Creativity was priority number one for middl e schoolers throughout Hemet with hope of moving passed the district level science fair Feb. 16.

Eighteen projec ts we re awarded first prize medals at the competition and all 18 will be on display at the Riverside, Indio, Mono, San Bernardino (RIMS) Inland Area and Engineering Fair in early April where they will compete to place at the county level.

Projects from five middle schools, including the Western Center Academy charter school, were entered into the competition held at Dartmouth Middle School and judged on their ingenuity.

"We want to see projects we have never seen before," said Hemet USD Science Fair Coordinator Harry Post. "And if we have seen it before, then we want it to be solved in a completely unique way."

Other qualifications to be considered a top-notch project? "We want to see that they made use of the scientific method and thoroughly investigated the project with several trials. Only completing five trials is not adequate," Post said. "It is also important that the conclusion of the project matches what the project proved."

All five of the middle schools in the valley were awarded with at least one first place medal.

"Dartmouth and the Western Center did particularly well," Post said. "There were a lot of very innovative projects."

From the Western Center the following students will be continuing on to the RIMS competition: Ziyaad Qureshi with "Soybean Polyamine as a Treatment for Parkinson's Disease," Travis Catalano with "Cover or Concealment," Courtney Heath with "Focus," and Nicholas Baggett with "That the way the Wind Blows."

From Acacia, Devin Walker and Sean Rhoades with their joint project "Bug-A-Licious." From Diamond Valley, Robert Garland with "Air Insulation - How Cool is That?"

From Rancho Viejo, Elizabeth Hill and Julianna Solarzano with their joint project "Water Waste Worries," Isaac Elsmore with "Got Grease," and Keely Watland with "Which Boom is it?"

"Isaac's project tested certain foods and the amount of grease they produce," Post said. "It was very interesting."

From Dar tmouth, Keely Mikkelson with "Cloudy with a Chance of Pollution," Rylee Thompson with "Musical Minds," Jennifer Cox with "Ionize Corn Plants?," Celeste Fox with "Which Water is Best for Growing Corn Indoor: Tap Water or Grey Water?," Trevan Klug with "Color of Light and Heat. Is There a Connection?,"

Emily Dunn with "Burning Down the House," Melissa Beebe with "Does Listening to Music Improve Sight Reading?," Lindsey Jergensen with "Brace Yourself!," and Grant Anderson with "A Sticky Situation."

"Ireally think Keely (Mikkelson) may be a future meteorologist," Post said. "And Lindsey (Jergensen) made it to the RIMS competition last year and placed third."

The RIMS Inland Area and Engineering Fair will be held April 3 and 4 at the Orange Show in San Bernardino. The awards ceremony will be on April 4 at the Riverside Convention Center.