• Three members of Mars Area Elementary School Mars Stars jump-rope team competed in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games, held July 29-Aug. 2, in Detroit, Mich.

In individual competition, sixth-grader Devin Kohler earned third place in both the speed and power events and fourth place in the freestyle event, and fifth-grader Jessica Bender placed seventh in the speed event.

Jessica Bender and seventh-grader Jessica Hunter participated in the speed and power events, and qualified for the freestyle event in the pairs competition. Fifth-grader Judy Kahn was selected to show off her jump-roping skills on Philadelphia cable television's "The Sunny Side Up" show.

More than 800 students participated in the Junior Olympic Games. The Mars Area students qualified for the event at the AAU Junior Olympics Qualifier in Ohio on May 10.

• Mike Koehler, of Hampton, an eighth-grader at Hampton Middle School, is among 10 national finalists named in the 2008 Discovery Education/3M Young Scientist Challenge.

Mike demonstrated his science prowess by explaining Bernoulli's Principle. The principle illustrates why wings are able to lift airplanes off the ground.

He will compete against the other nine finalists Oct. 4 in a NASA-hosted competition at Goddard Space Flight Center in Washington, D.C., to be named America's top young scientist of 2008. Top prize is a $50,000 scholarship.