideas and making them work.
“It’s easy to create and discover things you love. You should never think, ‘this idea is silly or this is stupid,” he said. “I think any idea is a smart idea especially if you delve deep into it and you get the information you need to help the world.”
Erika Lopez, third grand prize
Erika Lopez, a junior at Elko High School, focused on the reliability of artificial intelligence detectors in her project.
Elko High School junior Erika Lopez took third grand prize in the Elko County STEM Fair with her project on artificial intelligece on March 12, 2025, at the Elko Convention Center.
She said reports of college students who had been “negatively affected by AI-generated text and how detectors came up with false positives” gave her the idea to develop a hypothesis and design her experiments.
Lopez had eight participants write a minimum of two paragraphs with five sentences on the effects of television violence with ChatGPT and without. She ran the writing samples and AI-generated responses through three AI detectors she found online for free.
She said results were mixed, with human-written samples coming back as AI-generated and AI samples returned as human.
“In conclusion, I found that AI detectors were unreliable, given the fact that the results varied and none of them were consistent throughout all three AI detectors,” Lopez said.
Lopez, a first-time STEM Fair entrant, said she took a week to get her project together.
Next year, she said she might continue the project, allowing participants to use other AI assistants from Instagram or Snapchat. She would also like to use another AI detector, TurnItIn, that is used by educators.
She said she hoped that educators would learn from her project that “some AI detectors are deemed as unreliable.”
“As AI detectors are trying to crack down and become more advanced, the artificial intelligence is advancing more. It’s something we’re going to have to cope with and find a solution instead of just relying on these AI detectors.”
At the International Science and Engineering Fair, Lopez will not compete but will observe and volunteer during the event “and be able to interact with people from around the world.”
“I’ll be looking at other people’s projects, and I feel like I can be gaining inspiration from that,” Lopez said.
Lopez said she was interested in the medical and pediatric field after high school.
STEM poster contest winners
Artists also have an opportunity to participate in the Elko County STEM Fair’s poster contest. All four winners expressed their love for design and using STEM icons and symbols to bring their ideas to life.
Elko County STEM Fair poster winners, from left, Katie Joggerst, Taya Besendorfer, Sariah Knotts and Makayla Benavidez, pictured on March 12, 2025, at the Elko Convention Center.
Katie Joggerst, a third grader at Spring Creek Elementary and first-time entrant, said she was excited about winning. “I love art so much. I thought of STEM and art [and putting them] together.”
Taya Besendorfer, a sixth grade student from Spring Creek Middle School, who also loves art, focused on the law of conservation of momentum for her poster, drawing a visual pendulum model, which she was learning in class. “I thought it was interesting.”
Sariah Knotts, who attends Elko Institute of Academic Achievement, said her poster took a lot of time and she was grateful for winning in her age group.
Knotts explained added things she loved in her poster, which featured a chicken in a space helmet along with a magnifying glass focused on the earth, chemical symbols and beakers. “I love chickens. I have a lot of them at home.”
Her chicken also had a message: “It’s 2025, Elko County STEM Fair is here. Do not cluck out.”
Makayla Benavides, a freshman at Spring Creek High School, was “really excited” about winning the poster contest in her age group. “It’s such an honor.”
She combined math and chemistry symbols with “lots of things that meant something to me. I threw it in there and tried to find any way to incorporate it that I could,”. She also included a small self-portrait of her listening to music on her headphones.
The poster contest winners each received a $25 cash prize from Friends of the STEM Fair. Picture This also donated framing and matting of the artists’ work.
