Rialto Students Win 18 Awards at Regional Science Fair; Kolb Middle School’s Tovah Caffee Advances to State and National Competitions

Rialto Unified School District students showcased their scientific prowess at the recent 2025 San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono Counties Science and Engineering Fair (SIMSEF), bringing home a remarkable 18 awards and demonstrating the district’s strong emphasis on science education. Among the standout achievers was Kolb Middle School student Tovah Caffee, whose project “Macroinvertebrates and Surface Water Quality” earned top recognition.

Tovah took home a gold medal in the Earth and Environmental Sciences category and advanced to the prestigious California Science and Engineering Fair, which will take place April 12–13 at California Lutheran University. In addition, she qualified for the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, a national middle school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) competition. Incredibly, only 10 students in all of San Bernardino County qualified for the Challenge. The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge finals will be held in October 2025 with the top 30 finalists heading to Washington, D.C. 

“I felt that our Rialto Unified School District students were a beacon of curiosity and innovation in the region,” said Juanita Chan Roden, Agent of Science and Career Programs. “Our students proved it with the remarkable number of awards they brought home. We were well represented in many categories and we are extremely proud of the students’ accomplishments.”

RUSD students studied and tested a variety of inquiries within their projects. Their curiosity brought them to study everything from soil to AI, bread to water, biodegradable worms to ant deterrents, and much more. Overall, RUSD students earned 18 different awards across many categories. These awards recognize student’s hard work and innovation while also providing opportunity. Eisenhower High School students Monica Esparza and Jasmin Olubajo earned an internship with the Energy Coalition with their project “Rialto the Urban Heat Island”

The San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono Counties Science and Engineering Fair is an esteemed annual event that unites students, educators, and science professionals from across the region. It offers students the opportunity to explore the significance of science in their daily lives, foster a passion for inquiry, and hone their research and analytical skills — all while aligning their work with the Science Content Standards for California Public Schools. In the RUSD, all students are required to create a project to submit for the District Science and Engineering Fair. Top winners at the District Fair then advance to SIMSEF. 

“We invest in ensuring our students have equitable access to this competition, and that showed at the awards ceremony,” Chan Roden added. “In other districts, the science fair might be something on the side. In Rialto USD, we set the expectation that all students will create a project. It’s clear that the RUSD has invested in science and given our students access to science as they matriculate through school and into the workforce. Competitions like these are crucial to making sure our students are seen and have a competitive advantage. It shows that in the Rialto USD, we are really putting academics first.”

Rialto Unified School District 2025 SIMSEF Winners

Gold Award

• Tovah Caffee, Kolb MS – “Macroinvertebrates and Surface Water Quality”

Silver Awards

• Cecilia Sugiyanto, Garcia ES – “Hydroponics vs. Soil”
• Daniella Pulido, Jehue MS – “What Type of Water Releases More Hydrogen and Oxygen During Electrolysis?”
• Emily Lozano and Zoe Martinez, Simpson ES – “Mission: Landslides!”
• Jonathan Arevalo, Autumn Covington, Aiden Lim, Carter HS – “Using Location to Improve Decomposition.”
•  Melanny Vea, Eisenhower HS – “Race to be Broken Down”

Bronze Awards

• Aaron Ortega, Jehue MS – “The Flour Substitution Solution”
• Alexander Bustos, Damian Encines, Jayden Orozco, Eisenhower HS – “Biodegradable Worms”
• Daniel Arita, Michael Barajas, Jehue MS – “Efficient Egg Gathering System”
• Derek Villegas, Kolb MS – “Can Dog Saliva Kill Germs?
• Isabella Arteaga, Neftali Brito Delgado, Noelani Mendez, Eisenhower HS – “Bread Preservatives in Action!”
• Sasa Hong, Olivia Juarez, Michelle Meza, Jehue MS – “Can AI Process Emotions?”

Specialty Awards

• iREN Energy Award, Senior Division: David Nguyen, Rialto HS – “Effect of Dust on Solar Panel Efficiency”
• NASA Earth System Science Award & The Energy Coalition Energy Internship: Monica Esparza, Jasmin Olubajo, Eisenhower HS – “Rialto the Urban Heat Island”
• Ricoh USA, Inc.: Rollundo Brown, Jason Galleros, Michael Sigenstrew, Eisenhower HS – “Bye Bye Ants: The Quest for the Friendliest Deterrent”