Three P-TECH students pose for a photo in front of their project displayIn the event Troy High School ever runs outs of cleaning products, there will be no reason to panic. Ninth Grade Troy Riverfront P-TECH students have developed various safe, natural and effective solutions to keep the school safe and bacteria free!

Over the past three weeks, students gathered bacteria samples from various sources within the high school. They studied the bacteria colony growth behaviors and tested sanitation effectiveness of multiple ingredients. Students chose three ingredients based on effectiveness and smell.

Examples of selected ingredients included lemon juice, peroxide, lavender, borax, distilled water amd eucalyptus.

A combined math and science project, students graphed out various data to represent the bacteria growth.

“This is not the kind of project we would assign to a typical 9th Grade Algebra student, but this is typical for P-TECH,” said Math Teacher Taylor Colello. “They’re connecting the mathematical aspect of bacteria growth with the science behind it.”

P-TECH students had their own wing at the Troy Middle School Science Fair on May 23 where they presented their projects to visitors. Students gave their guests a verbal run through on the process and their findings and answered questions.

P-TECH students present their findings to Dr. Casey ParkerP-TECH students present their project to Dr. ParkerStudent Ayishatu Menko said the most challenging parts of the project were coming up with the ingredients and accurately graphing the points. The presentation portion is something she said she’s getting used to.

“It still makes me a little nervous but I know I get better all the time because we do so much of this in P-TECH,” she said.