St. Vincent de Paul student sweeps Diocesan Science Fair
Rachel Benvegnu's Science Project on Anti-Bacterial Soap Takes Top Honors
By Christopher Gray, Intermountain Catholic (March 13, 2006)

SALT LAKE CITY — Although she had her hands all over raw ground beef and tryptic soy agar petri dishes with a 5% infusion of sheep blood, Rachel Benvegnu had no problem finding an effective anti-bacterial soap. The sixth grade student at St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School could not, however, hear her name called when she won the George Frkovich Young Scientist of the Year Award at the Diocesan Science Fair March 4.

“I had already gone back to my seat after filling out the paperwork for the Overall Sixth Grade and Overall Biological Science Awards I had won when people were yelling my name” she said in an interview with the Intermountain Catholic. “I didn’t even know what I had won when I went up the last time. On my way down I looked at the trophy and thought ‘O my gosh, I won the whole thing!’”

Benvegnu’s project, titled “Counter Attack,” tested the effectiveness of various household sterilizing cleaners. Claiming to have never eaten a hamburger in her life, Benvegnu drew her inspiration for the project out of a practical desire to help people avoid bacterial food poisoning.

The Diocesan Science Fair, hosted this year by J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Elementary School, is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and offers a variety of trophies and savings bonds to winners in the competition. Benvegnu won $400, more than any other student in the event open to students in Catholic schools in sixth to eighth grades.

“I was really nervous,” Benvegnu said of the experience of being judged at the fair. “But when the judges began asking questions, I remembered I knew the answers – and then I felt confident.”