Pasadena Student Wins First Place in Engineering Fair

Geo Ghazal walked into his Pasadena school this week not just as a seventh-grader, but as a first-place engineering champion whose creativity and hard work just earned him the top spot in the Junior Engineering category.

St. Gregory A. & M. Hovsepian School gathered students and families to celebrate achievements that show the next generation of innovators is already here. The school brought in Svetlana Arutyunova from AGBU Innovation Studios to inspire seventh and eighth graders with what's possible when passion meets science.

Ghazal's first-place win reflects months of dedication to a project that impressed judges enough to beat out competitors across his age group. His teachers say the achievement showcases not just technical skill, but the kind of creative problem-solving that defines great engineering.

The celebration didn't stop with one student. Lara Sayegh presented medals to students in grades six through eight who participated in the LA County Science and Engineering Fair, honoring the commitment it takes to see a project through from idea to presentation.

The Ripple Effect

These young scientists are learning skills that reach far beyond their school's walls on East Colorado Boulevard. Every student who spent hours researching, building, and testing is developing the critical thinking our world needs to solve tomorrow's challenges.

Their teachers deserve recognition too. Behind each medal and first-place trophy stands educators who stayed late, answered endless questions, and believed in ideas that might have seemed impossible at first.

Schools like St. Gregory are proving that when you give students the tools, space, and encouragement to explore science and engineering, they rise to the occasion. These aren't just science fair participants. They're future inventors, researchers, and innovators getting their start right now.

Ghazal's win reminds us that the solutions to problems we haven't even encountered yet might come from a middle schooler working on a project today.